Supraclavicular lymph nodes Ive always been able to feel (i think) - Lymphomas Message Board

shadazel5980 · 08-21-2008, 02:38 PM

I am a healthy 23 year old girl. I have been able to feel my lymph nodes for many years. I had a few internists look at them and they were not worried at all. I finally decided to go to a hemotologist/encologist because they specialize in this and I figured they would be the best to go to. My encologist gave me many tests. I had all the blood work (normal), I had a full body ct scan which showed as follows..

one enlarged node at base of neck in posterior triangle which measures 1.5cm x 1.9cm (thats the largest node) A 1.1cm supraclavicular node is also noted.

2 suboccipital nodes one is 1 cm on the left and the one on the right is 1.8 cm in length but only .7mm in width with a benign appearance.

So in total 4 enlarged lymph nodes.

My doctor does not think I have lymphoma however I pushed on the biopsy anyway. Btw i have no symptoms at all. They did an ultrasound guided fine needle aspirtation and core needle with flow cytometry of the largest node. It came back benign/reactive. When I went to the follow up appointment my doctor explained nothing came up suspicious at all and I dont have cancer.

I am full of anxiety 24/7 because I can feel my supraclavicular lymph nodes. Both left and right sides. I read online your not supposed to feel them. My doctor explained this is not true some people can feel their nodes it does not mean they are large. My ct scan showed they are no enlarged except one which is 1.1 cm and some doctors do no even consider this large.

i can feel them when i push my shoulders back and i push in that area. They dont feel big at all my doctor said if they are not big but u can feel them that is normal. Ive gotten a few other opinions and they sorta say the same thing.

Can anyone else feel their collarbone lymph nodes and doctors have said the same thing to them?? I also had an abdominal ultrasound and xrays. Everything perfect except for those 4 nodes. She is an amazing doctor butI keep reading ont he internet about these nodes aolways being malignnat??!? Everyones anatomy is different but I can not find one website where it says its normal to palpate those nodes unless they are swollen but my ct scan didnt say they were swollen. I dont know what to do. I feel that I did all the tests I was supposed to do even thoe biopsy. The doctor also said they took a nice chunk out of my node and went through all 4 layers so it was accurate.

What would you guys do if you were me? Please help. I am literally obsessed with these nodes.

sanwan · 08-21-2008, 03:21 PM

Hi,

Yes, I can feel a few tiny ones and 1 that is about 1/2 cm in the right posterior clavical area. I also have one in the back of my neck 1/2 cm that I have felt for 34 years. I keep a pretty good check on them and they don't seem to change in size so I don't get concerned. Also if you even had an infection or mono years ago some of these nodes will never return to normal size. I can also only feel the one in the clavical neck if I push my shoulders back in a weird position and make it pop up. If I ever notice that it gets larger I will get myself to a ENT and get a biopsy. I really think it has been there for 34 years also dating back to a severe case of mono.If you already had a biopsy that was clear and the dr's assured you it was fine I would not worry about it.Don't poke at it and irritate it though or it may get bigger and stay that way. Hope this eases your mind.

Nana

shadazel5980 · 08-21-2008, 03:42 PM

Thank you so much for replying! I did not biopsy any supraclavicular nodes however the posterier triangle one i did.

I cant really tell exactly how large my nodes are in the clavicle area 1 seems sorta big but its hard to get to the bottom of the node when i push it against my collar bone. I always thought it was normal to palpate these nodes. I hate the internet it scares me so much! Thanks for your story! some of my clavicle nodes are a little larger than others.