Another trip to the hospital

10 days ago I made a trip to the hospital to have a lump checked out in my neck. ENT felt it was probably nothing to worry about but said they would arrange an ultrasound just to have a look at it with a possible biopsy further down the line if they felt it needed it.

They were extremely quick in arranging this and I was booked in for yesterday. Not only was it an ultrasound but the biopsy as well. I was not really prepared for that and had to do some hasty reading around to inform myself of everything. 

Ironically, Mandy also had an appointment at the hospital for something else and because Susan has been around for a few days, she helped us out. Mandy had her appointment and because we had some time we went off to the hospital Costa for a coffee.

I went off for my appointment leaving Mandy with Susan. I have found it important recently to attend such matters on my own. I am not sure why this is but I have been doing this more and more. I went off to the department and went on to the waiting room. I was called in and advised that I would need to take my top off and wear a gown due to the gel that was used with an ultrasound. The nurse brought the gown and I waited for her to leave whilst I changed. I was wrong in this, she did not seem to want go anywhere so I just got on with it. I had a jersey dress on so I was quite glad when I stripped that the "bump" was no longer there to be visible. 

I got on the bed and a doctor came to do the scan. He slopped on several litres of gel and starting looking around the good side of my neck before going to the other side. He asked me to place my finger on the lump and then had a good scan around. His prognosis was that it was probably a gland that had swollen and then stayed that way for some unknown reason. We talked about the biopsy and because getting to the hospital is relatively easy for me, he was going to pass it back to the consultants and let them decide whether to biopsy it anyway or re-examine after 3 months. 

I was not worried either way about the biopsy but I suppose it avoided a needle in the neck for a time. I talked to the nurse after he had left and we discussed the fact that I had ignored this lump for a time. I explained that I had had some vital surgery, that was very important to my life and that it came first. She didn't probe too much but I did end up telling her what it was. She seemed quite concerned about the surgery, like it had been an unpleasant experience and was even more surprised when I explained how life changing and affirming it had been. She could not believe that my stay in the Nuffield had been one of the most memorable experiences in my life and again, this seems to reflect just how much this surgery does for our well-being.

I cleaned the gel off, redressed and met up with Mandy and Susan taking in another coffee just for good measure!