Yesterday this strange lump popped up on the back of my head. It's very tender, and sort of weeps pinkish fluid.
I've also had a weird headache for the last three days, and in the last few days I've had weird cognitive issues. I keep forgetting important things, for instance, I forgot that my mother had skin cancer until kaio asked me how she was doing. He remembered but I had forgotten! And I've had trouble getting my brain to come up with the words I'm trying to say.
Background info is my lymph nodes in my neck on that side have been swollen for a while, I've had a sore throat on and off for a few months, and sinusitis. (I attributed the last two things to the horrible air quality we've had this spring and summer because of the drought.)
I have some unexplained lab values. Epstein Barr profile that indicates I have chronic or reactivated mononucleosis. Also, my C-reactive protein was 17.16 and keeps going up. It's been high for the past year. Lastly, I've been fighting severe anemia the last couple of years, though I had never had it before then. Iron studies show deficiencies in iron, hemoglobin, ferritin, and red blood cell size and number.
Chronic things I have are diabetes, hypertension, and osteo-arthritis.
I know! I'm a wreck, aren't I? <laughs> It's a problem when there's too much wrong with you that it muddies the waters and makes it hard to figure out what is happening. So today I'm focusing just on the weird lump, the headache, and the cognitive problems. Any ideas, all ye hatrack brilliants?
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
One theory I have is that it's some sort of sinus infection gone wild or something.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
An alien fighting to pop out a la John Hurt? No? Um, no, nothing then.
Good luck. Posted by DaisyMae (Member # 9722) on :
I'd be seeing a doctor.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
You could name her Athena.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Oh, C"MON... Get thee to a doctor. NOW. I haven't the slightest clue as to what it could be, but sinusitis ain't even on the same portion of the head.
Last time I heard of anything even vaguely similar was some dude got shot through the skull (I think from a nail gun at work), and failed to notice that he'd been shot. Finally went to the hospital after waking up the next morning with a headache, and his wife found unexplained blood on his pillow.
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
SPIDERS!!!
Yeah, seriously though. Doctor.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'll just add my voice to the chorus telling you to get to a doctor, Tatiana. This doesn't sound like something to take lightly.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I thought of professor Quirrel.
And just to be contrary, I'll encourage you to post a video on youtube. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I went to the doctor, got them to work me in, and he said I have a staph infection and gave me antibiotics. He said that accounts for the lump, the headache, the swollen lymph nodes and sore throat. He said cognitive issues are something else but probably nothing to worry about. He asked me if anyone in my family had Alzheimer's. Sheesh, no! I took the antibiotics and am applying a heating pad to the lump.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'm glad you were able to get in! Keep us posted, okay?
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Ugh, you poor thing. *hugs* I hope you feel better soon.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Yikes, Tatiana! Hope those antibiotics kick in quickly.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Lump is less tender already. It's not whispering evil nothings to me or anything like that, and luckily I have long hair and don't need a turban to cover it up.
I think the antibiotic is starting to kick in. I took the second dose just now. As for the cognitive stuff, I do think it's from inflammation from having this thing happening so close to my brain. It's on the left side where the speech centers are. Hopefully that will get fixed soon too.
Thanks, guys, for the advice and support.
[ July 13, 2007, 10:42 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I'm glad you are doing better! *relieved
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I'm also glad you're doing better. Thanks for letting us know.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'm really glad to hear that you're doing better, Tatiana!
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Thanks, guys, for caring. I feel a lot better now after dose 4 of the antibiotic. It's sulfamethaxazole/tmp ds. I have enough for 10 days.
Can antibiotics give you UTIs? I felt like I was starting to get one earlier, then I took a cranberry pill and drank a swig of pepto bismol for the tummy upset and now it seems all better.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
It shouldn't happen. You might have some irritation from an antibiotic, though.
Antibiotics can lead to a vaginal yeast infection by eliminating the bacteria acting in competitive inhibition on the yeast. No bacteria around to compete for scarce resources means the yeast can overgrow.
However, the urinary tract is sterile, so there is no way for an antibiotic to make an infection happen there in the same way.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Okay, thanks! That's helpful. That's what I was thinking of. I think perhaps my generalized discomfort in that area was from my gi tract. The pepto bismol is probably what fixed it.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I have been the happy recipient of nighttime heartburn lately, O Yay. You have my sympathies.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Yikes, CT. Do you think you have Barrett's esophagus? I had chest pains for years and nobody could figure out what they were. They told me it was inflammation of the pericardial region, and then another doctor much later told me it was muscle cramping like getting a stitch in your side only higher. Come to find out it was Barrett's after maybe 15 years that it had been hurting on and off. Now I take protonix every day and it's fixed. It usually hurt most at night when I was trying to sleep, and when I ran.
Later on it got to the point where I would vomit any time I didn't have food in my tummy. That's when they figured out what it was.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I think Barrett's usually comes over a long period of time (it is a change in the type of epithelial cells as a reaction to the acid). I don't think I've had reflux for long, but who knows?
I'm sleeping on an elevating wedge, not eating after 6pm, minimizing acidic foods and chocolate, and (*sigh) generally growing into my gerroff stage of life with a marked lack of grace. *grin
I'm also starting myself on ranitidine, which is over-the-counter here. It's somewhat similar to protonix.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Okay, sounds like you're taking good care of yourself. Good girl! Don't make me come up there. Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
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Sheesh, no! I took the antibiotics and am applying a heating pad to the lump.
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