Does a "problem" with the lymph nodes always mean cancer?

[thementalist]

My mum has had issues with her neck/throat for almost a year, one side keeps swelling up and she has been told she has had tonsillitis, pharyngitis etc and has had antibiotics at least once a month. But in the last couple of months the lump has always been there whether there is an infection present or not.

She had an x-ray which showed nothing. Today she had an appointment with an ENT doctor and he said it was a problem with her lymph nodes or glands but couldn't say what until after a scan was done, which has been booked for a couple of weeks time.

To be honest my mum has been not quite right health wise for a couple of years, she had very bad blood poisoning after an operation and since then he health hasn't been great. It had been put down to her immune system needing to build itself back up after the trauma her body went through.

Anyway a quick google (I know this isn't a good thing to do!!) of lymph nodes/glands just brings up various types of cancer, so i was wondering if any medical types or anyone with an experience of this type of thing would be able to give any ideas/experience good or bad, please.

Hi, I'm sorry you are so worried about your Mum and that you have no replies. It can be very quiet on here sometimes.

Sending you warm wishes and hugs and try not to worry, the scan will tell you everything you need to know and hopefully just turn out to be something minor. Sorry I have no advice but just wanted to let you know that someone is listening. Hope someone can help you on here soon. X

I would have thought if it was anything serious a biopsy would have been the way forward but I'm purely guessing. My GP suspected my 3 year old had lymphoma last year and immediately mentioned biopsy. However after seeing a consultant on am urgent referral he dismissed it straight away just by feeling the lump in my ds's neck. He didn't even need blood tests. There are lots of things it could be, I'd try and keep away from
Google if you can as I was exactly the same and convinced myself of the worst.

I have had problems with lumps on my lymph nodes and even had a ct scan. Turned out I have an under active thyroid and the lumps were due to undiagnosed glandular fever from years ago. So please don't worry too much, it could be nothing.

I had a problem with my lymph nodes just over a year ago,I had a soreness under my armpit that I only felt when I rolled deodorant on and thought nothing of it..anyway saw a doctor about a lump in breast and was referred for mammogram and ultrasound..they decided lump was fine but then they found enlarged lymph nodes under said armpit and did a biopsy there and then..completely freaked after getting home and reading online about cancer..a week later I got biopsy results which showed nothing but consultant wasnt happy relying on that and examined all my lymph node points for swellings and luckily found no others..he examined me for any scratches or cuts on body as infections can cause lymph nodes to swell but there werent any..he asked alot of questions about weightloss,night sweats,appetite and did I have a cat as there is something called cat scratch disease and it causes lymph nodes to swell..my cat was dead a year at this point but said it was still possible? dont really understand that but he decided to get an urgent chest xray and special blood tests done straight away and would ring me at home if anything showed up within the next few hours otherwise I would be called in a week if nothing serious..I luckily didnt get a phonecall till a week later and was all clear thank god ..dont know how I got through that week...had to see consultant again 2 months later and he said lymph nodes had gone down and dismissed me..appreciate everything so much more now!!! unknown to why they were swollen..thats my story with lymph nodes so just want you to know its not always anything serious so please god your story will have the same outcome,,to be honest I think if her consultant thought it was anything serious they would of scanned her on the spot and not wait a few weeks..dont be googling its the worst thing you can do I was up the wall and sorry I had..hope this helps ease your mind a tiny bit,take care x

Thanks for the replies and good wishes.

I have had my mum on the phone tonight, she went straight from the hospital to work and onto google and she is now convinced she has cancer, so I have been trying to reassure her, knowing I have read all the same things!

Reading your replies I am taking it as a good thing that nothing was carried out today, no blood tests or scans. It is an ultra sound scan that she has been booked in for, which should take around 2 weeks or so for an appointment to come through, while that seems fairly quick, I am taking some reassurance that it doesn't seem to be overly urgent.

Frankie, interesting that you mention glandular fever my mum had thought that she had that at one point (self diagnosed through google i think!!)

My mum hasn't experienced any weight loss or lack of appetite, not sure about night sweats, but i don't think so.

Thanks everyone, just hope the next few weeks pass quickly until we find out what is going on.

Do a google on polymyalgia rheumatica. It affects the glands in the neck and I have one that is almost permanently enlarged. The first time I suffered from this was following a virus and after spending 3 months working from 7am to 8pm - I was seriously run down, antibiotics had no effect but steroids did. I had tests for RA, glandular fever and all sorts. I was exhausted but with a disturbed sleeping pattern and couldn't hold my head up. I refused to stay on the steroids long term and luckily it cleared up after 4 weeks but the doctor was starting to talk about ME which frightened me. I now find that if I'm run down, the glands in my neck all swell up and I have also found that taking a B5 supplement helps. A blood test to see if the ESR rate is elevated is an indicator of this but not much else,

Thanks Pleiades, I have had a look at that, there are maybe one or two symptoms there that ring true, I am glad that you are feeling better now.

There are a few immune system type illnesses that run in the family, so I am also now wondering if it could be something like that also?

I'm glad you saw my message. Auto immune illnesses can be hard to pin down, my diagnosis was only made after the event when I learnt that my father had suffered from it! Try to keep yourselves positive.

Thanks . Both my mum and her 2 sisters have/had auto immune illnesses to some degree. After reading your post I actually googled the one my mum had been diagnosed with in the past (sarcoidosis) and it read that enlarged lymph nodes can be a symptom of a flair up, although this isn't something that my mum has experienced in the past, I suppose it could be part of a flair up??

Thanks for posting your experiences, I'll try to stay positive and not look at google too much