Enlarged lymph nodes for months

[Molly0556]

I am 22 years old and In October I found 2 pea sized moveable lumps next to eachother on my neck, they are still there after 5 months but have both shrunk a lot. I have now discovered that i have another one in my groin which is around 1cm. Movable and painless. I went to the doctors before finding the groin lump and was  referred for a non urgent ultrasound and the doctor said she isn’t worried. I am going back in 2 days for the groin lump. Back in mid August I had campylobacter then 3-4 weeks later I had the stomach flu. Then found the lumps in October, could it have been caused by that and they have not gone down? I am so terrified and it’s stopping me sleeping at night because I keep thinking it’s something bad. I have no other symptoms and feel completely fine. Does this sound worrying? Any advice is helpful please

[Ken_PA]

You can ask the sono tech, right when they're doing it, if the nodes have a hilum and look oval (which is good). Some techs might tell you, some will just say they are not allowed.

Please post the sono report when you get it, Molly. Keep in mind that any abnormal things seen can still certainly be from non-cancer causes.

[Molly0556]

Thank you, I have been to the doctors, she is going to call radiology to ask for my groin to be examined aswell. She still doesn’t seem worried she said so many people have this problem and it’s nothing but I still worry. It’s a good sign that my neck ones have shrunk quite a lot, the groin I’m not sure I’ve only just found it but she said 1cm. I’ve had them for 6 months with no other symptoms and feel fine so I’m hoping they were caused by a virus. She showed me my blood results and everything on there was in the normal range. I do get colds here and there, I had a chesty cough and head cold in February which cleared up within a week. Other than that I was ill in August / beginning of September twice.. Hopefully I get my scan appointment through soon but apparently they take a while. Thank you for all your advice you have helped me ease my mind

[Ken_PA]

Good luck today, Molly. I was trying to not overburden you with too much info, but if you get lots of infections through the years, then that's a clue (maybe a weak immune system).

Or if you have relatives with odd immune system conditions (bad allergies, lupus, Raynaud's, etc), then that's a clue in the other direction - overactive immunity.

The possibilities are wide ranging at this point.

[Molly0556]

Thank you for the fast reply and advice! I will keep you updated

[Ken_PA]

Well, there's nothing here to say that it is automatically bad. In fact, "they... have both shrunk a lot" tends pretty much to say that it is not cancer. Also, yours are rather smallish.

In a case like yours, with unexplained lymphadenopathy,  only around 1-2% turn out to be cancer; and that number would be even lower for somebody as young as you.

So I'd be optimistic that the ultrasound will show that it is not cancer. You can read about other causes of "generalized lymphadenopathy" (being in two different regions).
https://www.aafp.org/afp/2016/1201/p896.html

Let me know how it goes tomorrow.

[Ken_PA]

Hi, the key for you would be the results of the ultrasound. Can you post that report? If your doctor was not worried by the report, it likely says that the nodes look "reactive" on the inside and have normal architecture (esp. hilum). That means that they are reacting to some infection or other immune stimulus and are not cancer.

A not-cancer node can stay enlarged for a long time if:  
- inflammation inside the node resulted in fibrosis buildup (scar tissue)\
- or it has granulomas inside, which have to do with infection
- or there is some continuing inflammation that won't stop

So likely not cancer, but still you certainty should want to find out what is causing the nodes to pop up in distant places.

Can you post the ultrasound report?

[Molly0556]

Sorry I didn’t mention clearly. I haven’t had the ultrasound yet I’m waiting for the referral, so no results but my doctor isn’t worried anyway. But I am scared because everywhere on google it always says something bad. I’m going back tomorrow about the one in my groin

[Molly0556]

And also I had a blood test done and it came back fine