My first biopsy

Today I went in for my first ever biopsy and ultrasound. Both were not very exciting.

The ultrasound shows the node on my neck is 20mm in diameter. A fine needle sample was taken, along with 2 core samples. I was given local anaesthetic prior to the biopsy. No feeling then the fine needle was used, but the first core extraction was a bit of a shock. A tool like what is used for ear piercing is used and it was a bit sudden and I wasn’t expecting it.

Went to the GP about my lump…

Today I went to GP about lump again…

I should probably also add a bit of context here. I had first noticed a lump on my neck (right hand side) about the size of a pea in around September 2010 (1 year ago). I had been to my GP several times about this lump before today, there was initial concerns that it was Lymphoma and a blood test was conducted in May 2011, this test came back with nothing abnormal.  My GP was of the opinion that the lump was a scared lymph node and as it wasn’t painful or didn’t change size I wasn’t worried about. Recently however I had just recovered from a flu and the lump had increased in size, hence the visit to the GP.

This time my GP was concerned that the lump had increased in size and booked me in straight away to have a biopsy performed the very next day.