This last Sunday, the family wanted to take a hike before my work opened back up, getting us back to our regular routines.
I chose Blackstar Canyon, which seemed to be a fairly easy hike until the end, where it gets rocky. As is my way, I misjudged both my fitness and the water requirements. It didn’t help that it was quite hot on this particular Sunday. So after a half mile, I had a backpack and a 40lbs. baby on my shoulders. It might be the final distance, (which ended up being around 5 or 6 miles of total hiking,) or the de-hydration, or the pressure on my shoulders that finally caused the lump to pop out enough for me to feel it. But the next day, while riding in the car and rubbing my sore neck, I felt a little lump tucked down behind my collar bone.
At first Cyndy and I didn’t think too much about it, but after googling and little, we decided that it needed to be monitored, as it could indicate some sort of infection.
To our surprise it actually got bigger over the next week! Which started us quickly consulting friends and family with some more medical backgrounds. The short story was a resounding, “GET THAT CHECKED IMMEDIATELY!”
We began looking for a doctor that would take a look at my lump, which turned out to be harder than we thought it would be…