Swollen Lymph Nodes everywhere - Lymphomas Message Board

HallowsEve · 04-30-2004, 08:16 PM

Hello, I am new here. This is my first time posting, but I have been actively reading for about 3 to 4 days now.

I have been reading galore. Everything on the internet scares the daylights out of me. I just need for someone to give me an idea of anything OTHER than Lymphoma that my symptoms sound like.

So this is what I am feeling now and then I will give you the history (incase you don’t have time to read a novel):

Firstly, I am 29 years old.

Lymph nodes – the ones in my armpit are tender (4 in left armpit - 2 to 3 in right), same with whatever is going on under my chin (I think I feel one underneath, sore also). I can’t tell with the neck (I have 2, neither seem to be sore but I was directed to them by a feeling in that area (hence how I found them), and there are 4 in my groin but they are not tender - doesn’t seem to be bothersome at all.

I am very bone weary. My mind isn’t tired but my body is. I have stomach pains (that the doctor told me that he thought it was healing my c-section surgery 6 months ago with Ibuprofen and it ulcerated my stomach) and back pains (but my baby weighs 20lbs and I am only 99lbs).

I am very scared. I have a brand new 6-month-old daughter. Are these doctors (the story in full is below) able to tell by palpation rather or not they think it could be Lymphoma or not? I just don’t feel like there is enough concern. No one has even taken a full workup of blood yet! I thought that would be the first thing they would have done, procedure-wise. I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me. I am working myself up into a tizzy.

***Here is my plight & past history now:

I just had a baby 6 months ago. I had a c-section. Since then my body has gone through a long, arduous haul and I still don’t particularly feel like all is “normal” from digestion stuff to incision site.

About 2 to 2.5 months ago I noticed a lump in my breast. I went to my GYN and he said he thought it was a clogged duct, so we treated it as so. About a week later I found lumps around my breasts that I knew were swollen lymph nodes – went back to my GYN and he still thought they were clogged milk ducts, as did 2 lactation nurses. Happy with what I heard, I left, but I knew better in my heart of hearts.

A week after that I called a lactation nurse and she agreed with me that I would have been sick as a dog with full blown mastitis by that point and directed me to see an internal medicine doctor, so I did. She looked me all over and said she “wasn’t concerned” she could tell that my nipples were irritated from breastfeeding and to come back in a month if nothing had changed.

About a week or two after that I found 2 lumps on my neck. I went and saw a different doctor and he said he wasn’t concerned about the one on my neck because it was “small” (and he never could feel the other one). As for the lymph nodes in the axillary area, he only found one on the left. This is amazing because there are about 4 in the left and 2 or 3 in the right armpits. He felt my groin and felt nothing. However, he referred me to a surgeon.

Now that I am home, I have found 4 lymph nodes in the groin and (I think) 2 under the chin – I also think I might have one in my back? Now I am pretty panic-stricken.

Thank you in advance, and again, any advice would be sooo helpful.

nyxin · 04-30-2004, 10:57 PM

there are so many things that i would like to say to you to help.
i am going to do a looooonnnnngggggg story short, but you will get the jist.

first and foremost lymphoma is pretty rare. it really is. second of all even though i just said that i know a younger girl (27) who had beat it. she is doing great.
the next thought is that a blood panel would answer a lot of these questions. i would just get one to ease your mind. as far as your nodes being swollen, i dont think its cancer related, i think it is new mom related. your body is under the biggest stress it has ever been under. you had a huge trama to your body with the c-section. you were opened up to a lot of nasties that your body could still be fighting off. you are a new mom with lack of sleep which severly depresses your immune system. if you are nursing you are giving every thing you have to your milk and if your diet isnt up to snuff, your body is lacking there too.

