Worried about lymphoma

[BlueIris]

Best of luck for today!

[O_O]

Guys, I have great, amazing news. They are 99% sure I do not have cancer.

After seeing my GP and my consultant, both of whom were quite evidently concerned, I was very prepared for a bad diagnosis. Coupled with the multiple right-sided cervical lumps, three of which were particularly noticeable, painless, immobile in some cases, I was struggling to find an alternative diagnosis more likely than cancer. I truly do not believe this was my health anxiety taking over. My anxiety was not excessive - only what might be expected based on on the circumstances, and the feedback from my GP and consultant.

Today I saw a second consultant who scanned my neck. He found multiple enlarged nodes, and the one on the side of my neck in particular was suspicious. It was round, black, and 1cm on its shortest axis. He told me a diagnosis of lymphoma was possible but that only a biopsy would confirm.

They did the biopsy immediately and half an hour later I was called back in.

The consultant immediately told me that there was no sign of cancer after all and that the only signs were of reactive nodes. He is 99% sure this is the case. He doesn't know why this could have happened but thinks it could be viral and has sent me for a blood test.

I will see him again in two months, unless the nodes increase in size or more appear in this time.

I was completely prepared for a cancer diagnosis - as was my GP and consultant, and probably several people on here, I believe! - and I'm just so shocked by this good news. I'm just coming to terms with it.

I think everyone worried about lymphoma should read this thread, particularly those with miniscule nodes who can only feel them if they poke at at their necks for hours. If I can have multiple, hard, painless nodes, large enough to visibly protrude from the skin, and still not have cancer, then... everyone else's tiny little nodes are probably fine too.

Also, measuring is pointless as Fish said. I was sure my neck node was 1.3cm wide, but it was only 1cm.

The 'massive' submandibular one was not as big as I thought, and I was feeling a lot of surrounding flesh that made it seem bigger.

Thanks so much for everyone's support on here.

[BlueIris]

Ohhh, congratulations, that's wonderful news! You've been so brave over this, and you should be proud of yourself.

[O_O]

Ohhh, congratulations, that's wonderful news! You've been so brave over this, and you should be proud of yourself.

Thank you! I think the vast quantities of diazepam I took this morning (plus some codeine for the biopsy) probably helped. All prescription meds now relegated to the back of my cupboard again you'll be glad to hear!

[Dying_Swan]

Absolutely brilliant news! What a huge relief for you. Hopefully now you can move on. I think you've dealt with all this admirably and you should be proud of yourself.

[glassgirlw]

This is fantastic news! Everyone is right, you handled this amazingly well. You should be so very proud of yourself!

[KK77]

Pleased you've got good news and hope you can move on from all this and get on with your life now. You handled situation well

TYS Status: Issued

[NancyW]

Now THIS is what I wanted to hear this morning!!

Amazing that you hot a biopsy this morning and results immediately, I've never heard of that.

So happy for you!!

[ThirstyMMM]

That is amazing news! I am so happy for you that you not only got the results so quickly, but more importantly it was all positive news!

You’re so well articulated and have been level headed throughout what has been a stressful time, so you should be proud!

I just hope I can get over my current worries about my nodes/submandibular salivary glands/dry cough. My doctor gave me some ventolin and as a secondary option he even referred me for an x-ray of my chest if my cough doesn’t improve in time, but I don’t like the radiation associated with x-rays (no matter how small), so will keep it as a backup option. I’m heading overseas for a week and a bit, so if it hasn’t improved will pursue this as a potential scan.

[Hypo27]

That’s awesome news so glad to see it turned out not to be cancer!