Urgent referral for groin lump. Very worried.

[niknakx]

Hi everyone, it's been a while since i've come to this site. Last year I had an incredibly bad period of health anxiety which caused me to lose 2 stone of weight, start medication and try CBT. I managed to get through that rough time, come off my medication and complete my therapy. I was doing a lot better, until last week.



I noticed a small oval shaped lump had appeared in my groin/hip area. I had come across it a few months previously but thought it was a large vein. So I popped to the doctors not being to worried about it because i'm quite thin and generally quite a lumpy person (clearly my CBT had done some good). I told the doctor all about the lump and she proceeded to have a feel of it. She then pulled a concerned looking face and began to check different parts of my body for more lumps, mainly checking my neck and underarms (I luckily don't have any lumps there) and bombarding me with questions about my general health. She then told me that she was sending an urgent referral for an ultrasound scan and blood tests.



My scan is on Friday and I am beside myself with worry. The combination of the doctor looking concerned and the urgent referral has sent my health anxiety into overdrive. I keep trying to think positive thoughts but it's difficult. It's nice to come on here and read about other people with health anxiety going through the same problems, it does make me feel less alone. I know the doctor is playing it safe and I am very grateful that it is being checked out, but I can't help but feel sick with worry. Do you guys have any advice on how to keep positive?

[RadioGaGa]

Urgent referals do NOT mean cancer. Obviously this must be a lymph node in your groin. Hence why she has checked arm pit and neck.

It's easy for us to say this but there can be so many reasons for an isolated swollen node.

As well, >95%of people referred on the two week pathway/urgent referals do NOT have cancer.

Good luck and please keep us updated

[wilky44]

Could be a hernia. I've had 2

[Aussie11]

I had an enlarged lymph node in groin some years back. I googled and and it sent me in to a panic. Dr sent me for an ultrasound on it and it confirmed that it was fine, yes it was enlarged but probably had been from a previous ingrown hair in that area or some other infection which had caused it to enlarge and never went back to normal. Apparently that is quite common (and certainly more common than any sinister causes). The Dr has done the right thing to send you off but it is just to cover themselves and to put your mind at ease too by knowing that it is all fine. You probably could have seen a number of different doctors and most would have just either said it's no cause for concern or to just watch and wait for a few weeks. This way you wont have to go through the waiting and wondering that we with health anxiety waste so much time on.

[Hypomania]

I also had an enlarged node in my groin.

I had an ultrasound for it as well, turned out to be nothing. However, I poked and prodded at it constantly leading up to the testing, and it's still a little enlarged (likely due to the constant trauma I was inflicting upon it)... but this was over 6 years ago now, and I'm still here to tell the tale.

[Clarice1]

Sorry, hope all is ok. I have had two week referrals from under arm lymph node which turned out to be benign (reactive), also others on my neck that were also fine. Vast majority are! Thoughts with you.

[niknakx]

Thank you all so much for your replies. You’re positive words mean so much to me. I’m feeling better today and your replies are definitely one of the reasons for it :)

I’ll keep you all up to date with the blood test and scan results. Hopefully after my scan on Friday I’ll be feeling more at ease. Fingers crossed!

[niknakx]

Hi guys, thought I would give you a little update. I’ve just come back from my ultrasound appointment. He asked to feel the lump, he then felt it and looked a little confused, he said “has this gotten smaller?” I said I wasn’t sure but I didn’t think so. He said that the referal from the doctor said my lump was 2cm and he thought it was definitely smaller than that.

So he scanned the lump for quite a while and told me that he thought it was either a lymph node or a lipoma. He measured it and said it was about 1cm by less than a cm. He noted that it was very close to the skin and was just sitting underneath it and that’s why I could feel it.

He then went to get his consultant just to double check everything he had just looked at. He checked the photos and then checked the lump itself with the scanner and agreed with what the original man had said. They then told me it was a normal lymph node and they didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, just keep and eye on it.

I’m going to go back to the doctors next week to go over these results and get my blood test results. I do feel better after the scan, especially after hearing that it was only 1cm.

[jojo2316]

Great news!