About a month ago I noticed a small lump behind my left ear. I have done enough research to know that this a swollen lymph node. It is not horribly swollen... it comes and goes, but I can always feel it underneath the surface when I turn my head. I thought nothing serious of this though. It does not hurt.

Recently, I have been having very sharp pain on the left side, behind the ribcage and underneath. It shoots all the way around to my back and shoulder blades. It pretty much constant now, especially when I take a deep breath, it hurts underneath.

Yesterday, when feeling around, i felt another lump. This one is on the RIGHT side, below my rib cage. It is hard and does not move. It feels circular. You cant see it, only feel it when you press down.I feel NO pain on the right side, only on the left.

I have also been feeling rather ill. Headaches, tiredness, neuseated... but I am figuring a lot of this might be in my head because I am afraid.

Should I wait for my scheduled appointment with my family doctor or hurry to the walk-in clinic as soon as possible? I am quite frightened.

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone, or have any idea what the problem might be?

[This message has been edited by atlantisrising (edited 09-20-2003).]

I also have pain on the left side, pain in the middle of the chest, and several swollen lymph nodes (1 in neck, two around collarbone, two in armpit, and three inguinal). I NEVER go to the doctor. In fact, I haven't been in since my last child was born over 9 years ago. However, I went yesterday because I have been tired and so short of breath. I didn't mention the lymph nodes though. He did do a chest x-ray and it was fine, so I'm just going to ride the rest of this stuff out. I figure if it was anything serious, something would have showed up there. I ended up having a breathing treatment and going home with some antibiotics and prednisone. At any rate, I would be curious to know what you find out when you go in. Please let us know. Also, if your regular appointment isn't scheduled for a while, you might want to get one sooner. You will end up driving yourself nuts with worry if you have to wait awhile.

i expect the lump you feel at the bottom of yr rib cage is in face yr last rib.
when i press it, the end has a smooth round feel to it,which does feel like a lump.also your general nausea/tiredness as you said is probably psychological because you are worried.i have pains in my ribs sometimes & a dull ache below my left ribs,but not sharp pains.
Also this is to the person who had the chest x-ray... i am sure you have nothing serious wrong anyway, but x-ray's only show bone mass,not soft tissue, so an x-ray would not rule out any underlying problem unless it was (rib) bone cancer or a bone abnormality.you would need an MRI or CT to determine another problem.However the shortness of breath you had could have indicated a partially or collapsed lung which would have course shown up on the x-ray or a lung tumour.