Well the chest and armpit lumps,bumps, vessel and valley (lymphnodes and vessels ?) were enough that I ran it up the flagpole on both my medical chains of command.


My CCC ENT Cancer Surgeons PA-c called me in response to a message I had sent their office. I had said I saw my regular doctor that week for a scheduled annual physical, scheduled even before I even hear of a cancer.

I said I don’t feelg anyything in my neck or jaw line area at all, tongue was healing fantastic, but I have some lumps in my armpit and chest. Should I work that up through Dana Farber or my regular doctor. My Oncology surgeon had previously said it could be axial lymph nodes due to a TDAP vaccine I received 12/2023 before my biopsy from a work finger laceration. But the lumps were getting more noticeable.

IIRC they initially said their office stopped basically at the lower neck clavicle region. My tumor was so microinvasive I am pretty much just in ENT surgery there at this point. So they said I should bring it up at the physical that week.


I do, my family doctor feels one of the groupings and thought it was something to some degree atypical, mentioned briefly about doing an ultrasound to ensure just some benign growth like lipoma (fatty tumor; harmless if all it is for the most part). We then started talking about my follow up care at Dana Farber.

I said I’d see the cancer surgeon every couple or three months for a year or so for close follow up. Nothing further planned at this point, but I had hoped some imagery would be done PET/CT or something just to rule out no other tumors.

My family doctor says something like, well that will ID anything suspicious in your armpits too. He then wrapped up the visit; before I could process that he was kind of implying he was counting on the other place ordering a PET/CT. The same Dr. had asked me to see if there were any tests my cancer Dr wanted him to order and the like, and the other Dr was like nope at this point it is just follow up care.

So I told my Dr at the physical all that and he was cool with it, and I left before I could string my thoughts together that I didn’t think a PET/CT was in the current plans….and I have these lumps.

So I send another message back to my Dana Farber Dr’s office with all of that development. My Surgeons PA-C called me back saying that they would go ahead and order the PET/CT, it would include that region, but it needed to be like 3 months after the 2/20/2024 surgery for healing and to help rule out false positives and such.

I am like ok, but these armpit bumps have me worried to leave them “growing” undisturbed until then.

That weekend I found more lumps and bumps on both sides, nipples to armpits.

So I send my family Dr’s office another message with all that (I have a prayer with written messages; phone calls I can take and receive a simple measage beyond that we might as well be speaking Swahilli to each other) asking to be seen sooner, these things are noticeably more noticeable (LoL) to me, and on both sides.

So I see my family doctors Nurse Practioner for the next available and then they set me up for a priority ultrasound and male mammogram.

Nothing is really found but some smaller lymph nodes and heterogeneously dense breast tissue that makes small tumor detection difficult.

So now I am like great, did all that, still feels like I have some kind of glandular inflamation lumpy bumpy thing going on in the armpits, and they just said let your doctor figure out whatever it is.

So I do go see my Dana Farber surgeon a Monday 4/29/24.

He is a surgeon, so I’d kind of like him to either do a deep palpation to feel what I am feeling (both the fingertip feel for me and the way it feels when pressed together is what makes me practically scream in my head; SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT HERE. Dont care what an ultrasound or male mamogram says something is up…) or might let me consult with a breast cancer or cancer plastic surgeon who would then feel the lumps and say it is gynecomastia or whatever.

Even then I am kind of hoping they’d feel the chunks and slice some out to biopsy.

With or without PET/CT agreeing.

Either way I need to work that issue to the ground and keep tabs on it.

New thing today, this morning around breakfast is right (same side) jaw pain while opening jaw and chewing.

New, never had before.

Took 4 Ibuprofen for it and gingerly ate dinner.

If it stays low key I’ll just mention it when I see the Dana Farber surgeon in under a week. So far after surgery it is not like it’s possible it is recovery from procedure.

General arthritis or something more sinister is the concern.

Not losing sleep about it, and wont unless it becomes unbearable to eat; then I’ll call his office to if nothing else grease the skids before I head down; so he is aware.

If it mostly subsides I’ll just mention in person and ask about the armpits.

I feel weird even asking my ENT surgeon to feel my armpits, part of it is just that tissue dexterity and feel.

My wife tells the story of an ER doctor pressing on her teenage stomach saying if it was apendacitis it would not present like this…yada…yada…hours later no improvement…they call the surgeon in, one touch and he’s like yep; that’s gotta come out, yesterday, prep her for surgery….and she had a near burst appendix experience…

Why my chest/breast/armpits would just get all lumpy & bumpy and somewhat swollen or sore I have no clue. How bad a possible malady or male manopause kind of thing I don’t know.

Just not a huge fan of relying on medical coincidences; when things in the body are already going squirrelly enough if you know what I mean.

So summarizing the two big nagging questions:

1.) armpit/breast/nipple lumps?
2.) jaw pain?

Not sure what the PET/CT scheduling and confirmation may look like.

I’ll follow whatever recommendations my doctor gives me and will keep trying to pin everything down with the various teams.

If I was getting the full CCC tumor board experience with an oncologist and radiation and all that I think much of that is the standard package for being forwarded to the respective specialist, and I get it mine, thus far us a surgery only case.

I just don’t want to slip through the cracks by being to healthy to not get a full litany of screening; and also not wanting to be frivolous with precious scanner time etc…

Feels hard to not worry about becoming a hypochondriac nor on the other end being a mere spectator on what happens to you in your own health situation.

This forum has been great in getting me to think the correlsonding thoughts for informed consent and the like.

Doctors are great, mine have been fantastic, but trying to figure out how to be thorough and yet effecient with time spent with them.

I guess I don’t know what I don’t know on who I can ask to find a surgeon who knows what man armpit lumps are supposed to be like and to decide to biopsy or whatever.

They are annoying enough as is; unless there was serious risk of pretty severe complications and if I was strongly advised against it; I’d want them gone if they became more cystic or painful feeling regardless of how benign a condition:

So thats my current situation and plan.

Any other thoughts/comments or things anyone would recommend I talk with the doctors about is appreciated.

I’ll update as things go along.

Thank you and best wishes to all,

Chris