I am 19 and think I have cancer

[Missveryworried]

I’m so scared. I had glandular fever in November confirmed by a blood test. Was really unwell. Still don’t feel great 9 months on. My neck glands are swollen I’m tired all the time, had tonsillitis 3 times.

Had to beg GP to refer me for ultrasound of my neck. He refused first time. Have checked my NHS app and results are on there saying I need further assessment. Have googled results and it sounds like I have lymphoma. But GP surgery texted me to say to book routine telephone appointment. I just rang and offered telephone appointment on 1 September.

Surely I should have an appointment sooner or do they just not care?

Will try and post picture of what scan says.

I am frightened. My mum is on holiday so don’t want to bother her.

I didn’t mean it to be worrying, but to demonstrate that glandular fever is known to take it out if you and can make you feel drained and lacking energy for months.

If it's any comfort @OP when I had glandular fever age 30, I was wiped out , run down and picked up all sorts of other infections for the best part of a year.

DM has recently had a lymphoma - still has, it's one she will need to live with due to its location- symptoms were significantly more severe and varied than what you are describing. She's 81 and now fully recovered.

Make the GP appt for 1 Sept and ask them about the "needs investigation comment".

Thankyou for replies. OK sounds like I should stop panicking. But very worried by the people who say they had glandular fever and never been same health wise.

No not contacted my mum don’t want to worry her as she is a worrier and not home for another week.

Yeah, fair. Hopefully it reads more reassuring not with that follow up. I just feel for her with her mum away and feeling so stressed.

Breaking it down OP;

Enlarged node - this just means larger than considered normal (very common longer term with glandular fever)

Heterogeneous - means the node has different textures and densities

Necrotic - means some of the node tissue has died

None of automatically means cancer. All manner of infections and nflammatory conditions can also cause the above. If they thought cancer it’s likely they would ‘upgrade’ you immediately to a cancer pathway without the need for a routine GP appointment. I would speak to your GP reception again, say you’re really worried and ask for any cancellations (calling daily if needed). I’m not going to say don’t worry (realise you will) but that you shouldn’t assume cancer from that result.

As an aside, I had glandular fever at 15 and have never been quite the same (now 40s). But felt actively poorly and tired for a number of years.

I hear you on the anxious mum thing. In that case well done for reaching out to us mums on here to get the support and reassurance you need.

Have you got some good friends or another family member (who’s maybe a bit more robust than your mum) that you can talk to in real life? You could do with getting out and having some enjoyment after the stress of all this.

Necrotic means dead. I just googled and this is caused by infection, not cancer.

I had glandular fever when I was your age and it can actually be quite serious and last for ages. I also got tonsilitis loads of times and was extremely tired and depressed.

Eventually it all improved but if I knew then what I know now I'd have made sure I was taking the correct supplements - high strength Vit C, Vit D3, a broad spectrum Vit B and a really good multivitamin.

Call your Mum if you need. Try not to worry too much and take very good care of yourself. I know it's hard but that's all you can do for now.

@Missveryworried

Try this lymph drainage routine also. I've found it very good for various stuff.
Do it gently!

Thankyou for all being so lovely I do feel a lot better 🙂 I wish I hadn’t checked my NHS app and seen the scan results that’s what made me panic.

My mum has bought me a load of high strength vitamin pills and something called Ashwangen I think it’s called. She makes me take a drinking yoghurt everyday too and she heard mouthwash gets rid of bugs to stop the tonsillitis so I use that as well.

I do feel so tired all the time and had to delay my uni place but hoping I start to feel better soon if anyone has positive stories of getting over this dreadful illness. No idea where I picked it up from as none of my friends had it.

Slow recovery is not uncommon after GF, but 9 months is some time. You might consider requesting referral to a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome clinic if it doesn’t clear asap.

@Missveryworried sounds like your Mum is bang on it! It will take some time to recover. I'm not sure why it affects some more than others but you may be sure loads of your group have had it too. Keep taking your vits, rest well, get out in the sunshine and make sure you eat well. Obv. if you smoke or vape you should probably give up.

