Prepoceros

It’s one or the other, for sure.

Hearing from the doctor that the MRI was inconclusive got me worried. I assumed that if he’d thought it was a lipoma, he would’ve ordered a test that would differentiate between lipoma and not-lipoma. My assumption turned out to be correct.

I got to see the radiologist’s report today, and it did conclude two things: (1) there is a large* mass under my left shoulderblade, sitting on top of my lung, and (2) it is definitely not a lipoma.

There were other words in the report, intimidating words like primary mesenchymal tumor and malignant fibrous histiocytoma. I don’t know what many of those words mean—I can break them up into their roots, but who knows what happens when you stick all that together—and I’m not going to look them up. I don’t need to know what they are because I don’t have any of those things.

I was scheduled for a biopsy with an otorhinolaryngologist** this afternoon, or at least I thought there would be some biopsy action. Instead he looked at the MRI films, asked me a few questions***, took a tape measure to Larry, and put a tube up my nose.

The good news: it might be an infected lymph node. The bad news: it might be cancer. All signs point to both, so far. The doctor said he bet it was an infection, which is reassuring, but then again, the last doc bet it was a lipoma.

He sent me home with a ten-day supply of antibiotics (Biaxin XL) and the card of some folks who’ll do an ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration*^ on Larry.

So now we’re back to this waiting thing again. Every few days I get one more shred of information, another appointment . . . and then I go home and sit on it for a while. I’m trying not to worry (I’m doing fine today, actually—I’m so unanxious right now I’m almost bored), but it’s frustrating. If it’s an infection, then I’m wasting time and energy thinking about something that’s small potatoes. If it’s cancer, then I’d rather not let it have its way with me one more minute, let alone another week or two.

I wish I were president and could have any sort of doctor I wanted called up at once, any sort of test done immediately, without all this scheduling and waiting. But you know what? It’s okay. I have an infection, and I’m taking antibiotics for it. It will go away soon. Are we clear on this? Infection.

———
* 4.8 cm x 1.6 cm x 2 cm, to be precise. I have a copy of the images on CD and will share them when I get around to making a video.

** How often do you get a chance to use THAT word?

*** Every medical professional I’ve met with so far (four and counting) has been surprised at Larry’s size and speedy growth. “How long have you had it, again? Three weeks? Really?” It’s a bit unsettling.

*^ I am also not interested in looking up what exactly a fine-needle aspiration involves. At first blush “fine-needle” sounds fairly pleasant; if there are any unpleasant bits to this procedure, I prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of them.

Tags: Larry the Lump

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