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Lump on neck...

M

Magickduck

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
405
So my fiance has this weird lump on the right side front of her throat/nick. It's not very big maybe 1cm....

It's very hard, and yeah its freaking me out. She is fine with it, my mother who is a nurse has one that is benign...

but thing is, she has no health insurance... and she can't get medicaid as her parents make too much money and already have a family plan but cut her off to teach her "responsibility" 8(

How serious could this be? What should we do? Are there any ways to get it checked out without insurance or paying thousands of dollars?
 
Magickduck said:
So my fiance has this weird lump on the right side front of her throat/nick. It's not very big maybe 1cm....

It's very hard, and yeah its freaking me out. She is fine with it, my mother who is a nurse has one that is benign...

but thing is, she has no health insurance... and she can't get medicaid as her parents make too much money and already have a family plan but cut her off to teach her "responsibility" 8(

How serious could this be? What should we do? Are there any ways to get it checked out without insurance or paying thousands of dollars?
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Im so sorry to hear magicduck :( but is there a way that she can contact her family regarding her health? For me, it's her health that is important so I hope that her family will understand and support her regarding this matter. I am not sure if there are ways to check it out without insurance or paying money but I hope some of the bluelighters might shed a light on this.
 
If it has a border, is painful to press on, and there is discolouration in the skin, then that makes it lean more toward the benign category. It could be anything from a lymph node, to an adenoma, to a cyst. If it's lymph then a hot compress with a mild massage will move it. If it feels really hard and tight, and painful to press on, then most likely it's a cyst. If anyone in your partner's family has them then it's likely benign and genetically related.

Malign tumors typically have no discernable border between them and the surrounding tissue, are painless, and have no discolouration. They also noticeably change with time. Cancerous tumors in the neck are not all that uncommon, so be aware.

The only way to know for sure is to have a doctor look at it, and maybe even run a test. With the few details you've given it's impossible to diagnose, and no one here can say for sure anyway.
 
So what the fuck are we supposed to do? She has no health insurance, etc... does canada really treat people from out of the country (someone recomennded that?)...

To whoever asked, yes I reached out (read: bitched out) her mother about it and they just come up with excuse after excuse and "we'll talk later".

It is painless, there is no discernable border... There is no discoloration at all. She thought it was a pimple under her skin for a bit.

She is only 22, I mean, how common could that be?

I mean, we can probably find a walk-in clinic for her to go to , but what kind of test could we afford without insurance?
Is it worth it to get a super expensive test and be in debt forever? especially if there easily could be nothing wrong? ugh...
 
Magickduck said:
So my fiance has this weird lump on the right side front of her throat/nick. It's not very big maybe 1cm....

It's very hard, and yeah its freaking me out. She is fine with it, my mother who is a nurse has one that is benign...

but thing is, she has no health insurance... and she can't get medicaid as her parents make too much money and already have a family plan but cut her off to teach her "responsibility" 8(

How serious could this be? What should we do? Are there any ways to get it checked out without insurance or paying thousands of dollars?
Click to expand...

The answer can be as simple as going to a low cost clinic (which can be free or fees based on a scale) and having a doc look at it. Most likely it is nothing to be concerned about but if it is then they will let her know and where to go from there!
 
missmeyet? said:
The answer can be as simple as going to a low cost clinic (which can be free or fees based on a scale) and having a doc look at it. Most likely it is nothing to be concerned about but if it is then they will let her know and where to go from there!
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I guess its no comfort to me reading on other forums about people having a GP tell them "oh its nothing" then they insist on having it biopsyed and they have lymphoma?? I mean likely she is fine and we manifest safety but i am enough of a hypocondriac about my own self let alone those I love...


I am thinking about buying a health insurance policy i can't afford getting her checked and then cancelling it..
 
Sorry I wish I had better advice but I'm not familiar enough with the American medical system to give you low-cost advice. AFAIK the loophole that lets Americans get treated in Canada has been closed, but you could try.

If you get an insurance plan and don't declare this health issue, and then later find out it's something serious, the insurance provider could yank your insurance plan right from under you. Though technically, it has not received a diagnosis yet, so you could feign ignorance. If on the other hand it's diagnosed and you withhold the info when applying for insurance, you could be held liable.

I would advise you to at least go to a walk-in clinic. Maybe the doctor might say it warrants concern which could justify more money being invested in tests; but you're right, many doctors would dismiss such a small thing.
 
'medicine cabinet' said:
Maybe try and find a med school and a derm student?
Id probably do light home surgery but i do not recomend that haha
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hahaha, I thought about it but I dunno about hitting any veins/nerves or what, LOL...

anyway, some more info she jus tinformed me of: it started out like a pimple protruding out of the skin and slowly sunk to under the skin..
 
It is probably most likely a cyst under the skin and harmless. But is it just under the skin and doesn't feel like it is on the actual trachea or vocal cords (windpipe)?
 
missmeyet? said:
It is probably most likely a cyst under the skin and harmless. But is it just under the skin and doesn't feel like it is on the actual trachea or vocal cords (windpipe)?
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Not sure exactly what you mean by that... It is on that part of her body but no idea if its growing FROM off of that or what.
 
She should make arrangements to get this checked out. I developed a lump on the side of my neck under the jaw. It wasn't painful but it would get sore sometimes. I went to my doctor and she sent me to ENT specialist. He put a camera inside my throat and found a mass. I had it biopsied and it was stage 4 throat cancer. I'm lucky it was found I'm gonna be ok but I ignored it for months that I could have been getting it fixed. Have her at least go to the emergency room and get it checked. She can make payments.
 
HCandKROD said:
She should make arrangements to get this checked out. I developed a lump on the side of my neck under the jaw. It wasn't painful but it would get sore sometimes. I went to my doctor and she sent me to ENT specialist. He put a camera inside my throat and found a mass. I had it biopsied and it was stage 4 throat cancer. I'm lucky it was found I'm gonna be ok but I ignored it for months that I could have been getting it fixed. Have her at least go to the emergency room and get it checked. She can make payments.
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I am not sure I am okay with being in debt $10,000 if there is likely nothing wrong. How big was yours? This is super tiny...
 
HCandKROD said:
She should make arrangements to get this checked out. I developed a lump on the side of my neck under the jaw. It wasn't painful but it would get sore sometimes. I went to my doctor and she sent me to ENT specialist. He put a camera inside my throat and found a mass. I had it biopsied and it was stage 4 throat cancer. I'm lucky it was found I'm gonna be ok but I ignored it for months that I could have been getting it fixed. Have her at least go to the emergency room and get it checked. She can make payments.
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Yes...good advice. I'm glad you ended up ok HCandKROD...lucky you ended up catching it when you did.

OP...a visit to the walk in clinic won't break you and they can at least tell you if it needs further investigation. Size wouldn't matter in the case of it being cancer. Most likely it is a cyst but it could definitely be something more. Guess its just a matter of how much peace of mind is worth to you (and possibly health).
 
yeah im going with a subaceous cyst. find a body map on google and check where it is in relation to lymph nodes, glands ect, thats what i would do.
 
Question, is she having any other symptoms besides a lump? Itching a lot, sweating at night, transient rashes, low grade fever that comes and goes? All these symptoms were (for me) no big deal and I didn't put them together. I wish her (and you) the very best of luck.
 
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