anyone had a lymph node removed?

[salparadise]

i have a lump in my neck, doc said it is probably just a swollen lymph node (though its not in a location that im familiar with them being in my neck) and that if it hasn't gone away in 2 more weeks i'll have to have whatever it is removed.

curious what the hell this is going to be like. my only hospital visits so far have been for stitches on my face and fingers and never any overnights or anything.

so uh, yeah. anyone got anything to tell me about experiences with this or anything similar? plz share, i am uncomfortable with the thought of this.

[silentgods]

my mom had hers removed when she had cancer, you'll probally feel odd needles and pins sensations and feel numb on that side from time to time.

thats the little i remember.

[adamlikesmusic]

My dad had skin cancer on his neck, and had them removed. Left a decent dized scar. I believe he lost a bit of feeling on the side of his face/neck.

I don't know any actual information about them, just that my father had some of them removed.

Free post count.

[salparadise]

crap. i guess i can deal with loss of some feeling and shit. i gotta put down the booze and the smokes and get on a bike.

i hope i dont have anything too bad.

[motorbike]

dude, dont freak out and they(doctors) are bullshitting you. i got cat scratch fever once and they swelled up for like 3 weeks. my doctor told me that basically there is no way of knowing if you have cat scratch unless the animal is tested and people and dogs can carry it also. another thing, your lymph nodes swell up cuz your body is fighting sickness, they swell all the time and you dont even know because they dont get that big. im no doctor but thats is what has been explained to me from the ER cuz a nurse had me under the impression that i had cancer and they needed to be removed immediately, turned out that i just needed to let my body fight off my sickness. dont let yourself become a hypochondriac, get a second opinion before you start cutting things out of yourself.

[ihprstl]

get a second opinion before you start cutting things out of yourself.

[thomas]

A second opinion is always good, but they usually freak out about swollen lymph nodes because lymphoma = not a very good cancer since it spreads so fast through your lymph system. As motorbike said, get a second opinion because they usually biopsy them before they completely remove them.

[xfedaykinx]

i have a lump on my chest i need to get checked out. fuck im a lazy bastard

[partysmasher]

Never had one removed but i don't think it's always necessary. I had one swell up just behind my jaw under my ear and in the end the swelling went and it just hardened and that was that, doctor didn't deem it necessary to remove it. It's so small now i can hardly feel it and it certainly wasn't ever noticeable. Like a few guys before me have said, I'd get a second opinion before you let someone go at you with a scalpel.

[bigmonkey]

I've mentioned this before, but I was in med school for two years prior to grad school, so I know a bit (not a lot!) about this kind of thing. You've got a lot of lymph nodes in your neck, so don't be surprised if you've never noticed this one before. The reason people keep bringing up cancer is that when cancer starts spreading, one of the first places it goes is your lymph nodes. That's why they usually take them out in breast cancer cases because they can grow there and just keep on spreading. I would say that more cancers don't spread, but some do. It depends on a lot of different things. This explanation doesn't really help you, since it doesn't sound like you have cancer (either from your symptoms or from what you said). So.

Should you get it removed? Ask your doc why he thinks it should get taken out. If its not serious and you don't mind the lump, i.e. it doesn't hurt or look really bizarre, there's no reason to get it removed. Say its been two weeks, and they're worried about something serious, like cancer, then you should get it removed. The incision won't be very big, you probably won't feel much while they're doing it, and the scar won't be noticeable. My girlfriend had her thyroid taken out a couple years ago (before we started dating) and her scar is right on the front of her neck and I only see it if I'm looking for it. Obviously, everyone's results are different, but the procedure itself is pretty minor as far as these things go.

Should you get a second opinion? Sure, if you want to. Most folks go to the doctor with a fistful of printouts from WebMD anyway, so I would start there. If your doc doesn't mention something, ask them about it. They're there to help you, not to make decisions for you that you're not happy with. Again, obviously there's cases where docs should help make decisions, and some where they shouldn't. Not trying to start an internet argument.

I hope this just goes away and its a fall cold or something (happens to me a lot). Good luck and feel free to ask me questions or totally disagree with me because I'm an idiot.

[salparadise]

I've mentioned this before, but I was in med school for two years prior to grad school, so I know a bit (not a lot!) about this kind of thing. You've got a lot of lymph nodes in your neck, so don't be surprised if you've never noticed this one before. The reason people keep bringing up cancer is that when cancer starts spreading, one of the first places it goes is your lymph nodes. That's why they usually take them out in breast cancer cases because they can grow there and just keep on spreading. I would say that more cancers don't spread, but some do. It depends on a lot of different things. This explanation doesn't really help you, since it doesn't sound like you have cancer (either from your symptoms or from what you said). So.

