lump

Lumps and bumps

by Selwyn - 2019-10-02 14:11:27

You clearly need a medical diagnosis. 

Are we speaking of cancer, inflammation, tumour, infection, aneurysm..... etc?

See a  medical practitioner that can diagnose! 

Strange surgeon!!

Learn to advocate for yourself.

by Gotrhythm - 2019-10-03 15:30:01

Ray,

You have already come up against something pacemaker recipients need to learn. In short: advocate for yourselfl.

If you don't get a workable answer one place, go somewhere eise.

I suspect the doctors who say, "I've never seen anything like it," are only trying to squeeze out from under any possibility that they will be blamed. Basically they want you to go away. 

That cardiologist just told you, you can't trust him/her to care about you, or to lift one finger if it means going outside the narrowest possible definition of his/her job.

It behooves you to find a doctor who doees know, or knows how to find out. Probablly a different doctor. If I had a PCP I trusted that's who I'd start with. But I'd be looking around for a different cardiologist.

And learn to ask the next question. If you don't know, what would you guess? What are you sure it's not? Who do you think would know?

Easier said than done, I know. It takes practise and always taking a side kick to help you think of questions.

But if you need motivation, just remember, you have higher stakes in the game than the doctor does. It's your life and your well-being that's on the line, and you who pay the price for any medical shortcomings.

You are doing the right thing by asking here.

by Elisabet - 2019-10-06 04:45:23

Okay, I'm going to stand up just a bit for the doctor here. The lump could be any number of things - maybe a lymph node? A lipoma? The description is kind of vague.

The question is what is it and why is it there. 

The surgeon thinks it's unrelated to the pacemaker, and surgeons being surgeons that may be the extent of where he thinks he responsibility lies. The next question for the patient to ask - if you think of it quickly enough - is what he thinks it is and who or what kind of doctor he thinks you should see about it. Sounds like that didn't happen, so the next step is to go to your primary care provider and ask that person about it.

Asking for similar experiences here is a great idea. It doesn't look like others here have experienced this but of course that doesn't mean it can't be important. The timing is suspicious since it seems related to the surgery, but coincidences do happen. 

I hope you find the answer soon!