CG5246
25-01-18, 14:34
Some of you may have seen a few of my posts about my lymphoma concerns, it has been determined by more than one doctor that I do NOT have lymphoma, and after talking to the doctors and having ultrasounds, a physical examination, and a chest x-ray done, I figured I'd pass on a few things I've learned from the doctors as well as what I learned not to do if you have lymphoma fears. Here is an update of what happened today and it wraps up with what I learned:
I went this morning to get a CT scan and the doctor asked me why I was getting a CT scan. I told him that I had a few lymph nodes that were larger and my doctor referred me to a CT scan to ease my mind about them. He told me that unless they're very large he doesn't think I should have a CT scan over such a large part of my body (neck all the way down to my thighs) since it is a lot of radiation and I am so young. He said if I was 80 then he might feel differently. He offered to do a chest x-ray and ultrasound of my neck and abdomen and groin lymph nodes instead.
The chest x-ray was completely normal, no swollen nodes, no masses, nothing wrong at all. The ultrasound was normal as well...all nodes in my neck and groin area that the doctor could see were under 1 cm (except for one in my groin) and normally shaped. The only lymph node that wasn't under 1 cm was 1.4 cm but was normally shaped and they said it was still in the normal size range. I asked if I should be worried about cancer and the doctor said no.
SO just a few things that I was told today for people who may be worrying about their lymph nodes:
-The doctor said it's normal to be able to feel lymph nodes in your groin area, especially if you are thin
-For me, lymph nodes that I could feel felt MUCH larger than they actually were
-2 cm and under is considered a normal size
-Do NOT go digging for them, even just a little (I know, easier said than done). I drove myself crazy and was in tears doing this a couple times because I was paranoid that a lymph node was going to pop out of my arm or somewhere else so then I'd try to feel for them and then IF I found them, I'd freak out about whether or not it was a lymph node because whatever it is feels larger than I expected. Then I didn't come to a conclusion about whether or not it was a lymph node 2 hours later and all that happened as a result was my anxiety was even HIGHER and my arm was now sore from all the poking and prodding. There were also a couple times where I wasn't looking for a lymph node but I'd massage or scratch an area and it would feel bumpy and I'd freak out wondering if it was a lymph node and then dig and try to figure it out, but once again not be able to figure out if it was a tendon, some fat, a muscle knot, or a lymph node, and the only thing I'd come away with was more anxiety about my lymph nodes/whether or not I had cancer and having just wasted an hour or two on possibly nothing!
Now I have to work on my health anxiety, which seems to be the only problem I actually have...and in order to do that I'm going to have to stop going on this website since my lymphoma fears were triggered here in the first place! I will try to come back once I've completely recovered to hopefully show people that recovery from HA/anxiety is possible. Thanks for everyone's support/advice. I hope this post helps some people:hugs:
I went this morning to get a CT scan and the doctor asked me why I was getting a CT scan. I told him that I had a few lymph nodes that were larger and my doctor referred me to a CT scan to ease my mind about them. He told me that unless they're very large he doesn't think I should have a CT scan over such a large part of my body (neck all the way down to my thighs) since it is a lot of radiation and I am so young. He said if I was 80 then he might feel differently. He offered to do a chest x-ray and ultrasound of my neck and abdomen and groin lymph nodes instead.
The chest x-ray was completely normal, no swollen nodes, no masses, nothing wrong at all. The ultrasound was normal as well...all nodes in my neck and groin area that the doctor could see were under 1 cm (except for one in my groin) and normally shaped. The only lymph node that wasn't under 1 cm was 1.4 cm but was normally shaped and they said it was still in the normal size range. I asked if I should be worried about cancer and the doctor said no.
SO just a few things that I was told today for people who may be worrying about their lymph nodes:
-The doctor said it's normal to be able to feel lymph nodes in your groin area, especially if you are thin
-For me, lymph nodes that I could feel felt MUCH larger than they actually were
-2 cm and under is considered a normal size
-Do NOT go digging for them, even just a little (I know, easier said than done). I drove myself crazy and was in tears doing this a couple times because I was paranoid that a lymph node was going to pop out of my arm or somewhere else so then I'd try to feel for them and then IF I found them, I'd freak out about whether or not it was a lymph node because whatever it is feels larger than I expected. Then I didn't come to a conclusion about whether or not it was a lymph node 2 hours later and all that happened as a result was my anxiety was even HIGHER and my arm was now sore from all the poking and prodding. There were also a couple times where I wasn't looking for a lymph node but I'd massage or scratch an area and it would feel bumpy and I'd freak out wondering if it was a lymph node and then dig and try to figure it out, but once again not be able to figure out if it was a tendon, some fat, a muscle knot, or a lymph node, and the only thing I'd come away with was more anxiety about my lymph nodes/whether or not I had cancer and having just wasted an hour or two on possibly nothing!
Now I have to work on my health anxiety, which seems to be the only problem I actually have...and in order to do that I'm going to have to stop going on this website since my lymphoma fears were triggered here in the first place! I will try to come back once I've completely recovered to hopefully show people that recovery from HA/anxiety is possible. Thanks for everyone's support/advice. I hope this post helps some people:hugs: