Need some help please

suncrest · New User Joined: 07 Oct 2008 Posts: 1

Hello,

I want to thank everyone for helping me out here. I am going through a little health anxiety stress and don't know if I should continue to pursue the issue or relax. I obviously don't want anything to be wrong and am happy when I get good news but for some reason I can't get over this fear of having lymphoma. Here is my story:

About 6 months ago I had jaw pain and when rubbing my face noticed a small lump near my ear. I went to an ENT who sent me for a cat scan and u/s and it is a lymph node of the paratoid gland but looks normal, has not grown is size and stayed at .5mm. Relaxed and then about 5 months ago I noticed three lymph nodes under my right armpit. One is near my breast and two are in the lower armpit. Not sure how long they have been there because I never checked for them. Now, since I am an extreme person I went to see a general surgeon who said that they were all within normal limits, less then 1 cm and not to worry about it. He also gave me an ultrasound on them and said they were normal. I still could not relax so I went to a breast clinic to rule out breast cancer and again had another ultrasound. The largest lymph node is .9cm. The surgeon also did a FNA and it came out as a reactive lymph node. I was told that he looked for lymphoma cells and could not find any. I was happy with the results but still could not relax so I went to see two more haematologist. Again, they both said that they were within normal limits and refused to do another biopsy. One of the haematologist that I saw is a professor at a University Hospital in London and I was told that he was the best.

Throughout all this, I also started getting stomach pains so I went to a GI and had a negative colonoscopy.

Within the past 6 months, I have had three sets of normal blood results, I am just still so nervous.

Within the past 6 months, my lymph nodes have not gone down in size but have not increase either.

Here are my questions:

One of the lymph nodes in my armpit feels flat and weird to me but all the doctors are saying that it is soft, mobile and resting on a rib. I am still not sure because when I more it, it still feels like an odd shape.

I can't relax because I go on the internet and read all these horror stories of negative bloods, fna's, etc....so I can't relax and I am afraid of them being too late if there is something to find.

The other reason why I am nervous is because they only did a FNA but none of the 9 doctors that I saw will do the excisional biopsy.

Sometimes I get sharp pains in the area around my armpit lymph nodes but I am not sure if it because I sit there and rub them 12 hours a day.

I could have a follow up with the professor Haematology on Monday but I am not sure if I should go or not. He literally told me last time to stop seeing doctors and that the lymph nodes were fine. I would like to go back and get another confirmation that they are okay but I am afraid to go because I don't want him to get so annoyed that he does something I don't need done either.

I have no real symptoms besides exhaustion but I also have three children under three and we live in England without any of my family, so I have no help.

So....my question is should I go to the follow up of should I get over this, relax and enjoy my life?

Thank you for all your help. What would you do? Would he lymph nodes have grown over the past 6 months if they were lymphoma and would I have other symptoms?

ChemoMan · Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 2:28 pm Post subject: Re: Need some help please

Hi suncrest
I am sorry to hear of your concerns. Most lymph nodes are due to infection so try to relax a bit about this. Even if your worst fears come true, Lymphoma is treatable and the treatments are very successful.
To answer your question , whether you want a follow up is up to you. FNB's are no good at detecting lymphoma's due to frequent false negatives, amongst other reasons, and the only way that you will know for sure is to get a node excised. Blood tests and ultrasound will not detect lymphoma. Your symptoms while not dramatic are certainly worrying you and perhaps a biopsy might put your mind at rest, and that could be all the reason you need. Try and stay away from the internet cancer sites until you have this resolved, it will help to lower your stress.

I hope all goes well and your worries go away. Good luck Smile

_________________
Age 52
Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma
Stage 2a
Finished six cycles of R chop 21 26th May 2008
Officially in remission 9th July 2008
Remission confirmed 1st October 2008
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9620

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