Advice on what to check for...

parrot · New User Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 6

Hello all, I am a 25 yr old girl. I am going to be going to a clinic tomorrow to check out some of the symptoms I have been having. I have heard that some people who have HL/NHL have been brushed off by their doctor's in the beginning. So I'd just like to know what sort of "investigation" I should push for.

I am really very scared. I know I've had a lump under my left armpit for +/- 6 yrs, that I did have checked out but the doctor said it was a cyst and I could have it drained or not (I chose not). Now I'm thinking what if this is not a cyst and whatever I have has been around for 6+ yrs. I have a small but firm "bump" just under my right ear, as well as one just above my right collar bone. The one that worried me the most is what seems to be a "cluster" of something just under my right jaw. Unlike the other bumps it is not smooth... it is bumpy and irregular.

Though I have not experience any other symptoms of HL/NHL (aside from fatigue... but I'm not sure if this has more to do with working alot), I am still very worried. I did have weird itches on the side of my face often when I was in grade 11... but I figured this was due to washing my face too much since I had bad acne. But could this have been an early HL/NHL symptom...

I know you are not doctor's, and I am not hoping for a "diagnosis" on the internet. It just seems from all that I've read that this is for sure something really serious. I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance that it might not be something serious. Are there any non-serious conditions that can be characterised by a "mass" under the chin and some enlarged nodes??

I am saying my nodes are enlarged, though they are still reletively small. They are just bigger then on the other side. I am quite skinny and I read that thin people tend to be able to feel their nodes more.

So, is there any hope that it's not cancer? Or does a matted "node-like" mass pretty much spell it out?

Thanks so much everyone.

I really admire how strong you all are.

parrot · New User Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 6

Well I went to the clinic and she just felt my nodes form the surface (like rubbed my skin). She said they were normal -even the one under my jaw. And to come back if it gets bigger.

Now, I was just wondering if this "massaging" is a normal way to check. Cause when I feel that strange node (yeah I admit to playing with it), I grab it throught the skin to get an idea of how it is - and to see if its changing. Had I just been "massaging" I would have probably never found it... I got an idea of how it is by actually grabbing it and rolling it around between my fingers. It has been there for at least a month with no change. The ones behind my ear for two years at least, with little or no change, and if anything they got a bit smaller.

I tried to tell the doctor to grab it and see how it's kinda bumpy and big. But she just massaged it and said it's normal and not to worry.

Now, of course I'm second guessing myself. I checked it out one way and she did another... normal that we "see" different things. I am gonna try to find a doctor that will "grab" it and see.

Did any of you have this problem? Is it normal for them to just check by "massaging"?

Maybe I am being paranoid. I am so sorry if I am offending anyone that has been affected by lymphoma with me worrying. That is not my intention at all.

I will get a second opinion.

Can anyone share how things went for them, and if they had to "push" for anything? (I am in Canada if that makes any difference). I couldn't help but feeling like I was being rushed. She asked if it hurt, I said "not at all"... so she said, "well that's normal". From what I have been reading, NO SORENESS is NOT a good thing.

Sorry and thanks.

Boldelly

Hi my daughter was not really even sick except for a cough that would not go away. I did not even know that she had swollen lymph nodes. The way they found it in my daughter was through a chest x-ray. She did not have night sweats, loss of weight, or any of that. She had some itching on her arms but she is 16 and she shaves her arms so we thought that is was that. She was feeling a little tired but other than that she was fine. That was hard when they diagnosed her and she had to start chemo because she would cry and tell me she was not even sick before and now they were making her sick. I would just as if they could do a simple x-ray of your chest. There are lots of lymph nodes in your chest (which I did not know this until she was diagnosed) that is where most of her cancer was in her chest, neck, arm pits, left shoulder blade and under her left rib cage. Our oncologist said she probably had the Hodgkins for about 2 months before we found it. This does not mean that you have Hodgkins but if you are not happy with your dx from your present doctor, by all means get a second opinion, what can it hurt.

I hope you have good luck with this and continue to post so we know how you are doing. This is a great site for support the people are really helpful and supportive.

Best of luck.

effcancer · Regular Joined: 21 Apr 2007 Posts: 22

not to alarm you... but I'd for sure get a second opinion on that. Try going to a head and neck specialist. Tell your doctors that they can't just send you away saying you're normal. They can get blood work up done like they did on me which showed nothing.

