Large Swollen Lymph Nodes in Neck--Your experiences (this is a bit long)

[Pink Partridge]

UPDATE in post #37


I will preface this with my daughter will be getting an MRI next Thursday. I just need people to calm my nerves.

My daughter (high school junior) has been complaining of severe fatigue the past 9 months. It doesn't stop her from her activities, school work, or social life. But she is in bed at 9pm every night. I took her to doctor in March. Blood work (CBC/CMP/TSH) completely normal.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. She now has two lumps in her neck. It seems like they appeared overnight. They could have been there longer, but she just noticed them.

Doctor sent her for blood work again. Once again, normal. Then he sent her for ultrasound. Results are:


"Areas correspond with enlarged lymph nodes. Posterior to the angle of the mandible left side. Hypoechoic mass with vascularity measures 2.2 x 1.2 x 1.1 cm. Adjacent is a hypoechoic mass with central vascularity measuring 3.8 x 0.9 x 2.8 cm."

He said he now wants her to get an MRI, because these are very large lymph nodes. The word "mass" terrifies me. But, 3.8 cm doesn't seem very large to me.

She does have ear pain on left side as of 3 days ago. But no ear infection.

Of course, I am on Google non stop and what I see scares me. Why does everything say greater than 2cm could be lymphoma? So I am a mess. Next Thursday can't come soon enough. Any ideas? I am open to all opinions and stories.

 

[Shmily1]

Did they check her for meningitis or Lyme disease? Does she have allergies? My lymph glands are huge when my allergies are bad. Does she take vitamins? Teens are notorious for being tired.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Did they check her for meningitis or Lyme disease? Does she have allergies? My lymph glands are huge when my allergies are bad. Does she take vitamins? Teens are notorious for being tired.

They did not check her for any of those. I never even thought of Lyme. We do live in wooded area, though. But never a rash. Someone else suggested Epstein Barr. But wouldn't that show up on CBC?

She takes Vitamin D3 and C.

Never had allergies, but I know that can change with teens too.

 

[lifesavacation]

 

[monsterkitty]

Have them re-check the blood work. Early stages of mono do not always show up in the first set of blood work.

 

[melanielll]

1. Stay off of Google
2. If you must look - go to the Mayo Clinic's website. They are calm and rational and have excellent facts.
3. My lymph nodes - God! Years ago, I was bitten in the neck my a brown recluse spider. There was a knot on my neck the size of a tennis ball. When the immediate danger was over, it became apparent that my parotid gland and some lymph nodes were going to be permanently affected. The parotid is full of scar tissue, and I have several lymph nodes that are unchained. The lymph nodes swell when I am sick and whenever they think it would be fun to do. They can get quite large and can stay for a while. My point is that swelling is what lymph nodes do. Do not panic until you have the MRI and see the results. Even then - don't panic - just go into attack mode if necessary. Which probably won't be necessary. The following few days are a great time to adopt a state of denial with regards to this. I say this as someone who has a daughter who had a decent portion of her breast removed when she was 17 due to an enormous mass (with blood flow!). Calm denial until action is necessary. Then - all out attack if necessary.
4. Good luck.

 

[DLgal]

Was she tested for mono?

 

[Shmily1]

I would get a multivitamin for her too with the B vitamins and all those that might help. My friend's husband has Lyme and he had no rash. They didn't know he'd been bitten but he's been really bad with it like he just can get around sometimes and it took them months to figure it out. Mono would be another one to check.

I hope they find it soon.

 

[quandrea]

Several years ago I went through a period where I was ill quite often, my asthma was poorly controlled. After a few months of that I got a painful, enlarged node. It was ultrasounded and then a biopsy was performed. I was fine in the end. It was diagnosed as a reactive lymph node. Most enlarged lymph nodes resolve in eight weeks without treatment. Mine did. It was a very scary time though. Just do what you are doing--investigate the lumps. Do your best to get through this time waiting on results. Harder said then done. Good luck.

 

[quandrea]

Did they check her for meningitis or Lyme disease? Does she have allergies? My lymph glands are huge when my allergies are bad. Does she take vitamins? Teens are notorious for being tired.

