Inadvertent finding of cervical lymphadenopathy

@sb4ca Hi and welcome to Mayo Connect! I just hate this total confusion state that you got left in, don’t you? You are going to have a CT on Thursday, correct? The CT will give a good picture of anything going on in the chest. Lymphadenopathy, by itself, means that the lymph nodes are swollen. the CT will give info before/or if the doctor wants/needs to do a biopsy.
Will you get back to me on Thursday, to let me now what you learned?

Thanks for commenting @becsbuddy . Today I have the CT. As I said I have severe DDD and have been treated for myofascial pain syndrome. So I'm used to knots and apparently was unable to differentiate knots vs lymph nodes. Now I can tell I have a large "bump" starting from back of neck to the front. It's hugely uncomfortable and has been for a very long time. But what I don't understand is why this ortho doc ordered chest ct vs neck ct since that is where the lymph nodes are. I understand he's looking for any metastasis from the chest, but that seems like it should follow imaging of the head and neck IMO. I had an appointment from the initial surgeon I saw and of course told him what happened. Thank the lord, he has access to imaging from the facility I'm going to and will call me end of day Monday with the results. PS. I recognize that my first surgeon wants to keep me as his patient so is superseding the other surgeon, lol.

@sb4ca. Hello again and Happy Holidays! First off, i want to tell you that you’re doing a good job of advocating for yourself! It’s so important to tell doctors when you don’t feel that things are right or that you’re confused about something. Great job!! You had your CT scan yesterday—how did it go? Have you learned anything? Will you let me know?

@sb4ca I’m just wondering if you might share your CT results with me? And did you ask about the focus of the CT—why the chest CT?

Thanks for asking it was negative thank you Everyone including the tech wondered why he didn’t do the neck So my first surgeon ordered the neck ct but insists I follow up with my primary which is appropriate Its still very tight and hugely bothersome

Hi there, So late '21 an ortho had me go for a CT based on a group of lymph nodes she found in my cervical area. It was negative so I assumed that these must have been trigger points. Jump to August '23, my neck pain started back up causing me to feel the back of my neck. That's when I discovered a large lymph node or a cluster of small ones. It's slightly below the occipital bone (a bit to the left) and around mid neck. But it also extends through the sterno muscle where it feels very hard. I have similar on my right side too. None of these are tender. I've wondered could this just be calcification? I only bring it up because one of my MRI's, post ACDF, brought up scattered calcifications in the paraspinal muscle and also what he felt could be a calcified adenoid stone. I did get a bad cutaneous rash at the end of June that went into my eyes and inside my mouth. I thought it was herpes to be honest, but it wasn't and still don't know what it was. It turned into a vascular issue and I have a test next week to image the arteries in legs. The ortho said hopefully the MRI will show what it is. My concern is that the last CT didn't show anything and the upcoming MRI won't either. I had a similar thing about a decade earlier and had a ultrasound guided lymph node biopsy in the supraclavicular area. The doctor said he didn't know what it was but was sure it wasn't a lymph node and the biopsy essential had nothing in it. I almost forgot to add that since last October I've lost about 30 lbs and now only weigh 102. lbs

Hi Becky, responded to this post I made a couple years ago on cervical lymph nodes. It wasn't until my primary order a contrast CT that they were even found and good news was that they weren't suspicious. Now I'm having a whole other problem. Over a month ago I somehow stumbled on slightly enlarged nodes under a arm, and then found them on both arm pits and groin. I have some "wonderers" (what I call them) where the nodes are farther from the site such as farther down my chest and into the top of thighs. I'm of course I'm praying that I have an occult infection. I've been re-diagnosed with CVID and am on IVIG treatment. I have mild anemia with normal vit/min testing. Three blood cancer tests were negative and next week I have 2 CT's and see hemo/oncology follow-up. I was searching lymphadenopathy here and come across my old post. Obviously this new situation is causing me some medical anxiety. I'm not having much luck searching posts with generalized, chronic lymphadenopathy. Any suggestions?

@sb4ca Well, first off, what has your doctor said about the lymph nodes? There are many causes of swelling, such as a simple infection, drug interaction, autoimmune disease. So your doctor is the best person to ask. You say you’ve recently been diagnosed with CVID—that’s an autoimmune disease, so it could be the culprit. But ask your doctor!
What do you think your doctor would say? Or are you just anxious about the whole thing?

I've been diagnosed with generalized lymphadenopathy. Primarily under my arms and groin for a little over a month now. They aren't what I would call swollen either, maybe more prominent, hard and in clusters, so my primary is now working me up for cancer. I see hemo/oncol this week after 3 CT's.Up until yesterday I've taken a causal view of this but now with the busy week, it's starting to make me nervous. My best hope is that I have an occult infection. I am having GI issues which I told my primary about, but she made it worse when she said that might be from swollen lymph nodes too. I'm hoping to hear from others who've been in my position and what they eventually found. TIA. Best wishes

I agree with you @sb4ca , it is scary. The not knowing yet stage may be the worst. As answers become available, then you can slowly learn to accept and throw yourself into researching your condition. After my cancer diagnosis 12 years ago, reading and researching was a full time job for a long while. Educating yourself so that you can be your own health advocate is so important. Always keep in mind that a second opinion is valuable, even if just a video visit with a specialist you have shared all your diagnostic information with. If this turns out to be cancer for you, look into the closest major cancer referral center for the doctors with the most recent information and most extensive resources for treatment. My husband and I drive 10 hours to Mayo Clinic Rochester MN from Ohio because initially my referral to UM could not schedule my first surgery quickly. After our first visit to Mayo, I knew that is where I wanted my medical care.
I have metastatic squamous cell carcinoma from a tumor in my ear, not lymphatic cancer, but I understand your fears. I hope it is discovered that you have a very treatable condition, but if you are hit with the "C" word, know that many have been there before you and you can find a good support group here on Connect. Have you seen the hemo/oncologist yet?