Hi @Missveryworried I hear you. I had glandular fever aged 16 to 18, a typical age to get it apparently. I personally think gcses and a level stress did not help. I was poorly throughout (also thought I was dying and i was investigated for lymohoma) and post viral for at least 2 years. I became ill a second time aged 36 and am still managing symptoms 10 years later (although early menopause has muddied the waters.)

The best thing I did was to rest, drink plenty, rest some more and take vitamin d/k. My throat gets sore when I'm starting to get run down so i use a colloidal silver spray (anti viral and anti bacterial) for a few days. Also a good prebiotic (look at s boullardi) and a mitochondrial supplement like mitoq may be very helpful.

Finally, I was so ill i ended up very anxious about my health and after the second flare up I decided to start sertraline which was very helpful.

Wishing you the very best. You will get there. Be patient and try to find peace.

I had swollen neck glands for years after having glandular fever. One of them took at least ten years to disappear. Step away from google!

OP, at the age of 24 I had swollen lymph nodes for months. I imagined the worst case scenarios.

A doctor then found out that my tonsils were full of pus inside.

I then had my tonsils removed (which was extremely painful)

An update for anyone interested is that my mum managed to get a telephone appointment for me today.

The doctor rang and said I need full blood panel, a referral to ENT and another scan of neck so now I am really worried.

Dont understand why I was booked in for routine telephone appointment in September even when they obviously think it could be cancer.

Tests are routinely ordered to get a clearer picture of what's going on and often to rule out something rather than confirm it.

If any doctor was genuinely concerned about cancer this would have been fast tracked. Try not to dwell on it and focus on looking after yourself.

Is your liver function ok? They should check with glandular feber. That accounts for lots of tiredness. Don't fret thoigh, liver is great self repairer, butI had to go on liver friendly diet after mine. Liver issues also may cause swollen glands iirc

I had acute tubular necrosis in my kidneys, it wasn't cancer, necrosis doesn't necessarily mean cancer. It means localised cells/tissues have died. In my case they came back round (there will be a medical term for it but I don't have it) and my kidneys are fine now.

Google will give you whatever result you want it to. Wait to see a medical professional.

Both these observations are seen commonly in patients with glandular fever. Obviously, the most likely conclusion is that it is the result of glandular fever but for belt and braces reasons ( to rule out all potential causes) they have suggested follow up.

Hi OP. You have had lots of great advice on here, and I see you are now being fully checked out, which is brilliant.

For the record, I had Hodgkins lymphoma at 21. While I was very tired, I had a whole array of other symptoms as well. Plus, after treatment, I am still here and healthy at 55. So please try not to worry. You almost certainly don't have cancer, but even if you did have, it is by no means a death sentence, nor would it necessarily stop you leading a full and healthy life once you had been treated.

Do you think the blood panel would show if it was cancer?

Thankyou dazed that is very reassuring and I am so pleased you are well.

Thanks OP. I am glad it is reassuring.

I would agree with everyone who says stop googling though. I have had many cancer and other scares using Dr Google, none of which have proved to be anything serious.

When I had Hodgkins which was in 1989/90, there was no Google, but I had the Readers' Digest Encyclopaedia of Fatal Diseases for Hypochondriacs (that wasn't its official title but it might as well have been). I got a few odd side effects of chemo (not serious, but I didn't know that) and I used the book to diagnose several fatal conditions which I used to report back to my doctor. He just told my mum to burn the book but she was as bad as me, to be honest. Anyway, we're both still here, so my advice is also to back away from the search engines, try not to worry and wait to see the doc.

The blood panel is hopefully going to identify why you feel so run down and keep getting sick. The tests can show markers of inflammation in your body and some of those might be indicative, but by no means conclusive, of some types of cancer.

I had a lymph node in my neck which came up, as usual, during a bad cold. But this time it didn't go down. I finally went to the GP with it and was immediately put on the 'fast track' for cancer invesigation (lymphoma). It was terrifying and it is completely understandable that you are anxious.

However, it turned out I had a thing called a Branchial Cyst which was found to be benign after removal.

I know it is very hard to keep calm - I really do as I am on the fast track again for something else - but do your best.

I just had a call from the hospital for an appointment on Monday for a USC head and neck so hopefully I will find out more then.

Trying not to worry and Thankyou to everyone for supportive words.