Lymph Node Question

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-02-2004
Lymph Node Question
15
Wed, 11-15-2006 - 12:17pm

Hi All - I am in one of my anxious/worry modes and need to ask this. I woke up on Fri Oct 20 with a killer sore throat and felt bad all over in terms of muscle aches and just overall yuck. As the day went on, I felt worse and worse. It hit pretty sudden. I had tickets to a hockey game and had to visit someone in the hospital so I had to deal with it which probably made it worse. My ears, esp the right side, hurt and it hurt to swallow quite a bit. I was sitting at dinner rubbing my achy neck and felt a bump like thing on the right side. I freaked. I messed with it too much too trying to feel how big it was and was an emotional wreck over it. I felt bad all weekend and did not really take it easy like I should have because resting lets my mind get worse with worry. Monday I saw doc and she felt it and right away said it was swollen lymph node and looked in ears and said ear was infected and throat was inflammed. She put me on antibiotics for 10 days so I started those on Monday the 23rd. Finished them like Nov 1. During that time and even a few days after like say through about Nov 6 or 7 I still would have some sore throat pain. Then it seemed to go away. All the while the swollen node felt about the same to me. It never hurt at all to the touch even from day 1. It is not huge and may even be smaller than it was, but is not gone. Now I am worrying. I read stuff online, which I know I should not do. All I can think of is cancer - any of you that know me know that is my big fear medically thanks to a grandma that raised me and talked about it all the time. I cannot see therapist until Nov 29. I just want to know if any of you have had this happen? I keep saying to myself that maybe this node is just taking a while to go away but I can't seem to convince myself. It is on the right side of my neck like straight down from my ear. It is kind of on a muscle it seems. You can barely see it if you look straight at me. If I feel it, it feels rubbery. I can't really pinch it, I can pinch the skin above it but it is in too deep for me to be able to really get a feel for its shape. Grrrrr.......this is so stupid.

Kim

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-02-2004
Thu, 11-16-2006 - 4:11pm
I totally know what you mean. Mine feels like a rubber band. It does not hurt at all. If I pinch the skin above it, the bump is not in the skin. It is deeply attached, probably because it should be - DUH - oh boy...
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-02-2004
Thu, 11-16-2006 - 4:14pm
Thanks Sheri. Yeah, this sucks. I am doing better about it today. I know I have to stop this. It just hits me off guard sometimes and I go down quick.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-02-2004
Thu, 11-16-2006 - 4:20pm
Oh My! I would have freaked if a doc said that to me too. Wow. That would have sent me over the edge for sure. Yes, we have to make the pact to stop surfing on this type of stuff. It is all doom and gloom it seems. My main anxiety trigger seems to be health issues for sure. I keep telling myself that it is never as bad as I think and I am always ok in the end. Too bad I cannot think that way when caught up in the moment. Thanks for writing!
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-02-2004
Thu, 11-16-2006 - 4:25pm

Thanks for writing! Yes, it is very hard. I do the same thing with any lump or bump. There was a muscle in the back of my head once that I kept messing with and 2 diff docs told me it was just a tendon. If I felt it one way it felt normal, if I felt it crossways it felt raised. I finally got over that. My husband felt this thing when it was big and says it is definitely smaller now and I am pretty sure it is. I just need to leave the darn thing alone and move on. It does not hurt and is not growing so I keep trying to tell myself if it was something bad, it would be hurting or growing.

Cancer does not run in my family. My problem with cancer is that I had a grandma that messed me up pretty bad as a kid by talking about bad things a lot. I am a fearful person to this day over a lot of stuff like hell and cancer and illness because of this happening as a kid. I am trying to get over it as an adult but so many of my fears are deeply engrained.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Thu, 11-16-2006 - 7:13pm
That is grrreat, Kim! You are all the healthier for exercising. Use this as ammunition when the physical fears hit. You are doing all the right things by keeping in shape. (((hugs))) jan


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