Hello Hannah1011

I'm sorry to hear that you've been dealing with some health concerns recently. It's good to know that you have an appointment arranged with the ENT Consultant. 

Since the Covid19 pandemic began telephone consultations have become much more common in an effort to reduce the number of visits to hospital sites. I would imagine that the Consultant will want to talk to you about what you have been experiencing and your general medical history. It's possible from there that they may decide to arrange some tests such as an ultrasound, blood tests. 

We know that this period of waiting for appointments and results can be particularly difficult and as you've mentioned, searching Google for answers isn't always helpful and often just results in increased anxiety.

Hopefully over the next few weeks the Consultant will be able to give you some answers and reassurance about what is going on for you but if you'd like to speak to one of our nurses in the meantime you're welcome to call them. They're available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm on 0808 800 4040. 

Best wishes, 
Jenn

Cancer Chat moderator

Hi Hannah

I can't speak exactly for how treatments are under covid at the moment, but from what I understand treatments are still continuing and although hosptials are trying to limit the number of people on site, urgent cancer referrals are still a priority for them.

I'm male, now 28, and had similar symptoms to you last March (a grape sized lump in my lower neck/collarbone region (hard to the touch), a feeling of tugging there, and unexplained night sweats - and I mean drenching of my clothes and sheets which I had never experienced before! I had some slight fatigue too but nothing too much, and as you say - I thought it was probably just the effects of a busy life! I noticed the lump for about 3 weeks before I went to see my GP, was put on the urgent pathway, and saw a Consultant within 10 days or so. They made a 'fine needle aspiration' biopsy (basically a fairly painless needle through the lump), and then waited around 4 weeks until I had a result (that was particularly long from what I understood, due to a shortage of pathologists in the area at the time). It turned out to be Hodgkins, and then had 3 months of chemo - and was confirmed to be in remission by August!

It looks in your case like the hospital is moving quite quickly in arranging the appointment - but it is frustrating that it's a telephone one. I'm sure that after explaining your symptoms they can slot you in to have a biopsy very soon afterwards. Though try not too worry too much about 'wasted time' before treatment if it is indeed Hodgkins - it is very treatable whatever stage it's at. And from my experience, the chemo wasn't as bad as some said it could be!

If you have any more questions about anything just let me know - I'll try my best to answer them!

Hi there! 

Thanks for getting back to me. Sorry that you've had to go through that but I'm so glad you're now in remission!

Oh god I bet that was a long 4 weeks that you had to wait, I hope I don't have to wait that long, I'm impatient enough as it is haha. Did you experience any other symptoms before you were diagnosed? I have now started to feel a similar heaviness in my chest that I have been feeling in my neck, with the occasional bout of chest pain in the centre of my chest (don't worry I have already spoken to my doctor about it) but I am hoping that doesn't mean something sinister.

I have recieved a letter today saying that I have an ultrasound booked for next Thursday so at least things are moving along, I just hope I get some answers soon because I definitely don't feel 'right'. Did you have the fine needle biopsy on the same day you saw the consultant?

How did you find chemo? I know its obviously not a nice experience, but were you literally incapacitated for the whole 3 months?

Thank you!

Hi! In terms of symptoms, that was about it in my above response - that was the most jarring thing, that I was generally feeling fine in myself!

I really hope that your symptoms add up to nothing, as you are too - but if it turns out be lymphoma it isn't all that bad, or that was my experience anyway!

I had the fine needle biopsy at the same time as I saw the Consultant. Within two days they confirmed that it was 'suspicious' and on the third day I had the whole lump extracted. It was a month then until it was confirmed and a treatment plan was laid out.

Chemo actually wasn't all that bad, all things considered. I had chemo every other week for 3 months, and was very lucky to have work give me paid sick leave for that period. The first week of each session was miserable - generally very tired, sick at times and an appetite all over the place - but the second week I felt fairly normal and was able to go out more, see friends and family etc. If my circumstances would have needed me to work on those second weeks it would have been doable probably!