I think it'd behoove you get a biopsy done. You can never be too careful. Its your body, and you're allowed to be alarmed if something is up.

I say push to get it further checked out.
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So, this sucks.

rlee · Site Admin Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 245

parrot,
This can be a difficult situation. The key in lymphomas is that lymph nodes will grow and stay large. They tend not to just come and go. In addition, how they feel on exam will also give a clue to what might be going on. Considering if you've had these for 6+ years, it makes the likelihood this is cancer lower. The definitive answer will be to do a biopsy, but really this will need to be a decision between you and your physicians. A 2nd opinion never hurts if you're really concerned. Good luck
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RLee, MD

Any information provided is NOT intended to provide specific medical advice to users but rather to provide users with information to help them better understand their health condition and related care. All readers are strongly encouraged to consult with a qualified physician for answers to their personal medical questions.

parrot · New User Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 6

Thank you everyone!! I will be making an appointment for a second opinion. I will try to get referred to a specialist. Now, I am not one of those people who will be told over and over that it is "nothing" and still worry... but I really feel that I was not taken seriously at all. No offense to the doctor, but for the amount of time she listened to me before interruption or in the way she felt my nodes or rushed me... I do not feel like her "normal lymph node" diagnosis can be relied upon.

Rlee, just for the record. The one under my arm was there for 6+ years... the really weird one under my jaw was just noticed a month ago (maybe closer to two didn't mark the day off or anything). I did wait cause I have a tendancy for tonsil irritations and didn't want to jump the gun... but after a month or two I got worried a bit. The one under my arm had been checked out when I noticed it. But now, with all this I can help but thinking "what if"... what if that's the beggining.. "what if" the other nodes have been screwy for many years and I just never noticed. I know it's unproductive worrying but just so hard to stop. It's not as if I went around checking my glands all the time through the years.

The doctor even said "stop looking for things or you'll be sure to find lots of bumps" saying that since I am thin it's normal that I can feel my nodes...

The thing that gets me is she kept saying come back when it gets bigger or if it starts hurting... isn't the whole point to get it ASAP (if there is something)?

Sorry for going on and on again. But I am worried, and somehow just writing how I feel about this does help me relax before bed. I just can't wait to get to the other doctor who will hopefully take more attention to it before deciding if it is not overly concerning or if further tests should be done.

I just want an answer... either stop worrying about out or it is someting and start treatment. This "limbo" is really stressing me out... working very long hours to pick up the slack (temporary at least) and worrying my brains out is really making me very very tired. Plus with moving in July and the packing. Sorry to complain, but I am feeling very close to my wits end lately. And then to waste my one day off waiting to see that doctor and getting nowhere... nowhere besides making me second guess myself (am I worrying for nothing) and her...

(sorry for the venting)

Thanks again all!

sheribelle

hey parrot
it's June now, did you go to a different Dr. ? did you get any better results? I'm very curious,
I've been having ear pain/ throat pain/ swollen side of my face, since New Years Eve, and been hoarse or without much voice for most of that time.
I'm having a pet scan this next week, ... I'm nervous about tonsil cancer.
Also was dx last month with CLL Chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Your posts have my interest up, what did you find out ?

hope it was good news,
sheribelle
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May2007 diagnosed with leukemia

parrot · New User Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 6

Hi Sherribelle,

I did not find anyting else out yet. I had gone for a second opinion, and she felt all my nodes. And even ones that I thought were a bit elarged, she said they were normal. The one under my jaw, she said was not "normal".

I was scheduled for a biopsy, which turned into going there to get "poked" and sent for an ultrasound. This doctor was not sure if it was a node or salivary gland.

That was a month ago. Then I lost my Medicare Card (I'm in Candada). In the middle of moving and working like a nut. Haven't even got the renewal in the mail yet, so I am waiting on that, and then I have to wait on my card to come in. (I can't afford to go to all these things and pay for them each time...)

So, I am waiting. Trying not to worry. Nothing had grown nor changed, except for lately I have a very very dull ache where the enlargement is; but that might just be in my head too ot cause of the stress.

Thanks for asking, and I hope all goes well with you too from here!

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