Should you get it removed? Ask your doc why he thinks it should get taken out. If its not serious and you don't mind the lump, i.e. it doesn't hurt or look really bizarre, there's no reason to get it removed. Say its been two weeks, and they're worried about something serious, like cancer, then you should get it removed. The incision won't be very big, you probably won't feel much while they're doing it, and the scar won't be noticeable. My girlfriend had her thyroid taken out a couple years ago (before we started dating) and her scar is right on the front of her neck and I only see it if I'm looking for it. Obviously, everyone's results are different, but the procedure itself is pretty minor as far as these things go.

Should you get a second opinion? Sure, if you want to. Most folks go to the doctor with a fistful of printouts from WebMD anyway, so I would start there. If your doc doesn't mention something, ask them about it. They're there to help you, not to make decisions for you that you're not happy with. Again, obviously there's cases where docs should help make decisions, and some where they shouldn't. Not trying to start an internet argument.

I hope this just goes away and its a fall cold or something (happens to me a lot). Good luck and feel free to ask me questions or totally disagree with me because I'm an idiot.

Well, I woke up this morning feeling like complete shit, I haven't eaten anything yet. But it swole up a lot more, I'm not sure if it hurts because it's there or if I'm tilting my neck at all or what. But it's definitely not the most comfortable thing in the world. I feel super weak today, I'm not totally sure if that's psychosomatic because I'm freaked out and I stayed up real late last night or what, my throat hurts a little bit, feels a little tighter and it feels like there's something on the inside in a similar location to where the swelling is.

WebMD seems to always give me really vague options and then I get to the end and it seems to always be worst case scenario stuff.

I feel a little fevered, nauseous, and light headed. but im going to eat a bagel and drink some tea, and see how i feel after that. it seems to have gone down a little bit. also my ear hurts just enough to be bothersome, on that side.

i have to get blood drawn tomorrow, just a routine thing, if anythings real wrong would they be able to tell anything from that?

[thomas]

WebMD is pretty useless IMO. I am not sure if blood work will show much, but it might show an increase in white blood cells if you are fighting off an infection or something. As I said, it may be best to get it biopsied to make sure it is not lymphoma or something similar, but it could be be infected or clogged or nothing. Your weakness also may be just be in your head, I know a bit about that from being a hypochondriac and having general anxiety disorder, but it could be a symptom of pretty much anything if your body is fighting something off.

[salparadise]

WebMD is pretty useless IMO. I am not sure if blood work will show much, but it might show an increase in white blood cells if you are fighting off an infection or something. As I said, it may be best to get it biopsied to make sure it is not lymphoma or something similar, but it could be be infected or clogged or nothing. Your weakness also may be just be in your head, I know a bit about that from being a hypochondriac and having general anxiety disorder, but it could be a symptom of pretty much anything if your body is fighting something off.

yeah, well the rest of my blood work is for anxiety, weight loss, and abdominal pains. the ab. pains have gone away since the order is from may and i didn't go cause i thought i had the wrong paper. but im not sure. i might just be sick, or sick on top of this. i drove 27 hours straight from RI to FL 2 weeks ago, and have had a little bit of a hard time getting to bed, and take into consideration staying up til midnight or later watching the ball games, and on 2-3 of those nights drinking myself retarded...i may have just worn myself out. i also had mono last june, hoping it's not shitty relapse of that.

[sherlock]

this is a weird thread.

good luck with all of your health shit though.

[bigmonkey]

WebMD is pretty useless IMO. I am not sure if blood work will show much, but it might show an increase in white blood cells if you are fighting off an infection or something. As I said, it may be best to get it biopsied to make sure it is not lymphoma or something similar, but it could be be infected or clogged or nothing. Your weakness also may be just be in your head, I know a bit about that from being a hypochondriac and having general anxiety disorder, but it could be a symptom of pretty much anything if your body is fighting something off.

yeah, well the rest of my blood work is for anxiety, weight loss, and abdominal pains. the ab. pains have gone away since the order is from may and i didn't go cause i thought i had the wrong paper. but im not sure. i might just be sick, or sick on top of this. i drove 27 hours straight from RI to FL 2 weeks ago, and have had a little bit of a hard time getting to bed, and take into consideration staying up til midnight or later watching the ball games, and on 2-3 of those nights drinking myself retarded...i may have just worn myself out. i also had mono last june, hoping it's not shitty relapse of that.

