Some background about myself, I'm a 34 yr old female, healthy, work out 4-5 days a week and have no symptoms of lymphoma. I have had an enlarged lymph node (1.5cm), relatively small, size of a pea for around 6-7 months. I've also had this prolonged head cold - really minor, but I'm always slightly congested in the nose and have mucus on my throat that causes me to cough. I'm a papillary thyroid cancer suvivor (15 yrs next year), and generally get paranoid about any types of lumps that I find.
I went to the doctor 2 days ago, the visit was brief and he emphasized all my fears and here I am feeling completely confused and hopeless as I am reliving my first cancer diagnosis. He didn't question my head cold at all, which I thought was strange, said that my lump was not a lymph node and either a sebaceous cyst or a tumor on the parotid gland or a lymph node within the parotid gland. I had a biopsy - he took 4 samples and called me yesterday with the results and said it is an aggravated lymph node. He found no cancer cells and he said with lymphoma they look for duplicative white blood cells which he did not find, he found a mix which is normal.
He does say this does not rule out low grade lymphoma (I get it, my first thyroid cancer diagnosis they found nothing with a biopsy and then found cancer after removal). But he wants to give me antibiotics and steroids (I heard steroids are not good because they cause anything to shrink and cover the problem?) to see if it will shrink. He also said to come back in 4 weeks, if it hasn't he will remove it and do a pathology.
Part of me is freaking out and going through the worst case scenario. The other part of me is saying, but what about your cold? It's not a huge growth, why is he telling me it could be lymphoma? I've decided I am going to get a second opinion because the overall visit rubbed me the wrong way. However, I am more worried because in a month I am supposed to go through IVF, I am about to get engaged, I have all of these future plans happening and the c-word is making me fall into this deep paranoid depression right before the holidays. My plans to have a child have been top of mind lately, and this is making me worried that it will never happen or become a road block if I do in fact have cancer.
If anyone has some words of wisdom, experience to share, advice - I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for listening,
Julia