My niece has a neck tumor, need to find a good doctor in MN

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in OR.

My 21-year-old niece just found a big mass on her neck since early July due to extreme pain to her neck. A neuro doctor found out this mass from her MRI and he claimed that mass is invasive and it has spreaded to one side of her shoulder already. She was put in ICU for 3 days and she was given antibiotics, steriod and pain meds. They put her in ICU mainly because she had problem swallowing and they didn't want her to aspirate. She is back home now and she had a needle biospy two days ago. The doctor said no cancer cell was found but as usual something like this cannot be 100% sure. With the help of antibiotics and steriod, her swelling on the neck has gone down a bit but not completely gone. The ENT doctor said he will observe her to see if it is just a cyst (benign tumor) with imflammation or if it is cancer related. He said he will perform an incision to the mass to get a better look at it eventually.

Now my concern is:

1. this ENT doctor is very young and not sure if he is good.

2. the neck is so vascular, cutting into it may cause bleeding and complications.

I am posting this to see if anyone has similar experience. Also, I want to know if someone can refer some good ENT doctors or oncologists for my niece. She is in Minneapolis, MN, my sister doesn't mind driving far for her as long as the doctor is good and experienced.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you have any informations. We are very desperate for an answer and we don't want to delay her surgery any more.

I am a nurse myself but I feel helpless in this situation because I work in TX and I don't know any good doctors in MN.confused.gif

Thanks and god bless.

My dad is from MN and swears the best care anywhere is at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Seems like they should have ENT clinic there. Best of luck to you.

Specializes in trauma,cvicu,micu.

:heartbeatFirst of all, sorry to hear it and here's to her speedy and complete recovery. Next thing is MAYO CLINIC!!!!!!!!!!!! They have some very good ENT docs there.. godspeed to your niece and to your family!!

I second Mayo Clinic. My Grandpa was up there last week for an aortic valve replacement surgery. They are amazing.

Specializes in Cardiac, ER.

Mayo is the place to go! Best of luck!

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