hi all again. i've been through yet another life experience and i've finally felt like writing it here just because i know i have a lot of unknown readers, not really unknown cos i know them in real life but i dont know who reads my blog. could be anyone at all and i sort of roughly know who but there could be others. oh well i think i'll just write this down.
a few months ago, i felt a lump underneath my chin by chance. an accidental finding. i was sitting in a tutorial room during my O&G run when i felt this there. everyone was like saying it's nothing and just an infection and so i left it alone and went on with my life. 2 weeks later it's still there.
there it is
so i decided to go to the GP which is all covered under insurance thank goodness. she referred me for an ultrasound scan and i had to phone to make a booking and within the next week i went for my first ultrasound scan, not because of pregnancy but due to this. *LOL*
all of my medical treatment was done privately because im not a PR or citizen here so i cant access public health system and besides since i have student insurance, im covered. so i went for my ultrasound scan and it was quite an experience. apparently it was nothing malignant and all but i would still require surgery to remove the lump. i was referred to an ENT specialist (privately again) and i had to apply for a pre-approval from the insurance company for treatment before i could go ahead and book myself an appointment with the ENT specialist. i got my approval and i went ahead with all the appointment.
next was a FNA biopsy of my lump before i could meet with the specialist yet. i had mine done just a week before my 5th year final exam! it's just crazy isnt it? the FNA was quite painful but i managed to survive through it. they poked 4 times into my lump but couldnt aspirate anything much as it's not cystic (ie not fluid). the needle they used was just a bit smaller than the normal IV needle. the results showed some lymphoid tissue but nothing conclusive. so i met with the ENT specialist and he actually took us for one tutorial during my ENT run. he's a really nice person and he explained about the next step to me which was doing a CT scan.
alright, i know all of you medical people would know that CT scan is about 1000x of a normal x-ray and i dont really want a ct scan done but at this point i guess there's nothing but ct scan. so i had mine done last week just before the results for my final exam was out! yes cool eh? ct scan was quite okay, except that i had reaction towards the contrast medium used (ie some itch and rash) but i was given antihistamine and all was well.
so what's next? my operation. i know everything seems to go on quite fast but i really dont have much time to waste cos i have rural GP coming up in 2 weeks time and i'll be away till end of dec and then i'll be going back home for 2 weeks for hols. so yeah, it's a busy time for me so i just wanted this to end but somehow the results for the ct scan isnt too promising. apparently i have other enlarged lymph nodes around the neck region so my chances of getting lymphoma (cancer of lymph node) is higher now. but it's not conclusive, could be other causes like infection etc and i've always had one enlarged lymph node for years..
so i went for my operation this morning and it was a day surgery that explains why im back home now typing this entry. i had GA (general anaesthetics so i was put to sleep) and i couldnt remember a thing at all. all i could remember is lying down in the theatre with the anaesthetist and nurses talking to me and he injected some muscle relexant and then i was out. for a few hours and i woke up in the recovery room feeling REALLY tired, drowsy and sleepy. i had the oxygen mask on and some b/p cuff but was removed from all those when the nurses saw that i was awake. after that i waited for another 2 hours before they removed my IV saline and line and i requested for some anti vomiting drug (ondansetron) which was like a sweet and i had to suck it under my tongue :). i just felt tired and sleepy most of the time after that till now. im still sleepy but the pain is beginning to emerge. i could feel the background throbbing pain on a scale of 4/10. the local anaesthetic is wearing off. and it's swollen!!! up to a point that i thought the lump wasnt removed. and the specialist called me just now to check if i was ok and i was stupid enough to ask if he removed the lump cos it's swollen and it looked like he didnt. haha.. :PPP
yea so that's my story. i know it's long and thanks for reading.. btw the worst thing about operation is first NBM (nil by mouth) which is fasting for a certain number of hours before the operation. i had to force myself to wake up at 6am and get a cup of milo just because i wont be able to drink for the next few hours. my throat was sooooo dry and i felt SOOOO thirsty, it's not funny. :( and GA is really bad. it makes me feel sooo drowsy and tired and it's just not nice.
im not sure if u have noticed that lump underneath my chin because no one ever commented on it until i told them!!! see it looked like a double chin ie FAT! sigh.. oh well, i just hope that my lump is just something normal not anything serious cos i DONT want to take time off, i just want to move on with my TI (trainee intern) year!! dont wanna delay graduation.. :(((( sigh...
wish me luck...
bye..
