I went in for my OB appointment on a Monday. For some reason we had to do it on a monday instead of a thursday so Ryan couldnt come. My OB did my breast exam and listened to the babies heart beat. If i remember correctly I was 13 weeks. Due April 15, 2013. She asked me if I had any other concerns and I mentioned that I had a lump on my neck that had not gone away. She didnt like that it was causing me discomfort and asked if I had been seen for it. I had an appointment in early May. The doctor brushed it off but ordered blood work. I did the blood work and everything appeared to be normal. I asked to be seen by a different doctor because the first one didnt take it seriously.
My neck in May.
October 9, 2012-
I saw my new general medicine doctor and he was clearly surprised that there had not been any fallow up on my neck. In May it was a bit tender and at the end of my work day it was sore. Then it stopped hurting but was still there and started hurting again in October. During that time we conceived so that was going to make everything a bit more concerning and challenging. He referred me to a head and neck specialist.. that same day. I was starting to get nervous that everything was moving so quickly. Did this mean they thought something was actually wrong? The head and neck specialist Dr. T was such a nice guy. He assured me that the likelihood of this being anything serious was very low. He also suggested I try a round of antibiotics because 9 times out of 10 it will clear up swollen glands. I asked if they were safe for the baby and he said that they were not tested on pregnant woman but the class of drug was studied on rats.. COOL! He said they were not known to cause birth defects or miscarriage. I filled the prescription but never took them. I had emailed him explaining that I wanted to do more tests before I went ahead and took the antibiotics. He was very informative and had a great table side manner. I was also more comfortable because Ryan came with me to this appointment. Dr. T wanted to do some more blood work and a needle biopsy procedure. He didnt go too much into the details of what he would be doing and he told me to stay off the internet because he didnt want me to get freaked out over it.
October 11, 2012-
Ryan and I went in to see Dr. T for my biopsy. He first started out by looking in my nose and down my throat with a scope. He sprayed this nasal spray up my nose first to numb it. The scope going up your nose and into your throat was still a bit uncomfortable (if I only knew the discomfort I would be feeling in the weeks after..ha!!) He said everything looked normal. He then proceeded to get the nurse and start setting up for my needle biopsy. In my head I was thinking one needle.. I can do this. He said he was going to numb my neck with lidocaine and then he would take 8 needle biopsies.. EIGHT!! Holy shit. I looked at Ryan and I probably had a "I'm outta here" look. Ryan grabbed my hand. He stuck the lidocaine in my neck. It sucked. I knew it would because I have had lidocaine shots in my feet. It feels like a legit bee sting.. in your neck. He let that work for a minute and he started the biopsy. He stuck the most inflammed gland and told me that it was very dense. I asked him if it was possible for them to pop. He laughed and said sometimes there is liquid in them. The feeling of him taking the biopsies was a stick down, then like 5 repeated in and out motions to try and collect the tissue. He did this 8 times and he said he wanted to do just one more. I felt some blood crawl down my neck on the last one. Certain pokes were more uncomfortable than others. He cleaned me up and explained that it should be a few days until we got the results. He also reminded me that sometimes this biopsy technique doesnt give them enough tissue to make diagnoses. I took the next couple days off work since I knew my neck would be sore. It was a little. I felt like I had been used as a pin cushion.
My neck after the needle biopsy.
Starting the next wednesday October 17th I worked a few days. I went in for a few more tests. A blood test to rule out cat scratch fever and a TB test. Both were negative. Dr. T called and said the needle biopsy results were "undiagnostic." Meaning.. they couldn't make a diagnoses off the tissue samples. Great.. I was pin cushioned for no imformation and waited nervously for nothing. I asked what the next step was. He said we should go ahead and do an MRI without contrast. Contrast is the dye they usually inject you with that makes it easier to read the results.The contrast passes through the placenta so they did not want to use that.
October 27, 2012 -
My Dad was watching Olivia this weekend so he came early so I could go to my MRI. It was scheduled for 8am. I signed into radiology and they walked me down this long hallway. We actually went around the building outside to this mobile MRI. I laid on the table and the tech was surprised to hear that I was pregnant. He asked me if I really wanted to go forward with this procedure.. which I thought was odd. Hello.. my doctor ordered it. Through my research with MRIs in pregnancy they are safe. They are just magnets.. Anyways it was very loud but quick. They just did my neck and upper chest area. As I walked to my car I called both my parents to tell them I was done and headed to work. Of course during all of this we have all been nervous wrecks. Everyone remained positive and just kept telling me it was going to be nothing. It almost got annoying to hear. I was going through such a scary, nerve racking thing. I didnt want to assume the worst but to constantly hear it was nothing was almost like people were down playing the seriousness of it all. My first thought was that I was pregnant and there cannot be anything wrong with me.. and if there was I wanted to kick the shit out of the first doctor who brushed me off to begin with.
After Dr. T saw the results of the MRI he determined it was my lymph nodes that were inflamed. He said most of them were inflamed on both sides. He scheduled me for a surgical biopsy. Since I was pregnant I would have to be awake and I would be kept comfortable with fentynol and more LIDOCAINE! Yay.. More bee stings. Ugh.
November 2, 2012-
I couldnt eat or drink anything since the night before but they did tell me I could take my iron pill that morning. I had been taking iron since the first blood work from my pregnancy showed I was anemic. Taking the iron on an empty stomach was the worst thing I could of done. About a half hour after I threw up.. a lot. I was nervous anyways and tasting the iron in my mouth was not helping. My surgery was scheduled for 1:30pm. My mother in law watched Olivia and we drove to Vallejo. My Dad was a nervous wreck and decided to come up with my Step Mom. They took me back first without Ryan. They told me to pee in a cup.. which I thought was odd. I had nothing to drink and could barely get anything out. They also had me change into this weird paper plastic gown. They started prepping me and were about to test my pee infront of me. I told the nurse I was pregnant. She discarded the pee and test. UM.. ok does anyone read their patients charts? Stupid. Ryan was finally able to come back and visit. He had to hold on to my purse and glasses. Not being able to see sucks. My Dad and step Mom came back and chatted a bit. My surgery was pushed to 3:30. I hadnt had much of an appetite but all I could think about was a big cheeseburger. Mmm. The doctor finally brought me back into surgery and gave me 3 lidocaine shots.. They were pretty awful. With each one he would inject the fluid a little, go a little deeper and inject some more. I felt the pressure of the cut and I started feeling discomfort from them snipping into my neck. I told the nurse twice and she shot some stuff into my iv. It relaxed me. I felt them stitching me up and knew it would be over soon. I remember classic rock on in the background. When I as wheeled to the post-op area I was very alert and very hungry.. My nurse was a small swishy philipino man. Funny as hell. I told him about my desire to eat a huge cheeseburger. Ryan came back with my glasses and then my Dad and Step Mom as well. I guess the doctor had went out to tell them that everything went well. The nurse came to check the babies heart beat and couldn't find it with the doppler for like 7 minutes. It seemed like forever and I started crying. I didn't want the stress of the surgery to have killed my baby! She finally found the babies heart beat and I cried harder.. She blamed the doppler machine.. I blamed her. Dr. T came in and did a quick review. He took a whole lymph node out of the right side of my neck. He said I shouldn't eat a cheeseburger.. that I should eat light. By the time we left the hospital it was 5:30pm. We went to Mimi's cafe and I had corn chowder and a quarter of a cheeseburger.. Mmm. The whole day my focus was on the baby and being starving.. That night I started to think about the wait I would have to endure to know the results of the biopsy. The doctor said 7-10 days but that he would try to have it rushed because of my condition (pregnancy.)
My biopsy scar now.
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