The Lump, cont.

I go back to work following day, Tuesday. I work at a local hospital as a nurse case manager, so I go all over the hospital. It was my goal that morning, as I was making rounds, to find someone from the vascular team. I run into a vascular nurse practitioner, whom I trust wholeheartedly. I ask her to look at this lump, I didn’t mention having it scanned yet to see what she thought without having any bias. She says, with a scared face, “ummm…I don’t like that!” She says it concerning for an aneurysm, and that I need it scanned now. I then proceed to tell her that I had the ultrasound tech scan it yesterday, while she was scanning my thyroid, and she said it was just a vessel. She said it didn’t make sense for it to be just a vessel, this is obviously a change, and something caused the change.

I’m laying down for my stat ultrasound and the tech starts scanning, I am so nervous. I’m not sure what she’s going to find but I have a feeling in my gut that it’s not good. She finished scanning and says your ordering physician will call you with your results. In no time my family doctor calls and says “the lump” is actually my subclavian artery. But good news, there is no aneurysm or any other abnormality seen. I say that’s great, but that makes no sense. Why would my subclavian artery just pop out on its own? He agrees and says we need to do further testing but wants vascular to be officially involved at this point. Within a few days I get into see one of the vascular surgeons.