Hmm... Sounds like you have a good idea about the best thing for you, and that's rest. Your symptoms do kind of sound like mono, but it could be any of a variety of things. They will be able to do most things with a blood sample, i.e. white cell count like Thomas said. Unfortunately, all of your symptoms could just be the result of anxiety. Not to say screw you for being anxious, but that it might be hard to find a discrete cause or a simple fix. You've probably just got some kind of injection and at worst a plugged up lymph node. I think you're going to be fine.

One thing I meant to say earlier is that its unlikely that you'd have any nerve damage from a lymph node biopsy. The dude's father who had some sensory loss for sure had something more serious than you do.

[salparadise]

ah, bummer, i was actually looking forward to working on becoming physically numb in addition to emotionally.

hahaha.

thank you, though. you've been a big help, both of my parents are nurses, and while i've only talked to my mom, for some reason the 30 years of experience seems to have worn off a little bit, thats the most in depth response i've been given thus far by anyone. too bad you can't take my co-pay.

[bigmonkey]

No problem, I don't know a lot, but I know enough to tell you that you're almost certainly going to be just fine. Let us know how it goes.

[salparadise]

so this is still going on. it started october 7th, it's now practically december 1st.

i have been to the doctor 3 times, i have a biopsy on wednesday with another doctor.

i was treated with azithromycin about a month ago, it made the swelling go down and i started to feel better, but after i finished, i started to feel crappy again.

i've had inconsistent nausea, fatigue, and soreness in my throat, but that has gotten really bad over the past 24 hours. now i just want to die.

IN ADDITION TO THAT, since i last posted, my grandmother died (started acting weird 230am on a saturday night, died 230 am on election day), my friend was hit by a car on his bike and killed, and there was another death, too sensitive to post about. sweet life.

hows that for an update!

[adamlikesmusic]

Hope everything turns around for you. It sounds like things can only get better.

[salparadise]

thanks. i hope so. i went to the specialist today under the impression that i was having the biopsy, but now i have to wait til next thursday. and then an additional week after that to get results back from the pathology lab.

has anyone been to the doctor lately and had them mention you cat scratch fever? three doctors have told me that's a big deal, and my mom has been told that as well, relating to her own illness which is not in any way similar to my own. i think they're all going insane.

[311thrice]

[salparadise]

wow, it's been a while since i've been on this board.

that was a week ago. shit is still fucked, and i am waiting to get a god damn referral for an infectious disease doctor. i've been eating a lot better lately, to see if that combats it, but it's only worked so well.

most of the left side of my neck is swollen, and my throat is asymmetrical, and that's not cool.

big monkey can you tell me anything by having this information/photograph? i mean, anything, i'm at a loss because i can only submit so many symptoms and get so many damn results. i've been getting fucked around by this for far too long. just want it over with. any thoughts are good.

[motorbike]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

i read one of your posts asking about cat scratch fever and i had that shit man. i was almost in tears because about five different nurses told me i had lymphonia. went to the emergency room and i was a fucking wreck. the doctor kind of laughed at me and told me i didnt have cancer so i was instantly relieved. then he started telling me about cat scratch and that there was no way of knowing for sure if you have it, its more of a "you have all the symtoms so we are gonna assume" kind of deal. got some antibiotics going through me and i was fine in a week or so.

on a side note, i have had sore throats every day since i was around twelve years old. sometimes they are harsh, sometimes they are barely there. i have been to two ERs, my family doctor like three times and three different ENTs and they cant tell me whats wrong with me. one ENT told me i had over active acid reflux in my throat and since its not in my stomach i dont feel it there. another told me i need to have my tonsils removed but since it would be a cosmetic surgery (no fucking clue why) my insurance will not cover it. my family doctor told me the same thing, that it was probably my tonsils and caused by tonsil stones because i have large tonsils with BIG holes in them and i have them come out pretty regularly (i brush my teeth three times a day and use mouth wash almost every time i go in my bathroom, had to let you guys know im not some dirty fucker with gross teeth, haha). so ya, good luck!

[salparadise]

So anyway, 3 biopsies later, they've determined that it's Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Total life bummer.

[rtw88]

Man, I don't even know what to say to that except for good luck. I just did some quick research, and it looks like it's pretty treatable, especially if you've caught it early, which hopefully you did. Keep us updated, and I hope everything turns out alright.