Hi Macrowave,

Welcome to Cancer Chat. It's good to hear you've got the referral for the scan as this means you'll get the answers you need before too long, although I appreciate this means a bit of a difficult wait in the meantime.

It's generally best to avoid Googling as it's not possible to self-diagnose and the information can often be irrelevant and lead to further worry. Some people say it helps to keep busy, find distractions and focus on things you enjoy while waiting, to help keep your mind off things.

I hope it's not too long to wait for you to find out more.

Wishing you all the best,

Ben
Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Ben, thanks for your kind wishes - yes you're right Googling can stoke the guesswork for things that should be left to the specialists. However the doctor had already said it was either a tumor or a muscle knot so my question was really just about surgery in general for either.   It would be useful to know if anyone has had neck surgery near the nape of the neck or back of the neck in general, if they wanted to share their experience - obviously I hope it won't come to surgery for me but most stories around the neck area are to do with lymph nodes and this isn't that. My concern really is there seems to be little written at all about nape of neck lumps that aren't glandular related, so it feels like I'm on my own with this one. 

As an aside, and if useful to others I got my date through yesterday for mid May, so that's less than a month to wait until my ultrasound. I think with the covid situation that's not too bad at all.

Thanks

M

Hi Macrowave

Have you had your ultrasound yet? How did you get on?

I have a lump in the exact same place, it's a little painful to touch, it also disappears if I bend my head forward. I have neck, shoulder, arm and hand pain, also suffering from pins and needles in hands, on and off dizzy spells and a constant headache. 

I cant help thinking the worse. I have an MRI scan next week.

Hi [@LucyLocket]‍ 

Thanks for your note, yes my ultrasound was quick and easy. At first they weren't sure on the diagnosis and had to call a consultant in to double-check as they don't see many lumps in that position just under the skin, but it's simply a lipoma and nothing for me to worry about as it appears to have stopped growing. There's no way to tell what caused it and they didn't suggest a biopsy. I saw the ultrasound on screen and it did look a simple, discrete bubble rather than anything growing or extending into other tissues. Such a relief, but I'm so glad I had it checked out. It's natural to think the worst. How did your MRI go?

Hi, did you ever find out what it was ? I have the exact same thing, my ultrasound is in a couple weeks and I'm going crazy with worry  

Did any of you guys get an answer I have this too, s hard movable lump on the left side of my neck, dizzy spells, pins and needles in the top of my neck and some sort of trapped nerve feeling in my hands and feet, I'm so scared to get it checked It gives me such horrible anxiety