Thursday, August 27, 2009

Ganglion Cyst???

So Tuesday afternoon I noticed this big lump on the inside of Owen's wrist. He had no idea how it got there or how long it's been there. He has no recollection of having hit it on anything, but it looked like he had a grape under his skin and we were concerned so I took him to Urgent Care to have it looked at. First we saw a Nurse Practitioner and she wasn't sure what it was but was thinking maybe a hematoma. So she went and got the doctor and he came in to look at it. He also seemed a bit unsure but thought it was probably a traumatic ganglion cyst but he's never seen one "that color" (it was a bruised purple color) and he's never seen "one like that on someone his age." So he referred us to an Orthopedic clinic and I got an appt for Owen for this afternoon.

Owen saw the Physicians Assistant for the orthopedist who specializes in the lower arm (elbow to fingers). He agreed that it's probably a traumatic ganglion cyst or a hematoma. He's encouraged by the fact that it has shrunk by about half since Tuesday and wants us to continue with what we've been doing (ice, wrap in Ace bandage, elevate, and anti-inflammatory) and come back on Monday to see how it's doing. Hopefully it will be greatly reduced by then. He did say no to soccer practice (the doc at urgent care had said it would be okay) and then tonight's practice got rained out anyway (yay!), so MAYBE Owen will be doing good enough Monday to return to practicing.

Still not sure what caused it. The PA said it almost had to have been from an injury and he especially liked the idea that maybe it happened at some point Monday night at soccer practice since he fell a few times. But then he also said Owen would have come to us crying/screaming in pain when it happened and he never did that. Owen still maintains that he has no recollection of anything happening that could have caused this.

So we're hoping for it to resolve itself on its own and hoping that will happen SOON. Not sure exactly what the next step will be if it doesn't get better on its own, but I think it will involve either using a needle to remove the fluid or surgery to remove the whole "lump." If I understood him correctly, we will have to determine whether it's a ganglion cyst (filled with joint fluid) or a hematoma (filled with blood) before deciding how to proceed.

So, we're waiting and seeing now. And hoping to see improvement everyday. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow although it's not nearly as dramatic as it was. Or maybe, if we're lucky, there won't even be anything to take a picture of by the morning!

5 comments:

Mary Virginia said...

Yikes Owen! Will be praying about that.
Mary V

Jennifer said...

I get those cysts too... most often on the top of my right hand. Sometimes it takes a while but eventually they go away. My husband did have one that was quite persistent that he had cut out but that's rarely necessary. Hope it has gone away completely now. Poor babe.

Kelly said...

Would love to know the outcome of this - I found your blog after a google search for my 3yo, who has the exact same thing. Please post/email an update if you can. Thanks.

Evonne said...

Kelly, I don't know if you saw the update I posted on 9/21/09. There's really not much to report beyond that (which is GREAT!!!). No one would ever notice anything just looking at his wrist but if you look very closely and you know what you're looking for there is just the slightest hump where the cyst used to be. Kind of like what it looks like if you make the bed with a shirt under the duvet and you can kind of tell there's something under there. I think they said it's the "sack" of the cyst. This sack is no longer filled with anything (had been filled with blood). They said it could fill with blood again at some point but it's not cancerous and nothing that will cause him any harm. We're just supposed to keep an eye on it in case it comes back. If you have more questions just let me know. When I clicked on your name, it doesn't give me an email address or option.

Kelly said...

Evonne, thank you SO much for your reply. Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to email you directly. So glad that it turned out to be nothing for you guys! And now I can be a bit calmer while we wait for the Dr appt next week. THanks for taking the time to reply. Enjoy the weekend!

 
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