Aa
could this be cancer?(i know its a long question but please help!)
okay so i'm 16 years old. a girl. and i've had this ONE INCH LONG, ONE CENTIMETER WIDE (those are rough guesstimates i never like actually took a ruler), PALPABLE thing under my jaw on the left side of my face, towards the back (so about an inch under my ear so also technically under my jaw). i've had it for TWO YEARS; it has neither grown nor shrunk that I have perceived (though what if it's growing but very slowly? but it doesn't feel any different from when it first came 2 years ago). i noticed it two years ago and it was like a couple months after i had recovered from a really bad flu/cough thing that i have no clue what it was (idk if this lump is related to that or what).
now i've been looking up things online (i know i shouldn't but i can't help it!) and it's like this lump is where my cervical lymph nodes roughly should be, so that got me thinking "oh my god what if it's my cervical lymph node" which led me to think OH **** WHAT IF IT"S CANCER???? i don't have any other symptoms of lymphoma (such as night sweats and chills and stuff) and i do have some other swollen lymph nodes on my neck but those are on the other side and came aobut 1.5 years ago when i had the flu and i constantly touched them so they never went away. but those are all reasonably small. this one is palpable, but it's long! and it's flat, like if i look in the mirror i don't see any bulge from it of any sort. depending on the position of my face i can or can't feel it but usually i can. it feels weird if i press hard on it, as if like if i pressed much harder it would break in half? it's not squishy but it's not like ROCK HARD and it's thin not like a ball. please help me could this be a lymph node and if so since it's big does it mean cancer?
i also do have kinda bad oral hygiene (inflamed gums, quite a bit of plaque) but never had a cavity on that side of the mouth; could that be a factor? PLEASE HELP because i'm paranoid and like it's been 2 years and i've read about all these very slow spreading cancers and it's freaking me out and i will see a doctor in a few weeks for my physical so i'll ask her about it but please help me should i be scared??? thanks!
now i've been looking up things online (i know i shouldn't but i can't help it!) and it's like this lump is where my cervical lymph nodes roughly should be, so that got me thinking "oh my god what if it's my cervical lymph node" which led me to think OH **** WHAT IF IT"S CANCER???? i don't have any other symptoms of lymphoma (such as night sweats and chills and stuff) and i do have some other swollen lymph nodes on my neck but those are on the other side and came aobut 1.5 years ago when i had the flu and i constantly touched them so they never went away. but those are all reasonably small. this one is palpable, but it's long! and it's flat, like if i look in the mirror i don't see any bulge from it of any sort. depending on the position of my face i can or can't feel it but usually i can. it feels weird if i press hard on it, as if like if i pressed much harder it would break in half? it's not squishy but it's not like ROCK HARD and it's thin not like a ball. please help me could this be a lymph node and if so since it's big does it mean cancer?
i also do have kinda bad oral hygiene (inflamed gums, quite a bit of plaque) but never had a cavity on that side of the mouth; could that be a factor? PLEASE HELP because i'm paranoid and like it's been 2 years and i've read about all these very slow spreading cancers and it's freaking me out and i will see a doctor in a few weeks for my physical so i'll ask her about it but please help me should i be scared??? thanks!
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