Thursday, January 26, 2012

It's always something....

Recently, I've discovered various lumps, bumps and humps on my poor body...No cracks, now, about my age.....this is not just old age. I found.most glaringly, a cyst on my left hand.
Upshot was, after consulting with my PCP, she recommended I see a hand surgeon. Okay. Hand surgeon (I resisted the somewhat gnarly comment about seeing a "left hand surgeon.") took xray to make sure my bones/joints weren't involved, and then he suggested this could be due to past steroid use. Heh. Of course I've had steroid use in the past. All lupus patients do. So what to treat this cyst with?
Why, more steroids, of course. And a splint so I wouldn't use those fingers as much and give my hand a rest.
Well, the cyst faded away, of course, but .....You just knew there would be a "but" didn't you?
I came up with a cyst on my breastbone. More specifically, right below my breastbone.
Back to my PCP. Just to make sure it was just a cyst. Too close to breast tissue for me to ignore it.
She agreed, after a brief examination: "A cyst. And it's not impinging on breast tissue, so let's just watch it and it might just go away."
I agreed. And it's gone away.
But I'm sure it will pop up again, somewhere.
Come to think of it: A couple of years ago, my PCP found a lump in my left breast. Probably nothing, but she sent me to a breast surgeon. This surgeon sent me for an aspiration of the lump.....I watched as the needle went in and sucked out what was essentially, fluid and "junk." Then the contents were sent for exam. It was recommended I have the cyst removed and biopsied. Everything came out just fine. No malignancy. Just a fluid filled cyst.
And that was the beginning of this little series of events.
Can't wait to see where another one will pop up......
Never a dull moment with lupus.