I noticed some time ago, several months at least, that my pants seemed to be tighter on the right side than on the left in the upper thigh area. I just figured that there was something wrong with my jeans - maybe there was a flaw in their construction. It took me until last week to figure out that there is some swelling in my upper thigh on the right side. I t doesn’t hurt at all, but I felt my leg that night and there it was. Just… something there. It’s about the size of my hand and starts several inches above my knee, right on the front of my upper leg.
So… I felt really scared. What the heck is that?
I made an appointment for this past Tuesday, but then rescheduled for today. I guess I was just hoping that if I closed my eyes it would go away.
Nope. My pants are still tighter on the right side.
The doctor examined me today and measured my legs. One is bigger around in circumference than the other, by about 3/4 of an inch. She decided to schedule me for an ultrasound, and I’m going March 8th. She wrote on my chart “soft tissue mass” and told me not to let that freak me out - she had to put something on the chart in order to bill the insurance company.
I had the worst day at work today, but that’s a whole 'nother thread. I can’t sleep. So, I Googled soft tissue mass.
This is the part that is freaking me out;
Clinical Details: The most common clinical presentation is an enlarging painless soft tissue mass in the thigh, typically 5-10 cm in diameter. Two thirds of tumors are intramuscular. Rare signs and symptoms include episodic hypoglycemia and rapid tumor enlargement during pregnancy. Additionally, MFH has been associated with hematopoietic diseases such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and malignant histiocytosis.
Will you please pray for me?
I can’t pray for you, but I can send good wishes and mention that many soft tissue masses are nothing to worry about. I think most are benign, but I do not even play a doctor on TV so take that with a large dose of salt and wait for two Docs to check in, in the morning.
If the little bit of Medical knowledge I have picked up from my sisters is correct, the benign outnumber the malignant nearly 10-1. If you are young the chances of benign go up even higher. Slightly more dangerous for females than males. My Sister the RN, had a large benign Fibrous {latin word I cannot remember} removed with no after effects.
Oh, goodness. That’s so scary. I can imagine you must be very anxious right now.
The best hope I have to offer you is this: Last December I started losing my hearing intermittently. I would have dizziness/nausea spells. One doctor commented I was presenting textbook symptoms of Meniere’s disease, an incurable inner ear disorder that can result in permanent hearing loss. I totally freaked, and the stress made me sicker. I googled everything I could and it made me even more freaked out. I began to have panic attacks and would lose more hearing and my vision started to get blurry. I was losing my coordination and I couldn’t concentrate. I was worried I might have a brain tumor, which at that point seemed like a legitimate concern.
Eventually, I talked to the correct doctor. She looked at the results of my hearing test and came to this bone-chilling conclusion: I had a sinus infection and a stress-related migraine problem. She gave me some pills for the migraines.
It’s been months and I’m completely symptom free.
I know you’re scared and I hope you don’t feel like I’m dismissing your fear. I’m just trying to say in the best way I know how: It could be anything. For every terrifying explanation for what is happening to you, there is a benign one as well. Right now you just don’t know… and not knowing is scary, but it also means there is a good possibility that nothing will harm you and you will be fine.
keeping you in my thoughts and sending warm wishes your way
Olives,
Christy
Googling symptoms always cause fear. It’s a path I’ve trod myself, and still do it, but I also try to dismiss the discoveries as "there are some worst case scenarios here, but I’ll still be optimistic and err on the side of a) I’m probably fine, and b) Checking with a doctor.
purple, keep in mind that just because a soft tissue mass in thigh is the most common presentation for that particular disease, it doesn’t mean that it’s the most common CAUSE of that particular symptom.
Let us know what happens. {{{{{{{{{purple}}}}}}}}} I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Several years ago I had a friend with a 10 year old daughter who had the same type of thing. There was a growth on her leg that the doctors could not figure out. They went through all sorts of tests and MRIs and all that stuff. Mother googled all the possible causes. Everyone was in a State of Fear. Finally, the doctors said “We need to operate.”
They did, and what they found surprised them all - it was a rock! A tiny stone embedded in her leg which her body had started to react to by growing tissue around it.
All they can figure is that she scraped her leg at some point during her childhood, it had healed with the pebble inside, and finally it was found because a lump was growing.
Thank you all for replying to me. I think I’ll call Monday and see if there are any earlier openings for the ultrasound. My appointment will be at the U of M in Ann Arbor, so I don’t know if there’s any leeway there - they’re probably booked solid until March 8th.
A friend of my husband had one of these on his back. It was huge and getting bigger by the time he went to the Dr. It was a benign giant lipoma. This is probably what you have.
I know that its hard to not worry until you know for sure though. I will absolutely pray for you.
Sorry to hear you’re under such worry. I know it’s only natural to think of the worst case scenario, but as others have pointed out there is a good chance it is something benign. You’re definitely in my thoughts and prayers.
Amen. Tell you about one of my worst experiences. This was a coulpe of years ago and sorry if you find this too explicit, but when taking a shit a discovered that the toilet bowl was red with blood. I went pale in an instant and stared at the red-white inside of the toilet for minutes, I mean it was a lot of blood, I got an instant fever, didn’t move an inch for minutes. I was so terrified; I mean I started thinking about my kids, growing up without dad. It was that bad. I was sure this was the end.
What did I do? Tried to keep my face, sumbled to my desk - this was at work - and googled on the symptoms. I tell you, the result of my keywords screamed “cancer” like a ghoul of death with ten thousand faces. Absolutely horrified, I mean trembling, I called the hospital. The woman asked for details and then said: “Oh, no prob, that happens, sometime you take a shit and one of them superficial veins in rectum breaks and there you go.”
I cannot describe the relief I felt, as you can imagine.
The moral of the story: don’t trust google, and hopefully my experience might give you some hope that even “bad” symptoms can be “nothing but…”
After I click submit, I’ll send a prayer nonetheless.
