Lymphoma worry

[Eek]

I know this is a popular worry, I've been getting night sweats for the last couple of weeks and of course my first thought is Lymphoma :weep:

I went to the doctor today and he's doing a barrage of blood tests which if they don't show what it going on he's going to book me in for a scan. This in itself scares me as my dad had a severe reaction to contrast and I have most of the same allergies he had.

I've been suffering HA on and off for twenty years or so and am really worried this is lymphoma even though I have no lumps or any other symptoms and am in the age range for pre menopause or even menopause.

This site has been great it's wonderful how everyone is so supportive and also to see that I'm not the only one who has HA. I know no one can tell me I don't have lymphoma or some other cancer but I guess I'm just posting for a bit of support

Traci

[Eek]

well had the blood tests done now it's just a waiting game for the results and to see if I need a scan. My HA is going mad at the moment all I can think about is 'what if it's something awful' I'm freaking out and have five days to wait until my appointment :(

Just hoping that I'm OK and dreading having to have a scan.

[neptune296]

I can totally relate to what you're going through. A couple years ago I was so worried about lymphoma because I found that one of my lymph nodes in my neck was swollen and being the worry wort that I am the first thing I thought of was lymphoma... of course.

To me in most situations knowledge is comforting. So I googled, and googled and googled. Sometimes that's a bad idea xD. But in this case it wasn't, lymphoma almost always comes with a noticeable lump that is hard almost like a rock, does not move and feels fixed to the underlying tissue. Its very noticeable. And I know your probably checking for lumps so if you manage to find a lump remember its normal to be able to feel some of your lymph nodes especially those in the neck.

Lymphoma also grows large quickly so any small, or unnoticeable lump that would be worrisome would quickly prove itself benign if it doesn't grow.

I'm sure your tests will come back all normal, you have nothing to worry about! Stay strong, this too shall pass! :bighug1:

[lo89]

Lymphoma is my main worry at the moment and the following information is helping to reassure me:
Non Hodgkins lymphoma is by far the most common type of lymphoma
It accounts for only 4% of all cancer cases
It is strongly related to age, so is rare in young people (only 14% of cases are diagnosed in those under the age of 50)
The peak age for diagnosis is between 80-84 for both sexes
There is only 1 in 62% chance that I will ever develop this disease, and that will most likely be when I am much much older.
If I do develop this disease, there is a 66% chance that I will live for at least 5 years. My chance of survival will probably be much higher than this, given that I am much younger than most people who have this illness and I am otherwise healthy.

The less common type of lymphoma is hodgkins lymphoma. This accounts for 0.6% of all cancer cases.
If I do develop this kind of cancer, there is an 84% chance I will live for at least 5 years. Only 319 people died of this disease in the UK in 2010. It is more common in males than females, which means less than half of these deaths are in females. Females also have better survival rates than males.
It is one of the most curable cancers which exist.
I only have 1 in 500 risk of ever developing this disease, and of this 1 in 500 risk, there is only a 1 in 5 chance that I will die within 5 years. Again, my risk is lower as I am young and healthy.
Although there is a peak in diagnosis of those under 24, this survival rate also includes the second peak which occurs in those over 70, who therefore have a worse survival rate than me.

This is what i repeat to myself when i am anxious and it really helps me. I hope ot helps you too!

[Eek]

Thank you for your replies :)

The doctor checked my neck and armpits for lumps and didn't find anything at all, he also prodded my abdomen and found nothing. Two more days until the blood test results, I'm just hoping I don't have to have a scan as I said the contrast scares me though my doctor says with my history of my dad having a severe reaction to it they might be able to do it without the contrast though it won't be as good.

Anyway thanks again for replying and I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that my results will come back OK.

[Ronno]

Neptunes right , the nodes grow large quickly , and are fixed and firm, the node under my wife's armpit. Was the size of a chickens egg . And appeared overnight. She had hodgkins lymphoma . Lo69 , your getting bogged down with statistics . I was told by my wife's consultants . Both lymphoma and hodgkins lymphoma , very common in the young, 15 to 35 age group . But is also common in your 50s . Ether way both are treatable ,and after five years your cured . Usually if it comes back its during the first two years . People I came across having treatment at the same time as my wife . All responded to treatment . And we sill see them now when she has her annual check up .six years later.

