Friday, August 27, 2010

Curled Up Into A Little Ball

A month ago I discovered a small, solid, pea-like lump on my right shoulder blade.

It was the exact shape and consistency that women are supposed to be on the lookout for when performing self-breast examinations. Granted, it was quite a distance from such an area, but the implications of discovering such an abnormality were not lost on me. I went straight to the nearest walk-in clinic.

The doctor on duty was very reassuring and said that it was probably nothing to be concerned about. Given that I had only just found the lump and that it was not giving me any pain, he advised me to keep close tabs on it for the next few weeks and to see my own physician at the end of August, or sooner should I start to notice a difference in size or any discomfort in the area. For a person like me with hypochondriac tendencies, one can imagine how distracted, and occasionally distressed, I have found myself at different points throughout this last month.

Well, I have been to see my family doctor and she has put my mind at ease. It’s a fat ball – literally a small pocket of fatty tissue. And she suspects that it as always been there, but was never previously discovered because it was always covered up by the other fat that was on my body until very recently.

I am, of course, relieved to know that I have nothing to worry about. It was scary thinking about what such a growth might mean. Interestingly, though, something that I found very comforting as I spent the last month waiting for a more conclusive diagnosis was the thought that at least I have created a body for myself that can fight off whatever it must. I felt oddly confident that if it had turned out to be something serious that I would be alright.

I’m not trying to be melodramatic or to compare my tiny scare to the extreme health challenges that people face on a daily basis. I know I’m lucky. But, the thing is that I am really proud of how I haven’t just created a trimmer, healthier version of me. I have actually given myself a body that I know can handle more than it could before and, consequently, a state of mind to match.

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 9 glasses of water
- 1/4 cup blackberries
- 1 cup lemon meringue yogurt with 1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
- 1 glass root beer
- 1 cheeseburger on a hamburger bun with bacon, mushrooms, onion, lettuce, butter, mayonnaise, and ketchup
- 1 cup French fries with ketchup and salt
- 1 fortune cookie
- 1/8 cup homemade lavender shortbread cookie dough
- 12 cheese-flavoured crackers with cheese
- 10 homemade lavender shortbread cookies
- 2 cups mint chocolate bar ice cream blend

EXERCISE:
- 10 squats

5 comments:

  1. Happy to hear all is well. Fatty tumors run in my family even my skinny relatives get them. We just get them removed and biopsy just to make sure. I had one the size of a grapefruit removed from my inner thigh a few years again. All lumps are not bad but it is always best to get them looked at. You did the right thing. Just a note: Fatty tumors do tend to get larger so you might want to have it removed. Stay strong

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  2. My husband has one of those and was really freaked out so i know how stressful it can be to find one of those.

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  3. Yep. Me exactly. I've had what my doctor calls a LYPOMA on my right clavicle for a few years now. It's just like a ball of chicken fat. LOL They originally tried to smash it down into a mammogram, but that was NOT gonna happen. LOL
    Since I've lost 80 lbs recently, this little lump is a lot more prominent. I'm going to have it removed, at the cost of a small scar. It's not too noticeable, but I'm tired of it being that little something people's eyes go to when I'm wearing a wide-collared blouse.
    If yours gets annoying, like mine, just have them take it out. I'm going to have mine removed, and it will be a 1/2 hour in-office procedure. Easy peasy.

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  4. I'm not worried at this point. I think if it ever got bigger I would head straight for the doctor's office again, but I'm content to know that it's not a problem right now.

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