Swollen Submandibular Lymph Nodes - 11 Months

[bribriblahblahblah]

I am a male and 2 weeks after having protected vaginal sex/unprotected oral sex (both ways) and 6 weeks after unprotected vaginal and oral sex, my submandibular glands swelled for about 7 days accompanied by a sore throat.  The symptoms seemed to go down and the next day I had a painful bump about 2 inches above my penis.  It took about 8 days to heal.  Soon after, the same glands swelled again and the sore throat returned.  A couple of weeks later I had 3 tiny blisters form on the edge of my penis head that quickly formed into one sore that scabbed over and actually healed in about three days.  I had all STD tests completed and all came back negative.  Specifically, the HIV test after 138 days post last possible exposure was negative.  From everything I read, that is considered conclusive.  As far as STD's, the syphilis test was completed 37 days after the last possible exposure, so I'm still a little worried about that.  But that being said, and excluding all STD's, my submandibular lymph nodes have remained swollen with a sore throat for 11 months now.  The pattern of swelling for a week to a week and a half with sore throat and subsiding for a few days, only to come back once again has continued and has even gotten a little worse causing slight headaches, dizzyness and fatigue.  No night sweats.  No loss of weight or appetite.  CBC and Comprehensive Metabolic Panels normal.  Could this have anything to do with any type of Lymphoma?  Should I be in any way still worried about HIV?  
      

[bribriblahblahblah]

  The nodes are not getting bigger than the biggests they've been...if that makes sense.  They are swollen and I have a sore throat for a week to two weeks at a time, then they seem to go down for a few days and the sore throat and swelling returns, but at their most swollen they are a pretty consistent size each time and when the swelling is down, it is never 100% gone (maybe the scarring you mention).  I can't give an exact measurement, but I can see slight bumps under the chin when swollen.  As far as being painful, it's hard to explain.  When I touch them with my fingers, there is no pain, but when I straighten my neck and push my chin towards my chest, they seem to be pinched a little by my jaw.  That is somewhat painful.  Are sore throats common with lymphoma issues?  I wonder if whatever is causing the sore throat is also causing the swollen lymph nodes, or whatever is causing the swollen lymph nodes is also causing the sore throat (chicken or the egg...).  Thanks for your response.      

[Mochadelicious]

11 months is a long time to have swollen nodes, and it sounds like all your STD and HIV tests came back negative so that part is good.  How are the nodes behaving?  Are they getting bigger?  Are they painful?  Most swollen nodes caused from lymphoma are painless.

Most of the time, swollen nodes are caused by some kind of infection in the body, but because you've had these nodes for so long, it might be a good idea to see an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor and would consider doing a biopsy of the node.   However, sometimes nodes will swell from infection and never go back down completely due to scar tissue in the node.  Possibly this is what's going on with you.