[lo89]

I would not say that lymphoma is common in the young - that is implying that there is a good chance I will develop it! Those stats are from 2010 from cancer research. For me, knowing how statistically unlikely they are to occur helps me rarionalise the risk. Young people are far more likely to hodgkins lymphoma than NHL, which is also slightly less curable.
I did explain that both are treatable. The statistics help me as it is a curable cancer. For other types of cancer, the statistics are far less reassuring.

[candy_floss]

Another thing you should remember about lymph nodes is they are stubborn as hell. You feel them, freak out and are desperate for them to disappear but they just seem to linger on and on.
I had one behind my ear that even when treated with antibiotics, stuck around for about 4 months.
I have a 'shotty' one in my scalp hairline and several in my neck that I've been told will never go away, because they are full of scar tissue from constantly reacting to my scalp dermatitis.
At the minute I have allergies which is causing painful swelling in the nodes under my jaw. :weep:

I live in pretty much constant fear of lymphoma but my doctor has said that I should just accept the fact that they are there and aren't going to go away and IF it was anything bad, they would be getting bigger by now!

[Ronno]

Lo89
Why do you think you will develope lymphoma ? , I'm glad the stats help, I to used to worry about lymphoma until my wife developed hodgkins lymphoma. I won't go into the symptoms, but during her treatment I learnt so much . And spoke to so many of the patients and their husbands , wives , mothers, fathers , I don't know why I lost my fear of the disease ! May be because it's a rare cancer , and responds so well to treatment.
I know what you saying, lymphoma is harder to treat than hodgkins . But the cure rate is still very very high . Lo , after spending so much time at the hospital , and talking to doctors and specialist nurses , lymphomas and leukimia is more understood now treatable And curable . But the chances of developing the above slim .
Take care.

[lo89]

I do not think I will develop, but I have a fear I will if that makes sense. I have a few worrisome symptoms which I typed into Google and lymphoma was mentioned, which developed my anxiety.
The difficulty to diagnose lymphoma increases my worry. Out of curiosity, what symptoms did your wife have? I have got pressure under my ribcage, swollen glands under my chin, a throaty cough, a few small glands in my groin area, and pain in my armpits and coppqrbone area. I also have a tendon above my collarbone which is sticking out. At first I thought it was a lymph node but it seems to be on a stalk if that makes sense? Like a daffodil bulb and stem? Only way I can describe it!

[Ronno]

Lo.
First of all she lost weight . She the developed a cough and was breathless, also she was tired and feeling under the weather. We thought she had a virus. A month later a gland the size of a chickens egg came up overnight under her armpit.
When she had it out to carry out a biopsy . The surgeon said I measured 4cm .
She did not have drenching night sweats which is usual . But extreme itching all over.
What caused the cough and breathlessness , was a enlarged node in the chest wall . The node under her armpit caused a lot of aching.
Lo it's not about a small node here and there , it's the symptoms that comes with them .
Lymph nodes are every where , one patient I met " phill " had lymphoma under his teeth !!
Very very rare, one 18 year old lad had a heart transplant , and the anti rejection drugs lowered his immunity , and he I was told by his mother had hodgkins lymphoma in the skin.
Apparently , aids victims a prone .
We anxiety sufferers are vunrable , and for an example we fear a brain tumor . We start getting tension headaches.
Lo try not to worry . You'll be ok . ( I'm a bright one to talk )

---------- Post added at 21:14 ---------- Previous post was at 21:02 ----------

Try reading the thread ....
". Collar bone lymph node What size is normal? "

[lo89]

Thanks so much for that. I know swollen nodes are common, and I know the ones under my chin are reacting to the cold I had, but it is so difficult for me to ignore these minor niggles! The lump on my collarbone is probably not even a lymph node as I can follow from the lump into my neck, so it is probably a tendon which is larger on my right side than left as I constantly carry a fairly heavy handbag on that shoulder and I hunch towards that side when anxious, so yeah there are lots of possible explanations and I know lymphoma is the least likely, but hey that is health anxiety isn't it? Always think the worst even if it is the least likely!
I think I am going to ask my gp to have a quick prod at my lymph nodes and see if he can feel anything of concern. I am worried as I have be developed a cough =[

[Ronno]

That's the way lo .
If you want to see the size these nodes get to , google hodgkins lymphoma ,then click on images .
Not nice to look at but that's what they look like. Oh, and by the way your shoulder and neck is full of conective tissue , no wonder we feel so many lumps and bumps . And a another odd thing obout the nodes, in lymphoma , if you drink alcohol the affected nodes become painful . Why I don't know.
Take care.

