Bone spurs were NOT the problem

[Mrsg]

Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to get a second
opinion when my family doctor diagnosed me with cervical
bone spurs. My complaint had been pain behind and under the
left ear and pain in the back of the neck and head. He
recommended that I take Celebrex and stop running until the
pain was gone. He said that I may have pain for the rest of
my life, or it may be intermittant.

The ENT that I consulted last week found an entirely
different cause for the pain. He found a lump on my left
submandibular gland. This is a gland under the jawline. The
mass is large enough that it is effecting the nerves that go
under and around my ear and across the back of my head/neck.

I had an MRI last week, and a needle biopsy of the lump will
likely be done this week. The doctor says it may be an
infection, or it may be something more serious. He has put
me on a strong antibiotic in case it's an infection. If the
MRI and biopsy indicate that it needs to be removed I may be
having surgery soon.

All of this is a bit scary, but if I had followed my family
doctor's advice instead of getting a second opinion, as so
many of you suggested, I hate to think of what might have
happened. Masking the pain with the Celebrex and delaying
the discovery of this strange lump could not have been a
good thing. Michelle

[Great Marathon]

Well even though we were wrong, we were right! Good Luck
Michelle, and keep us informed.

"Mrsg" <mrsg27@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:<tqqdnU1hx5xE9nXdRVn_iw@comcast.com>...
> Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to get a second
> opinion when my family doctor diagnosed me with cervical
> bone spurs. My complaint had been pain behind and under
> the left ear and pain in the back of the neck and head. He
> recommended that I take Celebrex and stop running until
> the pain was gone. He said that I may have pain for the
> rest of my life, or it may be intermittant.
>
> The ENT that I consulted last week found an entirely
> different cause for the pain. He found a lump on my left
> submandibular gland. This is a gland under the jawline.
> The mass is large enough that it is effecting the nerves
> that go under and around my ear and across the back of my
> head/neck.
>
> I had an MRI last week, and a needle biopsy of the lump
> will likely be done this week. The doctor says it may be
> an infection, or it may be something more serious. He has
> put me on a strong antibiotic in case it's an infection.
> If the MRI and biopsy indicate that it needs to be removed
> I may be having surgery soon.
>
> All of this is a bit scary, but if I had followed my
> family doctor's advice instead of getting a second
> opinion, as so many of you suggested, I hate to think of
> what might have happened. Masking the pain with the
> Celebrex and delaying the discovery of this strange lump
> could not have been a good thing. Michelle

[Great Marathon]

And BTW, I too had/have a "lump" that appears when my neck
and shoulders are very badly twisted, but a few cracks by
the chiro and it's gone. Also a few years ago I was
diagnosed with a mass in my ass, about the size of an
orange. Well much to my oncologists chagrin, after I begged
him to recomend a chiro so my ins would pay for it, it
turned out my pelvis was so twisted that it had bunched up a
knot of muscles that upon exam appeared to be a large tumor.
A few cracks and it was gone. I'm not saying this is so with
you, but lets hope it is.

"Mrsg" <mrsg27@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:<tqqdnU1hx5xE9nXdRVn_iw@comcast.com>...
> Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to get a second
> opinion when my family doctor diagnosed me with cervical
> bone spurs. My complaint had been pain behind and under
> the left ear and pain in the back of the neck and head. He
> recommended that I take Celebrex and stop running until
> the pain was gone. He said that I may have pain for the
> rest of my life, or it may be intermittant.
>
> The ENT that I consulted last week found an entirely
> different cause for the pain. He found a lump on my left
> submandibular gland. This is a gland under the jawline.
> The mass is large enough that it is effecting the nerves
> that go under and around my ear and across the back of my
> head/neck.
>
> I had an MRI last week, and a needle biopsy of the lump
> will likely be done this week. The doctor says it may be
> an infection, or it may be something more serious. He has
> put me on a strong antibiotic in case it's an infection.
> If the MRI and biopsy indicate that it needs to be removed
> I may be having surgery soon.
>
> All of this is a bit scary, but if I had followed my
> family doctor's advice instead of getting a second
> opinion, as so many of you suggested, I hate to think of
> what might have happened. Masking the pain with the
> Celebrex and delaying the discovery of this strange lump
> could not have been a good thing. Michelle

[Eddy Eagle]

"Mrsg" <mrsg27@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<tqqdnU1hx5xE9nXdRVn_iw@comcast.com>...
> Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to get a second
> opinion when my family doctor diagnosed me with cervical
> bone spurs. My complaint had been pain behind and under
> the left ear and pain in the back of the neck and head. He
> recommended that I take Celebrex and stop running until
> the pain was gone. He said that I may have pain for the
> rest of my life, or it may be intermittant.
>
> The ENT that I consulted last week found an entirely
> different cause for the pain. He found a lump on my left
> submandibular gland. This is a gland under the jawline.
> The mass is large enough that it is effecting the nerves
> that go under and around my ear and across the back of my
> head/neck.
>
> I had an MRI last week, and a needle biopsy of the lump
> will likely be done this week. The doctor says it may be
> an infection, or it may be something more serious. He has
> put me on a strong antibiotic in case it's an infection.
> If the MRI and biopsy indicate that it needs to be removed
> I may be having surgery soon.
>
> All of this is a bit scary, but if I had followed my
> family doctor's advice instead of getting a second
> opinion, as so many of you suggested, I hate to think of
> what might have happened. Masking the pain with the
> Celebrex and delaying the discovery of this strange lump
> could not have been a good thing. Michelle

And, of course, you are absolutely certain the second doctor
is right. What if you went to this second doctor in the
first place?