judifilksign

Went to a specialist for the growing lump on my thumb.

It is not a ganglian cyst; he was able to rule that out. It could be one of two things, either the nerves have become irritated and are growing and swelling, or it's another kind of lump that is pressing against the nerves. (He told me the name of the type of lump, named after some specialist, but my head just will not keep it.)

When he pressed on it, it sent a jangle to the tip of my thumb, and made me jump. I told him about the thumb getting tingly, and how I "lifted" it to get easement from it.

I got X-rays, which showed it wasn't affecting the bone - yet. The doctor says that it isn't malignant, nor cancer, but that it is likely to keep growing slowly and will start to interfere with movement and maybe blood flow, so it really needs to come out. (I had rather thought this going in, so it was nice to have a confirmation.)

If I needed to KNOW what it was before deciding to have surgery, I could've gotten an MRI to determine which thing he thought it was. I asked whether an MRI would change how he'd treat it, and he said "No," with a grin, and further explained that the biopsy of the tissue extracted would tell us afterward what it was. I guess some folks freak out so much about the idea of being cut that they will get multiple tests before signing up. I don't need to pay more money for the same outcome.

Upshot? I'll need surgery, which I've scheduled for August so that I can still play at ConFluence, and still have some recovery time before school starts this fall.