i know a little about this as i had a horrible 31 hour labor and delivery that almost killed my son and i. i developed an infection in my uterus that made me septic. here is the long story part but after a lot of meds, crying, praying and fighting my son an i finally got better. we got to come home and it was wonderful. 6 weeks later i got a stomach ache. i finally went to the doctor after 2 days. he thought it was my appendix. it wasnt as they found out in an emergency surgery. it was my colon. an infection called typhlitis. typhlitis is mostly seen in people with AIDS or Leukemia. in fact it was implied that i had one of the 2 because of the seriousness of this infection. they ruled out leukemia........ i had to go get tested for HIV. it was so awful i was sure that i was +. i am not. the doctors do not know how or why i got that infection. they dont think it will ever come back. i am now so afraid that i will get sick like that and die. that i will leave my son. he is 10 months.

i think as mothers we are so obsessed about being with our babies that we fret over every thing wrong with us. i know that i have changed so very very much in regards to my life. i know what you are feeling and you can only do what you can do. be agressive about finding out what is wrong, if anything. then you need to put it behind you and relax. this maybe how your body works to fight stress and infection. good luck.

STIGMATA666 · 05-01-2004, 07:21 AM

Yes Your Body Has Been Under Alot Of Stress.lymph Nodes Swell For Various Reasons,but I Would Say U Have Most Likely Contracted A Slight Infection Following Your C-section Which Has Caused Them To Swell.
Also If The Small Lump In Your Breast Was PainFULL Its 99% Likely It Wouldnt Be Breast Cancer,as Cancerous Lumps Are Normally Painless.
And If You Did Have Breast Cancer (which Is Unlikely) It Would Have To Be Fairly Advanced For It To Spread To The Lymphatic System.
Try And Get An Ultrasound If You Are Really Concerned,as It Is Less Costly Than Other Procedures,so Your Doctor Is More Likelt To Refer You.

HallowsEve · 05-01-2004, 09:39 AM

Thank you very much for your insight. I am also so sorry to hear your story about you and your son, Nyxin.

I have been doing a lot of “homework” on the topic and covering other groundwork such as Lupus and CFS, etc., searching for anything…“searching” (as in Googling) everything.

I have a number of curiosities, though – maybe you can help me…

Is it feasible that stress can play a part in swollen lymph nodes? Doesn’t seem viable, BUT since I have had my daughter my family has had a tremendous amount of bad news: step dad got prostate cancer, MIL’s S.O. got throat cancer, aunt found a brain tumor, an uncle’s great nephew found out he has lymphoma, another uncle had a very bad flare-up of Crohn’s --- stress is my middle name right now.

I read somewhere online that “bracing” can cause lymph nodes to swell. I have TMJ disorder – I get excruciating headaches – and do my fair share of bruxing and tensing. And if that weren’t bad enough, I also get Barometric headaches when the pressure changes (every time it rains!). Within the last few months I have had them twice a week, each putting me in pain for 3 days at a time (doing the math that, essentially, leaves one day headache free, and even then there is stiffness).

Then I wondered about hormones. I asked the last doctor I saw and he said no, but I haven’t had a menses since February 2003 and I know my hormones haven’t been too kind to me, either. Not to mention that I am trying to wean my daughter since all of these things have started to occur for a plethora of reasons.

That’s the major question I have right now, if stress can play a part at all in swollen lymph nodes. (I have a googol, but I’ll stick to one at a time. )

Thank you again, greatly.

nyxin · 05-02-2004, 07:35 AM

hello again. to answer your question the best i can, stress weakens your immune system. in fact stress is kind of the mold if you will that weakens everything, opening the door for bad things to come in. your immune system is already down because of a c-sectiom, a new baby and lack of sleep to name a few.

i have to tell you that last night as i was trying to fall asleep i got a pain in my left ovary area. for some reason i thought of it being a lymphnode and then the panic set in. i dont even know where the nodes are in the groin, but i was convinced that i was dying, yet again. i think i mentioned my illnes anxiety? anyway, i can truly say i can now relate to your fear emotionally wise.