Hope this helps and that youre managing ok!

Hi Hannah,

I too have some lumps that have been here for a while, and almost a year later still driving me mad. I have a few a couple under my jaw, one on my collarbone, my armpit and a level 3 neck one (near the bone round the front) I've had scans, told they'd go down and they never have. They worry me all the time, I had an ultrasound which I was too scared to even talk just cried at and in hindsight I wish I had written everything down I wanted to know and then got all the information I needed (I'd recommend being as specific to them as you can) now I've got a hard lymph node, and it's tender under my jaw which again has been there since at least feb but it's so painful and fixed compared to others.. I have been given a routine ultrasound but due to Covid I doubt that will even be given this year. I also have a young son who has some lymph nodes (22 months) and doing my third year at uni so I can understand how stressful this all is x 

fingers crossed they can do a biopsy for you and give you positive news x 

Ah thanks so much for your reply. It's really helpful to hear about other peoples experiences. I am obviously hoping that my symptoms and lump/swelling amount to nothing but I am just trying to prepare for the worst at the same time. 
How quickly after being diagnosed did you start your chemo? 

Do you think it would be possible to continue at university (which is all online and the sessions are recorded so you can catch up later) while having chemo? I know I am getting ahead of myself but as I said I am just trying to mentally prepare for the worst. 

Thanks again- luckily my kids have kept me busy the last couple of days so time seems to be going fast before my appointments next week. 

Aw how awful that sounds so stressful for you! I would definitely chase your doctor for more tests if its worrying you. Any lumps or bumps are scary aren't they. 
I am definitely going to write down all the things that I want to say. I suppose thats a benefit of it being a telephone consultation- I might be able to be a bit braver to the doctor haha!

Thanks so much xx

Hi Hannah, I started chemo 2 weeks after being diagnosed. The sequence of events was that the result of the extraction biopsy was given to me a month after the biopsy, I then had a PET-CT scan a few days afterwards to see where exactly it was (I was stage 2A), and then chemo started within a couple of weeks.

It's difficult to say for sure, but I think it would be doable to continue at university if it's all online - obviously the effects of chemo can vary from person to person but if you'd have the pattern of 1 bad week / 1 good week that I had, the good week would be a good time to catch up on things. The mental strain would be something to consider as well, sometimes I had bad days where I would have wanted to just to curl up under the duvet all day and not think about anything too difficult! It's worth me mentioning as well that your immune system is suppressed by chemo, so staying couped up at home as the advice is at the moment is particularly important - so having courses online is really helpful to be able to contiune with uni.

It's really good to keep busy - it keeps your mind from wandering too much! Cross fingers that the ultrasound on Thursday goes ok - is that all your appointments for this week?

Hey everyone, 

So I had my telephone consultation earlier in the week and that was a bit pointless- it lasted about 30 seconds, the Dr couldn't understand why I had the telephone appt before my ultrasound scan, he said I should probably been seen face to face and in the next breath said I will ring you back in 2 weeks! 

Then today I had my ultrasound scan. The technician found one of the lumps I can feel and said that was definitely a lymph node and it looked slightly bigger than normal but not too concerning. Then when looking at the swelling area near my collar bone, he brought in another technician because he wasn't sure- they discussed whether they were seeing a lymphoma (I don't think they knew that I knew what a lymphoma was). They said they weren't sure but tried to reassure me that its probably just naturally asymmetrical (but I don't agree with that as its something that has happened lately). 

I have noticed that the swelling in my lower neck/collar bone looks more prominent on some days than others (but is always there), did anyone else have this?

I have still been getting night sweats, the pressure feeling in my neck and chest and some chest pains. Hopefully I hear back from the doctor soon and can get some more tests done! All this waiting is the worst x 

Hi, 

I have some swollen nodes under my neck. Waiting for my ENT appointment next week. Hope everything is going ok and keep us updated. Xx