Welcome to Mayo Connect @lbucky. I'm glad that you found us, but sad that you are facing this difficult time. Ugh, it's never easy. Try to focus on what you know now, not what might be true. Lymph nodes can certainly react and show higher uptake values than the nodules for an infection or other irritation. The next step is likely a biopsy where they can examine the cellular level of the lymph node fluid or the nodule itself.
I've had a cancerous mass (in 2020), and a fungal nodule (in 2023). Both showed as active on the PET scans, both had lymph nodes with uptake also (the values from the lymph nodes for the fungal nodule were over 7). Only a biopsy confirmed that the 2023 nodule was actual fungal in nature, and not a recurrence of the lung cancer.
Did you have the appointment with the pulmonologist yet? How did that go? Are they able to biopsy the nodule or the lymph fluid (sometimes it can be difficult due to the location of the nodule or the health of the patient)?