Lymphoma?Next steps?

Bae716
Bae716 Member Posts: 1
edited February 2019 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1

Hello to all,

I am female in my late 20s and I am very worried about my right groin lymph node and lymphoma. About a year and a half ago I started getting random fevers and extreme weight loss, I'm already skinny and eat normally, still have trouble gaining weight. Then, I noticed in my right groin, about a year ago, that it felt different, it protruded a bit and I never remember being able to feel my lymph node before unless I had an infection. 

The swelling is painless. It has slowly been getting larger overtime - not too large but it is definetly growing. After a while, followed the night sweats. I also have 2 painless enlarged slightly hard ones under chin. I went to the doctor this week and he confirmed it was enlarged but believes these are  "reactive" lymph nodes to something going on in my body, he also said even though it's enlarged, that it felt "normal." He ran a bunch of blood work, like blood counts and looking for infection. Everything came back normal. Should I push to get an ultrasound of lymph node? Or seek advice from another doctor? He doesn't seem worried about it. I have a friend who was accidently diagnosed in late stages and she had no symptoms and no englarged lymph that she could feel, so I am a little worried!

I would appreciate any opinions or advice on the matter. Thanks for listening!

 

Comments

  • po18guy
    po18guy Member Posts: 1,508 Member
    edited February 2019 #2
    See another doctor. If two

    See another doctor. If two doctors are not worried, then probably neither should you be. Lymph nodes are not cancer detectors, but integral parts of our immune systems. If they do not react to pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi), we would live maybe two weeks before succumbing to massive infection. We tend to have larger nodes in our groins, as there are simply more bacteria there. Same thing with our throats and sinuses. Since this has been years now, how much of an emergency can it be? We have mnay infections during our lives. Remember doctor checking around your jaw and underarms as a kid? Doctor was looking for signs of inefection, not cancer. However, the other symptoms seem to warrant further examination.

     

    An ultrasound might be warranted, as well as looking for elevated  LDH in your blood.  

  • DJS628
    DJS628 Member Posts: 77
    #3
    Yes, Second or Third Opinion is Good

    I agree with Po.  If something isn't quite right and you are noticing lumps like that, I'd get it checked further.  After checking the lump in my groin, my doctor scheduled an ultra sound right away.

    Sometimes it is just due to infection, so some doctors may want to wait and watch.  Please don't wait too long; as you said, if it is something serious, you want to catch it while it's still early, not in late stage.

     

    Good luck and let us know what you find out.  We're here for you if you need us.

     

    ---Debbie

  • ShadyGuy
    ShadyGuy Member Posts: 923 Member
    #4
    GPs are generally terrible .....

    .... at diagnosing lymphoma. I know that from experience and talking with other patients. if it were me and I had it to do over I would skip the BS and go directly to an oncologist/hematologist. Don’t mess around. In the 1400s the consensus in 95% of the scientific community was that the Earth was flat and was the center of the universe. That did not make it so. Find an expert and don’t  rely on a consensus of the unkowing.

  • po18guy
    po18guy Member Posts: 1,508 Member
    #5
    Bear in mind that...

    If you are really skinny, groin nodes can easily be felt. They tend to be somewhat larger than other nodes, according to need. And yes they tend to grow if they are poked and prodded. Allow doctor do that or you may be making things worse, actually. Anything is possible, but you are not really in the demographic for most lymphomas, and those that do afflict people in their 20s are normally aggressive. They make themselves well known in just a few weeks. Their symptoms arrive and do not leave, but get constantly worse. You should take some comfort in the fact that this has been going on for so long and you are not terribly sick.

  • ShadyGuy
    ShadyGuy Member Posts: 923 Member
    #6
    Most people ....

    don’t win the lottery but someone always does. Most people in your demographic do not get lymphoma but some definitely do. In fact I know two of them. Also there was a young lady named Carrie on here a few years back who had indolent FNHL at age 24.  PO is correct that most lymphomas in younger people are aggressive and make themselves known rather quickly. However there are at last count 59 subtypes of lymphoma, each one a little different. Also lymphoma is NOT the only cancer that can make nodes swell. You are my daughters age. If she were in your position I would insist she get checked by an oncologist. The stress of worrying about something like this makes it all the worse. Get the facts and put it to rest. You probably do not have lymphoma. If you do it is very, very treatable. Ease your troubled mind.

  • Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3
    Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 Member Posts: 3,819 Member
    #7
    ShadyGuy said:

    Most people ....

    don’t win the lottery but someone always does. Most people in your demographic do not get lymphoma but some definitely do. In fact I know two of them. Also there was a young lady named Carrie on here a few years back who had indolent FNHL at age 24.  PO is correct that most lymphomas in younger people are aggressive and make themselves known rather quickly. However there are at last count 59 subtypes of lymphoma, each one a little different. Also lymphoma is NOT the only cancer that can make nodes swell. You are my daughters age. If she were in your position I would insist she get checked by an oncologist. The stress of worrying about something like this makes it all the worse. Get the facts and put it to rest. You probably do not have lymphoma. If you do it is very, very treatable. Ease your troubled mind.

    Rare but terrible

    I was waiting to see my onclogist at the clinic one day, a place that had about a dozen oncologists working at anyone time.  I saw a lovely young girl also waiting, surrounded by several other young kids.  I gathered that she was a senior in high school, and some friends had gone with her for a schedulded bone marrow biopsy. She had lymphoma at 18 years of age (patients younger were sent to the children's hospital).

    Leukemia and lymphoma are among the most common cancers for teens:  Rare, fortunately, but it happens.   Everyone should excercise due diligence.

     

  • po18guy
    po18guy Member Posts: 1,508 Member
    #8
    ShadyGuy said:

    GPs are generally terrible .....

    .... at diagnosing lymphoma. I know that from experience and talking with other patients. if it were me and I had it to do over I would skip the BS and go directly to an oncologist/hematologist. Don’t mess around. In the 1400s the consensus in 95% of the scientific community was that the Earth was flat and was the center of the universe. That did not make it so. Find an expert and don’t  rely on a consensus of the unkowing.

    Speaking of which...

    The quasi-experienced, newly assigned internal physician I went to gave me anxiety meds. Still have them. This despite an extenive family history of cancer, me in my mid-50s, lumps all over, fevers, sweats, fatigue - and the fact that I rarely visited the office for any reason. In the interest of fairness, I'll admit that there was no flashing neon sign which read "LYMPHOMA!!!", but really...

    I asked about mono. "We didn't test for that." Huh? OK, another blood test and waiting. Yup. Had mono - for the second time. I distinctly remember blurting out "That means my immune system has failed." Never went back, never looked back. Off to my ENT > surgeon > incompetent oncologist > incompetent pathologist > ran for life > research hematologist (full stop). Knew I was where I had to be.

    In Anchorage last year, we toasted 10 years together on a starting prognosis of 1-1.5 years. I can LIVE with that.  

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