I,m new to this board. I am really scared. In late May I had a vaginal hysterectomy because I was having some tamoxifeneffects on my utererus. The surgery went well and I was walking 3 to 5 miles a week later. However,within days of the surgery I noticed several enlarged groin lymph nodes ( the surgeon claims they were not there at the time of the surgery but I'm not sure he really checked). I've taken keflex twicefor over a week each time. The lymph nodes are still there after 13 weeks.The largest is about 8mm which is basically the size when I first noticed them.I have looked all over the internet for reasons that they could still be enlarged( I could find nothing that linked this to a side effect of the surgery). The only thing I come up with is Lymphoma. I'm seeing the gyn tomorrow but I don't think he'll be able to tell me anything. I tried to see my oncologist(breast cancer) early but he wanted the gyn to check it. By the way, the oncologist did do my blood tests which were basically normal (the lymphacites were slightly low and the neut. were slightly high).How am I going to find out what's wrong. each doctor seems to throw it to the other. Thanks for any suggestions and support

[This message has been edited by walker 62 (edited 08-25-2003).]

Hi there... well, I think the first step would be to ask for a cat scan, to check and see if there are any other 'lumps' in your body. Typically Hodgkins starts in the chest, then works it's way down to the lower part of the body - groin. That is stage 3.
How have you been doing now? Is it better?
Hope to hear soon!

Thank you for your response. I have had cat scans as well as a biopsy. The cat scan was fine and the lymph node biopsy showed hyperplasia. I'm still not sure why the lymph node was hyerplastic or what that means. walker 62

[This message has been edited by walker 62 (edited 09-23-2003).]

Hyperplasia is when there's an abnormal or unusual increase in the elements composing a part.

You should get that examined further. Hyperplasia is not a good sign.

What did the doctor say about the biopsy results?

The surgeon was not really concerned but Iam because we still don't why the nodes were hyperplastic. My onc is not really concerned but has arranged to have one of the top lymph node patholgists in the U.S. look at the slides{my onc knows the pathologist because he used to work inTexas}. How serious is chonic hyperplasia with no currentinflammation exhibited? Could this still be lymphoma? walker 62

hmm.. did you get a Fine Needle Biopsy?

If so, it would be more accurate to get it removed surgically.

I had the type of biopsy where an entire lymph node is removed (actually the surgeon removed two which were close together but not touching). walker 62

oh.... How did that go?. I'm planning on getting a biopsy done soon.. =(

I've never had surgery before.

It'll be great if you can give me some info, so i'd know what to expect.=)

The biopsy was done under a local. They gave me an injection of something and I was out during the procedure even though I didn't have a general. The biopsy was to groin lymph nodes which were small and very near the surface so the surgeon did not have to cut very much. I don't think the whole procedure took more than 15 or 20 min. I had almost no pain after. The only complication was a week after the area where the nodes were removed swelled up. The surgeon has had to aspirate the area several times(this procedure is done in the office and is virtually painless). The swollen area is getting smaller and smaller as it heals inside where the removed nodes had been.The swelling had been a possible complication which I was aware of before the surgery. By the way I walked over 4 miles the day after the surgery. Let me know how your surgery goes. walker 62