[Eek]

The blood tests all came back negative so i have to go for the chest and abdo CT scan tomorrow.
Because of my dad's anaphylaxis to the dye they're going to do a non contrast scan even though it won't be as clear. If that comes back all clear I have to see an oncologist who will review me to decide if anything more needs doing.

All this because of some night sweats o_O

I'm very very nervous about the scan results I'm sure they're going to find something. I won't find out til next week. I guess if all this comes back clear I'll have had a thorough check up :) but I'm so worried it's going to show something.

[lo89]

Ronno, you have helped me relax when it comes to lymphoma!
... I have now decided it must be a different kind of cancer!
HA sucks =[

[Eek]

So I had my scan now it's the wait for the results on Monday afternoon, a weekend of freaking out for me o_O

[neptune296]

Awe I know what your going through :(. Waiting for test results when your worried about your health is awful. But don't worry I'm sure everything will turn out fine and the best part you'll have all these tests to reassure you in the future :)

So many things can cause night sweats from bad allergies to the common cold or flu. I'm sure the cause is something benign but we never focus on the benign causes do we xD. Life would be so much easier if we focused on those haha.

Keep us informed! :) and stay strong, this to shall pass and you'll be stronger for it! :bighug1:

[Eek]

Thank you. I wish I didn't have to wait so long for the results, the waiting is the worst. I've convinced myself that they're going to find cancer, got to love HA. I'm just desperately hoping that the scan comes back clear but I'm convinced it won't :weep:

[lo89]

I'm sure you will be ok!

[Eek]

so got the result early not so good. I have fluid around my heart and something on my liver that may be a cyst or a tumour.

Not feeling good right now I have to go for an echo and an ultrasound scan to check them both out.

I'm freaking out big time I have to wait for a week for the tests to be done.

[justina]

I am very sorry that you dis not get good results.
Please remember that there can be many benign causes to what showed up at the scan. I know someone who was told there might be a tumour in the liver and in the end it was not even a cyst.
Have you got someone to talk to about this? Waiting is terrible I know, but if someone is there with you it feels better.
Did your doctor speak to you after you had the results?

Big hug - I'm sure everything will be ok:hugs:

[neptune296]

I'm so sorry to hear about the test results :(. Did they say what might be causing the fluid buildup around your heart? Its normal to have some fluid around the heart according to the Mayo Clinic:


The heart is surrounded by a double-layered, sac-like structure called the pericardium. The space between the layers normally contains a very small amount of fluid.

There's a lot of benign and treatable causes of fluid buildup around the heart. So while of course this should be dealt with it should be reassuring that the cause would be easily treatable and not dangerous.

As for the something on your liver it's much more likely its a cyst than anything like a tumor.


Most liver cysts can be detected on ultrasound or computerized tomography (CT) scans.

The cause of simple liver cysts isn't known, but they may be present at birth (congenital). Rarely, liver cysts may indicate a serious, underlying condition...

Most liver cysts cause no symptoms and need no treatment you may have even had it since birth and just happened to catch it with these scans. It's likely to be benign so I'd rest easy about it until you hear from your doctor.

I know all this is really worrisome but you're strong and no matter what the test results say you'll get through this. I'm sure everything will be ok! :bighug1:

[lo89]

Sorry to hear about your scan results - at least you know you do not have lymphoma, so you can relax about that.
the quotes above would reassure me that there is nothing seriously wrong, no two bodies are identical. They would never have been discovered if you had not gone to your gp with totally unrelated symptoms. Are you suffering at all due to your heart or liver?

[Eek]

Hi

thank you for the kind replies.

Lo89 no I have no I have no symptoms from my heart or liver a liver function test I had done last week came back normal.

I'm trying not to worry until I get more information but it's really difficult as I'm sure you can all imagine. I just hope that the causes of these things are benign and treatable. My brain is going round in circles with all kinds of nasty scenarios I'm trying to distract myself with things but it's really hard.

thank you all again for the good wishes.

[ReissG]

People often mistake the sentence "common in the young" as "this is a common disease for the young"
WRONG!

This is extremely rare for young people to get, but it's the most common cancer young people get, that does not mean it's a common illness in young people, just if a young person was to get cancer, it would most likely be this one.