mesenteric Lymph node swelling

[mafic9]

I have had three CT scans with contrast showing multiple lymph nodes up to 2 cm short axis and at my last scan many more possible, though through the shifting of the mesentery that could be unknown. My blood work shows up normal and my doctors want to hold off on a biopsy. If my blood work shows no kind of infection are my doctors just waiting for signs of lymphoma to begin before they opt for the biopsy. I read about the wait and see method when dealing with lymphoma. The doctor says if I show any signs such as night sweats, fatigue-which I do have, changes in bowels or weight loss to come back. I have already been waiting for three and half months since the swelling was noticed in an unrelated CT scan, and that is the hardest part, waiting. Is this normal path for treatment?

[CHIN_C]

Lymph nodes measuring greater than 1 cm, as in your case, are indeterminate/suspicious for underlying pathology, possibly infectious, inflammatory, and/or neoplastic (i.e., cancer such as lymphoma). Make sure you follow up with your doctor's recommendations. If not resolved on follow up CT, consider PET/CT. Good luck!

[NaluKana]

No, i did not have sweeling of my spleen, but i did not have liver pains for the whole episode as well. I wish i could help more about that, but your spleen is just like a big lymph node, it could be swelling in response to whatever is affecting the lymph nodes. I hope this is the case for you, and everything turns out ok for you.

Best wishes.

[mafic9]

Thank you for your reply.  One question to you though, did you have any splenomegaly, swelling of the spleen, at all? That has also been seen in my CT scans and also some thickening of the jejunum.

[NaluKana]

i am a 27 y/o male that went through the exact same thing in Jan. of this year. It started with a pain in my RLQ of my abdomen. A ct scan showed multiple mesenteric lymph nodes. They had me come back the next day to rule out appendicitis. After a month of the pain i was sent to a GI specalist, who ran multiple blood tests that all came back normal. In the first month i lost 15 lbs., had night sweats and diahorrehea (sp?). I became convinced that i had lymphoma. The drs. took a wait and see approach as all of my tests came back normal despite the lymphadenitis. It took almost 3 months to go away, but i am happy to report that it did. My dr. has told me that the night sweats were due to the anxiety that this produced, as well as the weight loss.

The drs. are probably waiting to see if the lymph nodes increase in size not number. Lymphoma is fairly rare, and there are alot of causes to consider before making that assumption being that a biopsy in that area is very invasive, and that most types of lymphoma are not very aggresive. Not too mention that a lot of mesenteric lymphadenitis cases will resolve on their own and will never find out what caused it. I know that the web says that it should resolve within a couple of weeks, but a lot of people i have talked to online say that it takes longer... i know that it did for me. Hope this helps in some small way.

Best wishes.

[Pam065]

After 9 years of small bowel obstructions ever year sometimes twice a year  was having pain in upper right abdomen , biopsiesd and  was Diognosed with Follicular  Non Hodgkins Lymphoma , had chemotherapy  and immune therapy . In remission now , still have symptoms . Night sweats are a symptom , FATIGUE !!, weight loss (not much) thinning hair and the feeling of fullness...  Always always listen to your body .
I’m now fatigued low back pain and swollen gland on my right ribs.

[mafic9]

more information: I am a 25 year old male.