HUGE lump under arm

[dodgen]

My 53 year-old husband has a lump the size of an egg  deep in his right armpit that only recently sort of popped out. By that I mean when he holds his arm up over his head, the distortion is noticeable. He found it a few months ago, but it was much smaller and sort of recessed. Now it is much bigger and painful the way a strained muscle is---it only hurts when he carries things or moves in a certain way. His doctor has ordered a needle biopsy 'stat' and that should happen next week, the week of July 14th. His blood work is normal, a recent chest x-ray showed nothing abnormal (though no one was looking for a lump at that time) and no lymph nodes are swollen anywhere else. He has no other symptoms. My question is: what else could it be besides some type of lymphoma? It is too deeply recessed and large and nerf-bally feeling to be anything skin-related or caused by a hair follicle or anything like that. My other question is: How long after the needle biopsy do we get the results? He did have melanoma 20 years ago and it was successfully excised and he experienced a full recovery. Thanks for any help.


This discussion is related to lump first pain under armpit now aswell.

[katarina777]

Thanks for letting us know, dodgen.  I am sorry and wish you both the best there can be,

[dodgen]

Thank you for your comments. Katarina you were right, doctors first said it was a lipoma, but yesterday's biopsy results confirmed melanoma. Apparently it has returned after 20 years. On Tuesday he goes for a full-body CT scan and a PET scan to determine whether and where it has spread. I appreciate your comments and advice. And Jadpip, it's a good thing I spread that worry out so I sitll have a little left for Tuesday!

I will keep you posted.

[katarina777]

It could also be a lipoma, which is a fatty tumor, and benign.  I had a couple of those and what you describe sounds very similar. Of course I don't know anything but mine grew larger as you describe, it was in-between muscles, and it was the size of a small baked potato eventually.

[dodgen]

Thanks a lot. Then I need to spread my worry out and not use it all up too quickly!

[japdip]

The lump could be a number of things and the biopsy will certainly reveal the diagnosis. I would think (depending on what day of the week it's done) you should have the results in 4 to 10 days after the procedure.