Another doctors appt.

[Roxy2012]

Today I went to the 3rd doctor since last Thursday. I also visited my RN friend last night. I am worried I have lymphoma bc I have a few swollen on my neck. They are soft moveable and slightly tender. The biggest one is not really tender which has me worried. The RN and doctor assured me they’re not lymphoma. But I feel like I want a biopsy done. I am scared I’m gonna wake up one day and it will be too late and I’ll die. I’m going to the Bahamas in about 4 weeks and can’t even be excited. I have no other symptom of lymphoma. I keep looking for reassurance idk what else to do. I can’t demand a biopsy or ct scan I also have a lipoma confirmed by 3 different doctors that I’m planning to have removed just to be safe? Idk

 

[bin_tenn]

Lipomas are annoying, but that's as far as they go. I have several of them in various places, a few of them visible and the rest can just be felt. I think it's time to more aggressively treat the anxiety because this sort of thought process / behavior do much more harm than good.

 

[cheer_mom]

I recently had a lymph node swell. It was hard and not moveable at all. I was terrified. 2 different Drs were concerned. I was given an antibiotic for 2 weeks and if it didn't go down, the. I would need a biopsy. Thank goodness it went away. My dermatologist was amazed. He struggled to even find it after the antibiotics. My point is that the doctors see this stuff and know what to look for. Trust me. I was a nervous wreck for the 2 weeks while the meds worked, but just try to have faith in your dr.

 

[Roxy2012]

Lipomas are annoying, but that's as far as they go. I have several of them in various places, a few of them visible and the rest can just be felt. I think it's time to more aggressively treat the anxiety because this sort of thought process / behavior do much more harm than good.

I’m not worried about the lipoma anymore. I’m worried about these darn lymph nodes thank you for the reply

I recently had a lymph node swell. It was hard and not moveable at all. I was terrified. 2 different Drs were concerned. I was given an antibiotic for 2 weeks and if it didn't go down, the. I would need a biopsy. Thank goodness it went away. My dermatologist was amazed. He struggled to even find it after the antibiotics. My point is that the doctors see this stuff and know what to look for. Trust me. I was a nervous wreck for the 2 weeks while the meds worked, but just try to have faith in your dr.

Glad yours went away! I wanted antibiotics but she didn’t see a need for it... so now I am stuck waiting to see if they go away or not. She said if they got bigger and bigger then she would send me to an ent for a biopsy. I’ve considered just going to an ent on my own but my husband/family are so fed up with it...

 

[matisworried]

i'm really sorry you're this anxious but i think it's important to try to take a step back and re-read your original post as if someone else had written it. how would you respond to that person? would you tell them they were making calm and rational decisions?

to recap: over the course of ONE WEEK, you have gone to THREE SEPARATE DOCTORS AND AN RN, all of which have told you that you DON'T HAVE LEUKEMIA yet you are still thinking about/have the urge to REQUEST A BIOPSY. you're also planning on having a SURGICAL PROCEDURE that is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY PER THREE SEPARATE DOCTORS for, essentially, peace of mind.

i understand where you are. i have been there. i had a lipoma removed from my chest "just to be safe." i had scar tissue on the inside of my cheek removed "just to be safe." i worried needlessly even after being told by MULTIPLE doctors, dentists, ents and oral surgeons that i was fine. in hindsight, it was all really friggin' stupid. it was a waste of time, worry, money, it caused unneeded stress on myself and my loved ones, it was physically painful... i could spend another ten minutes going on about how, in retrospect, the decisions i'd made were, to be blunt, REALLY F*CKIN' DUMB! and all because i refused to/didn't know how to treat the real problem: MY OCD/ANXIETY.

per your issues: it is very easy to differentiate lipomas from cancer. this is medicine 101 type-stuff.... like, i think first year med students could differentiate the two with nearly 100% accuracy. second, if you had leukemia (WHICH YOU DON'T) you would have symptoms beyond swollen lymph nodes and you'd probably experience them BEFORE the lymph nodes were noticeable. speaking of your lymph nodes, at this point, they're likely swollen because you're constantly checking them or having other people check 'em. if you're constantly messing around with them, it stands to reason they're going to get irritated. i feel firmly that if a person need to request a medical test, it's because they DON'T NEED IT. if your doctor(s) had ANY concerns at all, they'd order the tests themselves. another thing to try and keep in mind is that this type of behavior can be really detrimental to your care as it can lead to doctors writing you off as a frequent flier. i've also found that doctors don't usually appreciate being told how to do their jobs.

if you're googling symptoms, you really gotta stop! if you feel the need to google, google articles on anxiety! if you haven't already, consider therapy. it really can give you your life back. it sounds like you've got a pretty killer vacation planned so things must be going pretty well for you otherwise! don't let your anxiety ruin it for you!