What is my problem with pain in the lymphatic nerve tract

I have had problems since I came back from the Gulf war in 1990. Shortly after coming back from the gulf, I got sick, went into shock and had exploratory surgery. They cut me open, removed lymph nodes and poked around the right side of my stomach and right leg and groin. I continue to get night sweats, pain and weakness. I get high fevers  1 or 2 a month. About every 4 to 5 years I have to have surgery on weird growths that are not cancerous. I have no energy, developed a large knot {softball size} in the upper right/inner leg area. I go to the VA hospital and have had many tests. They say the surgery I had in 1990 was a radical one. It has to do with a deteriorating lymphatic nerve tract. I am in constant pain in that area of surgery. Before that, I was in very good health. WHAT DO I HAVE?

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

I think a formal clarification with you and your doctors is in order.  Any surgical specimen removed from the surgery is sent to the pathology laboratory for examination.  The pathologist then should be able to tell what kind of growth that is.  It is not enough that you accept a "benign" result since there can be several kinds of benign lesions.  I suggest you ask the surgeons or the pathologists regarding their exact findings.  If your case is really difficult and cannot be diagnosed by a single doctor, then I also suggest you ask them to present your case in a multi-disciplinary conference so that more doctors can put their minds into it (hospitals usually hold these types of conferences regularly).

I hope you and your doctors get to the bottom of this soon.  Regards and God bless...