This regarding the allergies. Once my allergies were brought under control, my trouble with the lump nodes resolved. My allergist changed my life.

 

[PerfessorZ]

I wouldn't panic. I had a case of mono in my late teens and I was wiped out for nearly a year afterwards - always tired, needed 9.5-10 hrs of sleep a night. Ever since then, any time I start fighting a new virus or infection, my lymph nodes swell up.

 

[ahutton]

My experience was similar, fatigue that didn't end, no amount of sleep was enough. Lymph nodes were enlarged and I had a low grade fever of 99.5. It took quite a while for them to figure out it was mono as it didn't show up on the initial blood screening. Once we knew what it was, I was no longer worried and just listened to my system and rested when I needed to and felt better after a few more weeks.

 

[Distinkt]

Could it be mastoiditis? (sp) Oddly a friend was just diagnosed with this and put on antibiotics. It is not easily diagnosed and hers was with an MRI. Her big complaint was headache and pressure at times, but not really in the area.

Second, my son had mono years ago, and at first the office was alarmed at the size of the lymph node that popped up on one side and they scared me. It just came overnight, and they commented that surely it hadn't happened that quickly. It also turned out to be mono, so just breathe and get the MRI. Chances are that it is not something serious.

 

[mrs moon]

Please try not to worry,,its good she is having the MRI ...Dont think about things like lymphoma until you have answers!.....
My daughter had lymphoma age 16 (she is now 40)..my daughter showed high lighted blood tests before biopsy. your daughters blood look normal so for her this could be a number of things like( glandular fever) for example..

 

[cinnaminny]

It might not be anything. That happened to me when I was about 22, and I was too broke to go to the doctors so I literally went to the planned parenthood down the street crying (I thought I was dying) she said it was normal and I was probably fighting something off. Not to say you shouldn't check it out, you absolutely should, just try not to panic (I Know thats hard)

 

[gemini2727]

Last semester, my daughter had persistently swollen glands in her neck, bloodwork was fine, and no cause was ever figured out. They eventually just went away, but initially, they were huge! You could see them just by looking. It did freak us out at the time, so I can definitely sympathize

 

[22Tink]

Hugs! I definitely know it’s stressful. After an inconclusive CT scan, my DD21 just had lymph nodes in her neck biopsied and thankfully they came back clean, but they are still monitoring them because they’ve been swollen for over a year and they can’t figure out why. I’ll say a little prayer for you and your DD.

 

[phorsenuf]

About a year ago I went to the ER because a lymph node in my neck just spontaneously enlarged. Since I've had blood clots in the past, I was afraid that's what it was (didn't realize at the time it was my lymph node). They did a CT scan and found I had enlarged lymph nodes and masses in my lungs. Since I had cancer a year prior they though that's what it was. They did a lung biopsy and determined it was sarcoidosis. It's treatable with meds to alieve the symptoms. But on many occasions my lymph nodes will suddenly blow up. then after a bit, go back down. It's not a condition that can be found through blood work and such. Only biopsies will diagnose it.
Good luck and I hope you get the answers you need!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

They did not check her for any of those. I never even thought of Lyme. We do live in wooded area, though. But never a rash. Someone else suggested Epstein Barr. But wouldn't that show up on CBC?

She takes Vitamin D3 and C.

Never had allergies, but I know that can change with teens too.

Get better blood tests is always my no 1.

Did they check Vit D, Calcium, lipid panel (cholesterol/triglyercides), liver function, AND go see a rheumatologist and get blood work there.

Why does she take Vit D3?

 

[HM]

My first thought was Lyme.
My DD got it in HS. It took a few months to figure out but she'd had several visits to the doctor before they tried Lyme and other tests.
She complained of back aches, stomach aches, headaches, she was exhausted, the final straw was her toes hurt at the knuckles for no reason.

She also gets a swollen lymph gland in one side of her neck occasionally. We always figure she's fighting something off as the doctor never seemed to find a cause for ti and it goes away.