Swollen lymph nodes- Fear of Lymphoma

Hi everyone,

5 years ago I had borderline generalized enlarged lymph nodes in my stomach and under my right arm- discovered by high WBC count and CT. Being borderline (at 1cm) the haematologist threw at me that if my next scan showed any increase in size of the lymph nodes, I'd be diagnosed with Lymphoma. Thankfully back then, the lymph nodes returned to normal size- to me it was a miracle.

 

5 years on and over the past few months I haven't been feeling great. First I developed what looked like 'blood spots' over my stomach- they didn't itch or hurt and joined together. This lasted a month before the 'spots' faded into bruises and disappeared.

I haven't felt right since.

Then I started sweating so much that I can't leave the house especially with the warm weather.

I've started to have pains in my stomach and  joints (especially in my right knee) with no sign of swelling or inflammation along with an almost constant temperature of 37.1 - 37.5 degrees.

Then 5 days ago I noticed a lymph node up behind my ear and one under my right arm as well as not eating as much or feeling as hungry as normal.

 

I'm getting some blood tests hopefully arranged tomorrow and feel horrible that I didn't get checked sooner, mainly because the gp has a phonecall first system in place- I'm autistic and can't speak on the phone.

 

I'm so anxious and scared as it's bringing back alot of memories.

Does anyone know if this sounds like Lymphoma or is it all in my head.

 

Any tips/advice would be appreciated and I'll update after my blood test results come back etc.

 

Thanks

 

  • *update* another lymph node has now become 'feelable* on my jawline / neck. 

    It's hard for me to communicate through phonecalls because of the autism, but I'm going to try to talk to my GP.

  • Hi Anxious, sorry to hear you're having a hard time at the moment.

    for context - I'm in Remission from Lymphoma. I would say it's best to get the tests done and speak to the GP ASAP to get the answers you're after regarding all this. It's impossible for any of us to really say whether you could-or could not- have lymphoma, only the tests will be able to tell you that.

    what I would say - try your best not to go looking to hard for problems with your body unless they are plainly obvious - the human brain does have a tendency to catastrophise somewhat when we go looking for problems. It's part of our fight or flight reflex.

    please do keep in touch with us here with updates regardless of what happens, support is available but for now - try your best to relax as much as possible

     

    Sean