sarcoma fear and having a hard time accepting mri results

[maz063]

Hi everyone. I've been dealing with a bump or lump on my outer left thigh near my knee for a year. It's not rock hard but it isn't soft and unmovable either. It came on last years suddenly with pain. Pain went away and bump kinda went down but it goes up and down depending on what movements I've done. Anyways, it was worrying me sick because I was googling muscle knot in thigh and sarcoma popped up everywhere. It's been a hard time. I had my doc feel my thigh and she ordered an MRI. MRI said no signs of soft tissue mass. Everything looks normal.

I'm having a hard time accepting this. My mind is running through all sorts of scenarios like what if the radiologist rushed it or wasn't paying attention or that the tumor is deep and hidden. But even when I looked through the images ( I don't really know how to read an MRI but I compared it to other scan images of tumors in a similar spot and everything) nothing jumped out at me as being concerning or out of the ordinary at all. So it's not like the radiologist just rushed through it. But then I wonder if the machine was faulty or I'm too fat and blah blah blah.

I know some folks on here have had this fear and it turned out to be a muscle tear. I guess I'm just scared not knowing exactly what it is. Whatever it is can be dealt with later. My main concern was soft tissue sarcoma but no masses appeared on my MRI and I can feel this thing with my hand. I's not tiny and idk how an MRI would miss that.

Getting a second opinion won't really help my OCD because then I'll just think the second radiologist made a mistake. My doctor mentioned an orthopedist or general surgery and I really don't want to go through all that for something that's most likely not serious.

Any advice on how to not second guess test results and scans?

[maz063]

Also since it's been over a year since this issue first arose, you'd think it would have grown significantly instead swinging between feeling more noticeable and less noticeable. I'm really trying to be rational here but my brain is going what if what if what if what if they missed something.

[Lolalee1]

Gee, I have a lump on my thigh caused from walking into the tow bar on my car it has been there for about 3yrs now, I said every swear word I could muster my god it bloody hurt.My doc said it was a cork so I had massage to help rub it out but that really didn’t help.I reckon you should stay away from DrGoogle he is one that will have ya dead in a couple of mths.

[NoraB]

Any advice on how to not second guess test results and scans?

Stay off Google.

Accept the results.

You did the right thing, you got it checked out. But there's nothing wrong. (Accept it)

[.Poppy.]

If it were serious, you would know by now. I think the main thing at this point would be to either leave it alone, or see a physical therapist or orthopedist if you are having any issues with mobility or pain - if you're not, no need unless doctor pushes it.

[QUOTE=maz063;2058193]I know some folks on here have had this fear and it turned out to be a muscle tear. /QUOTE]

This might not be helpful because it was my dog, not a person, but when my pup tore his CCL he had a golf ball sized lump on his knee. The surgeon said that the lump was a dead giveaway that his CCL had torn - it was his body trying to build up scar tissue to stabilize the knee. I would imagine something very similar can happen in humans.

[Flapj]

The good thing about an MRI scan like yours, where the doctor specifies the area to look at and gives the radiologist an idea of the concern, is that the radiologist is focused on that area and considers all possibilities. This is different than an incidental finding. (i.e., something you were not expecting but it showed up on the scan).

You can be assured the radiologist looked at the area of concern, looked at the multiple MRI sequences (some enhance fat, water, etc.), and considered all possibilities based on the images and the concern.

IF there had been any concern about the bump, the radiologist would have very likely included something like "recommend FNA to rule out malignancy" or something like that. Meaning the radiologist can't make any conclusions and something looks off, so he or she recommend more testing.

If that did not happen here, I think you can safely breathe a sigh of relief. You are good.