GlassPinata
04-01-17, 01:43
I'm 44, female, and a few days ago found a lump in the side of my neck, quite by chance, about halfway down (but slightly closer to my shoulder than my head). Left side.
I'm sure it hasn't always been there. There is no corresponding node on the other side. It doesn't seem like the right place for a swollen node to be- I can feel several nodes, but most are more toward the front of my neck, up closer to my chin.
I haven't been sick. I can think of no reason for a node to swell up.
I don't know how big it is- not terribly big, I suppose. But VERY prominent. I don't have to really press to feel it, just run my fingers down my neck. I'm thin, and because I'm middle-aged the skin on my neck is thin, and this thing is lying right under the skin, possibly over a vein or tendon. So, like... very prominent.
I've been freaking out badly since discovering this. I live in the US, I'm a single mom, recently divorced, quite poor, no medical insurance currently. I literally have no way to go to the doctor at this time. Hoping to get something worked out in the next year or so.
One thing I noticed today, however... when I move the skin over the *lump*, like, when I pull the skin to one side, I can no longer feel the lump in that spot. It looks like I have several tiny clogged pores right in that spot (but non-tender, not like a pimple, and not red or inflamed-looking). It's like this lump is in my skin somehow, rather than under it. Could it be some sort of cyst? Wouldn't that be painful though, or at least tender? But if it's a lymph node, it would still be feel-able when I move the skin over it, correct?
So confused. I'm really hoping it's some sort of skin cyst, a clogged pore, something. But I don't remember ever having a pimple in that exact spot, although I have had them on my neck before.
I just don't know what to think, and today was my first day back at work since finding this thing, and it went pretty badly. I kept having the irresistible urge to leave my work station to go into the bathroom, stare in the mirror, and palpate this lump in my neck.
While doing this, I'd fall into a sort of trance, although my mind was racing a mile a minute with cancer thoughts, and before I knew it ten or fifteen minutes would pass.
I couldn't stop messing with the lump to the point that my coworkers noticed and asked if I had a sore throat.
I did not know how to explain my fear to them without seeming crazy.
Somehow, it was easier to deal with this at home than at work.
I fear the rest of my (possibly short!) life is going to be intolerable.
Why did I have to find this thing, and what is it??? :weep:
I'm sure it hasn't always been there. There is no corresponding node on the other side. It doesn't seem like the right place for a swollen node to be- I can feel several nodes, but most are more toward the front of my neck, up closer to my chin.
I haven't been sick. I can think of no reason for a node to swell up.
I don't know how big it is- not terribly big, I suppose. But VERY prominent. I don't have to really press to feel it, just run my fingers down my neck. I'm thin, and because I'm middle-aged the skin on my neck is thin, and this thing is lying right under the skin, possibly over a vein or tendon. So, like... very prominent.
I've been freaking out badly since discovering this. I live in the US, I'm a single mom, recently divorced, quite poor, no medical insurance currently. I literally have no way to go to the doctor at this time. Hoping to get something worked out in the next year or so.
One thing I noticed today, however... when I move the skin over the *lump*, like, when I pull the skin to one side, I can no longer feel the lump in that spot. It looks like I have several tiny clogged pores right in that spot (but non-tender, not like a pimple, and not red or inflamed-looking). It's like this lump is in my skin somehow, rather than under it. Could it be some sort of cyst? Wouldn't that be painful though, or at least tender? But if it's a lymph node, it would still be feel-able when I move the skin over it, correct?
So confused. I'm really hoping it's some sort of skin cyst, a clogged pore, something. But I don't remember ever having a pimple in that exact spot, although I have had them on my neck before.
I just don't know what to think, and today was my first day back at work since finding this thing, and it went pretty badly. I kept having the irresistible urge to leave my work station to go into the bathroom, stare in the mirror, and palpate this lump in my neck.
While doing this, I'd fall into a sort of trance, although my mind was racing a mile a minute with cancer thoughts, and before I knew it ten or fifteen minutes would pass.
I couldn't stop messing with the lump to the point that my coworkers noticed and asked if I had a sore throat.
I did not know how to explain my fear to them without seeming crazy.
Somehow, it was easier to deal with this at home than at work.
I fear the rest of my (possibly short!) life is going to be intolerable.
Why did I have to find this thing, and what is it??? :weep: