Tuesday, on my commute home from work, I had a little itch on the right side of my lower scalp. I itched it like I normally would and felt something protruding from my head.
“Wait, that’s not supposed to be there,” I said out loud.
I continued to feel my head while gingerly surveying the entire area with my fingers. To compare, I began to drive with the top of my thighs and used my left hand to feel the left side at the same time.
Holy fuck, I have a massive lump on my skull!
Do I go to the ER right now? Do I wait till morning and call my doctor? Would I even make it to morning?
As soon as I got home I did what I always do. My cheap-ass texted my nurse practitioner friend with all the symptoms expecting a full, thorough diagnosis via text:
Next I needed someone other than my 8-year-old, to feel my growth and ensure this was just part of my skull and completely normal:
When she didn’t respond, I killed 2 birds with 1 stone and text my nurse/friend/neighbor to diagnose me:
As you can see, I got no where all evening. Eventually my husband got home and confirmed this was truly a lump that wasn’t supposed to be there.
The next morning I booked an appointment with a doctor. My doctor wasn’t available so I scheduled with another doctor in the practice; reluctantly. I made sure to book it in the afternoon (4:20) as we were being taken to a new restaurant for free and the hell if I’m gonna pass up a free lunch. Am I right?
While at the office we made our normal, inappropriate comments all day. It’s not uncommon for phrases such as “cock-sucker” or “bent me over” to be uttered at any given time. I love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way. As I said before, I’m home.
“So guys, I have this lump on the back of my head and I have no idea what it is,” I yelled over my cube to the 4 other cubes in the room.
Just then my co-worker S was yelping and causing an audible commotion. We can’t see over our cubes as they are about 6′ high.
“Damn nats! Hot Mess, maybe that’s what’s in your head. Maybe you have a nat sack growing on your skull. All these damn nats!”
“Yes!” I giggled. “I love it! Yes! It’s my nat sack and they are going to leave baby nats all around my head!”
By now S was walking towards my cube.
“Or maybe,” she said conspiratorially, pointing her finger to drive home the fact, “you ate your twin in the womb and that’s just your twin!”
“Yes, yes, yes!” I exclaimed in agreement. “We are going with that, it’s my twin! Matilda!”
If one were ever a deceased twin, living in the other twin’s body, you can’t call it Brittany or Michael. Those are just too normal a name for a lump. Matilda is the first name that popped into my head (it was probably her secretly telling me her name) and that would be it’s (her) name go forward.
At The Doctor’s
I got back to the examine room really fast. I wasn’t very happy that I clocked in at 149 pounds but deduced it was because I had a bladder full of piss and my clothes on so I deducted 10 pounds. After just a few minutes the doctor came in. He was an older male who was extremely quick and on time. After felling the lump, he concluded it to be Lipoma, which is a benign tumor. He then measured it. You ready for this?
1.5″ diameter!
He wrote me a prescription for steroids for the tenderness and requested I come back to see if the lump….ahem…Matilda has grown.
Last night, after introducing Matilda to several soccer parents, I had an idea. When I got home from my youngest’s practice, I grabbed a sharpy and headed upstairs to my oldest son’s bedroom. There, he drew the following on my lump:
Yes. I am bat-shit crazy.
I’d be freaking out too. 🙂
Thank you! Glad it’s not just me!
I’d freak out too!!!
thank you! I’m like having visions of them shaving my head and having to operate on my brain or something.
?
I’m actually kind of bummed that it’s not an absorbed twin. I mean, good news that it’s just a lipoma (and if your office isn’t getting mileage out of calling you Fat Head, they’re doing it wrong) but I got all psyched to have found a fellow surviving twin and all you’ve got is a bit of rogue fat clinging to your skull.
LOL! Well there has been a new development since I posted this this morning! I found another lump…on my neck! WTF!!! So does that mean originally we were to be triplets? I’m going to tell the office to start calling me fat head. LOL!
Phew I am glad to hear that Matilda is benign!
I would be TOTALLY freaking out until I’d seen a doctor! I hope you’re feeling a bit better now she’s been looked at.
Well, now I’m thinking Matilda and myself were a part of triplets b/c I just found another lump on my neck. I emailed my doctor because this s*** needs to stop. Ya know?
My husband has a couple of those fat-lumps on his arms and legs. They always freak me out, but he said the doctor told him they are no big deal.
Will you be sad to find out Matilda is no biggie?
By the way, who is the neck lump? He/she sounds like a right pain in the neck, so it should be the name of someone you don’t really like.
Matilda will always be special! LOL! Yes, we need to name the next twin. Ideas?
So, I googled most annoying names, and then got sucked into this wormhole! There are sooo many possibilities! https://nameberry.com/nametalk/threads/141598-What-are-your-top-ten-most-ANNOYING-names
OMG! This is awesome! I would totally use Reneeesme if I knew how to pronounce it b/c it’s truly annoying. I think I’ll google how to pronounce it and maybe use it. Stand by.
OMG….look at this article about the name. Wait till the end b/c it’s HILARIOUS! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renesmee_(name)
“I would never name a real child Renesmee” Bwahahahaha!! You may have found a winner!
Oh my goodness you poor thing! Scary post!
I guess it could have been worse. It could have been a lump on my forehead. Though now I have 2 lumps- one on my scalp and one on my neck so who knows, maybe the forehead is next. I’m heading straight to a plastic surgeon if that happens.
Sending you virtual hugs! ?
Ah thank you! Giving virtual hugs back! 🙂
Haha. So glad it’s nothing serious. Though am loving your colleague suggesting it’s your twin that you are in the womb ?
And now I have a second lump so perhaps I was meant to be a part of triplets and I ate my second twin? I don’t know. I can’t keep up with my family these days.
Oh good grief! You must’ve been a hungry foetus!
Right! It’s a family joke about how much of an ass hole I am when hungry. I love to eat and you will NEVER hear me say, “Oh my God, I totally forgot to eat lunch.” That’s adorable!
Haha I am EXACTLY the same. Who ARE these freaks who miss a meal?!?!
They are anorexic jerks!
Like basically everyone said, I would have been freaking. the fuck. out. What’s the point of having friends in the medical field if they can’t diagnose you via text? *Sigh* Also, the doctor probably just told you it was a lipoma because he didn’t want you to be worried about Matilda. And now he’s trying to get rid of her before she takes over your body, and then your brain!!! (Idea for a horror movie?!)
Ok, if Matilda takes over my body, we are going to have to come up with a better name, cause it’s awful. Additionally, I found a second lump on my neck (I just posted about that) so I may have a war inside of 2 lumps, fighting to take over my body. I named that one Renemsee from the twilight books. A horendous name!
Omg Renemsee might be the worst name, ever. Fitting. But a wimp like that could never take over, so you’ve got that going for you.
Thank you for the support! It just can’t be a lympe node. That is what my nurse friend was concerned about.