Stroke

[emartin]

I have a lump on my neck for the last 5 months and my ENT told me my carotid artery is swollen but due to employee/employer relation he's unable to treat me. For the last 5 months I have had occasional dizziness light headedness, headaches, slight balance issues, when walking down the hall i'll intend to veer right but instead i'll keep walking straight and into the wall. I just feel foggy and have also had vision problems in my left eye occasionally. I only experience these symptoms 50% of the time and i'm not sure what triggers it. Would these be caused by the swollen artery? I have 2 little kids and i don't want to have a stroke! I don't have insurance either so I can't really afford to have a lot done but if it's really a serious problem and I need to go to the ER then I will but I don't know if I should go or not; I just don't know if it's a big deal or not. HELP!