chronic ear pain

[tpw954]

Last summer I noticed that there was a very slight but constant dull ache that seemed to be in the area on the upper right side of my throat.  This was easy to ignore as it was slight.  By the Fall, I noticed that I was waking up at night rubbing the back of my head behind my ear and my upper neck where my head and neck meet.  I thought it was strange that I always found myself doing that because I didn't feel any symptoms or reasons to do so.  Then by November, I started experiencing severe sinus headaches and ear pain in my right ear. I went to the doctor and she said my ears looked fine.  She gave me antibiotics and that seemed to help but my symptoms of sinus pressure and ear pain didn't completely go away.  My husband changed jobs and we didn't have any insurance for a few months and so in January when I started experiencing the worst pain I had ever felt in my sinuses, there was nothing much I could really do except take old antibiotics that I had around the house which seemed to help a little.  My symptoms in January were severe pain in my right ear, ringing in my right ear, sinus pressure and severe headaches, sharp pain in my right eye and face and right side of nose, sore throat in upper right side near ear, it felt like an elephant was stepping on my back, my neck felt constricted, started noticing that I sounded like a teenage boy because my voice would sometimes make that hoarse sound that teenage boys make.  I also noticed a constant dull pressure in two places directly behind my ear.  Kind of where your antenna on your cell phone would rest if you were talking on it.  These severe symptoms decreased after two months but still were always there.  In April when I got my insurance again I went to a doctor because I was afraid that I may have a tumor in my head behind my ear.  This doctor ordered an MRI and after it was done, the MRI people sent me home with these huge films for me to take back to him.  I looked at them and didn't think I could really read them but then noticed there were two large lumps that appeared to be on the right side where I was having pain.  One was a lighter grey and the other was more white.  They were both pretty smooth looking but between the two of them, they seemed to take up most of the space of my maxilary sinus.  I noticed that there was a white line that went from my neck to just outside of one cystand then curved to reach just outside the other cyst and then back up my neck bones where it goes into my head.  I researched on the computer and saw pictures of cysts and they said that white line could mean that it was blood leading to cancerous cysts.  When I went to the brain or head doctor (not ent) he told me that they were just cysts in my maxillary sinus on the right side and not to worry.  He was younger - has kids my kids ages and he also only glanced very quickly - only a few seconds before determining this was nothing to worry about.  I went home feeling better about it but all the while my right ear has a dull ache as does my upper right side of the throat.  A few weeks ago I noticed that when I turn my neck two bumps poke out on each side of my thyroid.  They are about the size of a golf ball but only in diameter as they are very large but not deep at all.  As I said, you can only see these bumps when I turn my neck.  In the meantime, I have noticed that I am getting dull aches all over places that I would consider to be where my lymphatic system in my head, and neck and then right above my collar bone would is.  Many times I even feel this dull  ache in my breasts as well.  Especially in my left one which is strange to me because I am feeling most other problems in my right side.  I am afraid and don't know if I should go back to another doctor or not.  Other than these dull aches and pains, I feel great.  No night sweats, no weight loss, no fatigue.  Still, I am afraid that this could be some type of Lymphoma or something.  My grandma has non-hodgkins lymphoma and her dad had lukemia.  My daughter who was five at the time had to have a one inch lymph node removed to check for cancer last year as well.  She has swollen lymph nodes in her neck that are still there and have been there since March of 2005.  Her lymph nodes tested out as highly reactive but not cancerous.  We had just moved into this old house and did some major demolition and I wonder if there is something we were breathing to get these problems.  It is time for me to take her back to the doctor as well but I am afraid because what if they decide they want to do more blood work or ct scans or surgerys.  My 7 year old son's lymph nodes became swollen as well in October of 2005.  One of the doctors said that we were going to have to go the same route with him as we did with my daughter.  I freaked out and went to stay with family out of state to see if it was something we were breathing in the house that was causing these problems.  I took my kids to doctors out there and they told me that yes, my daughters lymph nodes felt like they were very enlarged and reacting to something but that my son's although were enlarged were not anything to worry about.  My husband at the same time ended up with a bump on his neck.  I had him go to the clinic and the doctor said it appeared to be just fatty tissue - starts with a lipo or something like that.  He said once we got insurance he would do an untrasound just to make sure.  Since thenMy husband hasn't been back because he doesn't worry about that stuff and also they don't appear to be growing.  We have since moved from that house, like I said my husband got a new job and we had no insurance for a few months but my kids symptoms haven't gone away and mine seem to worsen.  Also, I just went to the dentist and I have periodontitis on my upper right gums.  I looked at my gums when I got home and I noticed that I had a white bump and sensitivity on the same area in my mouth.  Then I have had a red patch on my nose with a dimple next to it.  I read on the internet that in melanoma the dimple would be in the middle.  I know I sound totally crazy but I just am trying to think of why I have these symptoms and if my families symptoms and mine are linked together.  I don't know what to do for the four of us.

[tpw954]

I wanted to tell you that these tests were ordered for us.  My daughters tests were ordered from an infectious disease doctor at a childrens hospital AFTER she came back with the diagnosis of reactive but benign lymph nodes which I went along with because I didn't know any better.  

[tpw954]

Thank you so much for your comment.  I know it sounds out there but I know that different things in the body relate to each other.  Each symptom on their own excluding the ear pain, the sore throat, and my daughters lymph nodes that have been enlarged for over 20 months would not be a big deal on their own. That is why I try to mention everything.  I wonder if when we remodeled our home which was built in the 70's if we breathed anything from ripping out the built in wood buring fireplace or we breathed in too many chemicals from sealing the grout on our slate floors... I don't know what it is.  I think we are probably okay and I don't like all of the tests that the doctors want to do like another colonoscopy, to put little stickies all over my legs and give them a light zap to see if I have nerve damage, to order a full body ct scan on my five year old baby girl without telling me the risks, to try to do another removal of a lymph node on her, etc.  Some doctors take it to the limit and others say not to worry.  I don't want to be neglectful to my daughter or myself - in that order.  That is why I hope to hear other people with the same stories and a happy ending.  Anyway, thanks again for your comment and for not joking me off this site.

[Wear/a/Jimmy]

Well, I would say you are reaching....

I think you probably do have a real underlying issue, but a lot of other things I would say are anxiety & stress related.

Obviously you are worried about the big C, and I think your worries are justified. But realisticly there is nothing that can be done over the net. Fortunatley you have insurance, so my advice is....  go use it to its fullest extent. The doctors should love you for that, get your answers from them.

I wish you luck and I hope that the answers are a positive thing for you and your family. If they are accept them, allow those answers to melt in, and let those little nuances like a strange bump on the nose to be what they are ....  strange nuances that make you unique.

I am in no way being critical....  I recently whent through a lot on my own, and unfortunatley my psychy played a lot into it.  It took me about 6 months to accept I am OK.....