I found a lump

[Nursemelo]

I'm in my 4th year of nursing school, i'm going to graduate in about 5 months. A little over 5 years ago I was Dx with CA. Nasopharyngeal carsinoma with mets to cervical nodes. My 5 year anniversary of remission will be in May. I'm in the middle of studying for final exams of this semester and low and behold i found a lump tonight. It's very small and hard about the size of a dime directly behind my left ear lobe. I looked in my anatomy text book to see if their were lymph nodes in that area, and of course i can't really tell from the diagram. Looks like their could be auricular nodes there but i'm not sure? I've also been having nose bleeds lately (not that i had nose bleeds when i had the naso CA) I called my oncologists office, it was after hours so the girl answering the phones gave me the run around and wouldn't set up an apt. My GP would only run blood work and then refer me to someone so i figured i should skip him. My ENT takes for ever to get an apt. with I would have to run around the hospital trying to find him just to see him this year. So I figured my best bet would be my oncologist. He's a very busy man (he's practicaly the only oncologist for the entire province of NB) but tommorrow is not a clinic day so he shouldn't have a redicoulus amont of pt's to see. I think i'm going to call to talk to one of his nurses tommorrow. Or i might just barge into the clinic and asked to see him, it's at the hospital which is right next door to school. Are there any oncology nurses out here that have an opinion? I really hope i'm npt being paranoid and wasting everyones time. It's just really scary for me. I'm 23 and about to graduate from nursing school, my boyfriend and i are palnning to get engaged soon. I don't have time for cancer again. This in the middle of exams

[renerian, BSN, RN]

My hubby had a similar sized cyst excised from that same area/benign. I personally would have your doc call the EENT and speed up your appointment. That is what I would do and have seen it quite often. I had a nickel sized cyst removed from the inner lower lip/mouth area/benign as well.

renerian

[Nursemelo]

Thanks for your reply. My Oncologist won't see me until we rule out the "other stuff" So I have an apt with my GP this afternoon, once i hear what he has to say i'm gonna try to track down my ENT, he is very good to me I run into him often at the hospital or in the elevator's at school and he gets what i need to have done, done. I'm really hoping for a benign little cyst or something. Hopefully i will know more later this afternoon.

[smk1, LPN]

not a nurse yet, but i personally find it ridiculous that a 23 yr old person with a hx of cancer within the last 5 years, who now has a lump and unexplained epistaxis, is not a priority. Your GP should immediately get the ball rolling on this and you shouldn't have to be the one tracking ENT, Oncologists etc. down. I just find that wrong. I hope everything works out for the best for you!

[mango-lo-maniac]

..

[Nursemelo]

Well this is in NB Canada that alone should explain it all It takes forever to get in and see a speciallist we only have 3 ENT's for the whole city and surrounding areas and one of them is an idiot. I would get an apt quicker if i tracked my Dr. down my self instead of going through his receptionist. But it looks like i won't need one, THANK GOD! I whent to my GP he said i was fine. He said he suspected my earring holes where irriated and that they were causing the swollen node. Sure enough when i took my earrings out the holes were a little red. He said he was positive that's what it was because it didn't have the characteristics of a cancerous node. He told me to put ploysporin and acohol on my ears and i should see the lump go away shortly. If not I should come back and see him. It made perfect sense and i would have never thought of it. I guess I would have wasted my oncologist time, so i'm glad i saw my GP first. I was so releived I almost cried. But he told me that my concerns were valid given my Hx and he was glad to see me. So i'm gonna keep an eye on it beacuse there's always a little bit of doubt in the back of my head. But i am so releived that there is an explanation that is not cancer. On a happy note I fond out today that i am doing my last semester of clinical on the Oncology unit. This makes me happy because I want to be an oncology nurse Thank you to everyone who replied to me

[renerian, BSN, RN]

Glad you know you were evaluated. I have had my Canadian friends tell me the appointment times up there are not as fast as they would like.

renerian

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

So glad you are ok!

[mango-lo-maniac]

..

[Nursemelo]

Glad you know you were evaluated. I have had my Canadian friends tell me the appointment times up there are not as fast as they would like.

renerian

Waiting times here in Canada suck! Our Prime Minister is looking at ways to help/fix but they can be really bad. And there definitly not enought doctors. Especially here in NB as we are a relativly small province. Doctors are retiring left and right but they are not giving up their billing numbers and the gov't isn't realeasing many new ones. My GP is actually retiring in Jan and i will be sad to see him go. He would always squueze you in the day you called the next day at the very latest. Most people around here end up waiting for a week. If it's for a cold your over it before you ever see the Dr. I'm so releived to have someone more knowledgable then my slef not to worry :) i write my last exam tommorow morning and then tommorrow night i can party with peace of mind

[smk1, LPN]

yay this is great news!

[brigaily2000]

Praise the Lord! I am really happy for you. Have a good friend up in Ontario who had ITP for quite awhile and was sent home sans dx..wasn't til she hemorraged that they put her in the hosp. She seems to be O.K. now.