Two weeks after giving birth to Grayson we were up in Seattle for a work conference for Jordan. The first night we were there I noticed a small hard lump on the right side of my neck. As most people I immediately think I could have a cancerous tumor or something, and mention it to Jordan. The next day I had put the lump out of mind until we began the drive home. I started to feel crummy and even more tired than I already was, so I took a short nap on the drive home. When I woke up I began to feel pain where that small lump was, upon further inspection of the pain I noticed the lump had increased in size. I told Jordan that I needed to see a doctor immediately, and we went into the local Urgent Care that was open late. The doctor examined me and diagnosed it as a swollen lymph node, told me to put heat on it and it should be fine. I was relieved at the idea that it was nothing serious and nothing I could potentially give to our newborn.
Over the next few days this “swollen lymph node” had doubled, then tripled in size. The pain had increased significantly and I felt I should call the doctors office. I called and was told to just use heat and that was all I could do. I was irritated by this response and went back into the office to be seen by another doctor. This doctor said that she would normally send someone to the ER with this type of presentation, and she had no idea what it was. I kid you not I looked like i had a tumor on the side of my neck! It was SO big! She recommended I use pain killers and if it doesn’t get any better to go to the ER, and to tell them I was having trouble breathing (that I would triage faster). Sure enough it didn’t get better, and continued to get worse.
My mom met me at the ER after I insisted Jordan go to work. The doctor came in and examined me, and for the first time a doctor seemed to have a good idea about what it was. To be sure he ordered a CT scan. A branchial cleft cyst is what he believed it was, and that it was a pretty rare occurrence and it’s basically a birth defect. The CT results confirmed what it was and that it was infected, which is why it had swelled up and was so painful. He informed me that he would be calling in a specialist to take a look and determine what the next step would be. About an hour later the specialist showed up and also confirmed that it was this rare infected cyst, my mom had stepped out with Grayson at this point to get me some food because we had been there ALL day. Based upon the CT scan he believed the best course of action would be to aspirate it, meaning drain it with a syringe. To me that seemed like the quick and easy option to relieve the pain and decrease the swelling, so I said lets do it! He got everything prepped and injected me with a numbing shot, then started the procedure to drain the cyst. For some reason the numbing shot didn’t do the job, I felt everything and it HURT!! He was already in and instructed me to just keep breathing until he could give me another numbing shot. After a second shot he went in several other times and other angles, but the cyst wasn’t draining the way he had hoped. He started to discuss the other options with me and told me that regardless eventually I would need to have this surgically removed, but wanted to wait until the infection was cleared up. At this point I started to notice my body shaking and my teeth chattering, then I felt as if my entire body was convulsing with this extreme shaking/shivering. Mentally I felt fine but my body wouldn’t stop, I was practically bouncing on and off the bed when my mom returned with food for me. On a lighter note the doctor made a comment about how my “girlfriend” ran off with my baby, I laughed and told him that she was my mother! Anyway, back to my shaking body… My mom returned and the look on her face when she saw me bouncing was fear and worry. Through my chattering teeth I informed her that I was fine and the doctor said it was a side effect of the numbing shot, seeing as I had to have two it was more intense than usual. They did give me awesome pain medications that made me quite comical, apparently I was telling my mom that I had to drink like a horse so I didn’t spill and made other weird comments. The doctor decided that antibiotics and rest would be the best option and that I needed to see him the next day in his office.
The next day nothing had changed and the pain had only gotten worse. He was really hoping the antibiotics would kill the infection, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything. He said that they would call me the next day and ask how I was doing and I would possibly have to come into his office again. When they called things had continued to worsen and I was told to come in again. At this point he said it was only going to get worse and that he needed to take it out that night. I was instructed to leave his office and go immediately to the hospital and get prepped for surgery. The last surgery I had was my tonsils 3 years ago, I was nervous and honestly scared. Jordan kept assuring me that everything would be fine. Once we got to the hospital they had a room ready for me to change and rushed me down to the OR, I kissed my husband and baby before they wheeled me in and tried not to cry. All of the doctors and nurses in the OR were super nice and made me feel at ease. I laid on the table and the next thing I knew I was in the recovery room. After a little while there I was wheeled out to see my family, then wheeled up to the room I changed in originally. They briefed me on the incision site and the pump they had placed in there to continually drain the area. I did everything I needed to be able to go home that evening, and was prescribed pain and nausea medications.
I would have a week of recovery before seeing the doctor again for a follow up. It was the week of Thanksgiving, I know right?? I had to be picked up by my mama every day so she could help take care of me and Grayson, my medications basically made me worthless. Without them however, I felt like I wanted to die. I was SO sore and felt like crap, needless to say it was an awful week!! At my follow up visit the doctor removed my stitches and the pump, the removal of the pump was an instantaneous relief. I could not believe it. As I was debriefed about the surgery the doctor asked me if I remembered talking to him about the fact that I was a personal trainer and competed in bodybuilding competitions. I most definitely did not remember that conversation! He chuckled, assuming I didn’t but followed that up with asking if I specifically trained my neck muscles. I told him I didn’t and asked him why, he said that he couldn’t believe how strong my neck muscles were and that they had to clamp it back because the nurse was unable to hold them. I laughed and said I would take that as a compliment! Since then I have finally felt like myself again and still look like I survived a slasher movie, but I am incredibly thankful for the successful surgery and recovery!
Fit Mom Happy Life 