Ultrasound and 3D Mammo May 18

kmom80

Greetings,

I developed a draining hole out from my left breast. Some doctors have called it an abcess, others have called it a cyst. I was given two courses of antibiotics once a Z-Pak and the the second doxycycline. It's about 90% better.

Halfway through that healing process I used a new electric shaver on my RIGHT armpit and ended up butchering my skin, I had probably 25-35 cuts. It was so painful I had to ice my underarms for a few nights then my lymph nodes started enlarging.

The doctor said since I was on antibiotics anyway, the lymph node swelling would have gone away by now (it's been two weeks). Her NP felt my arm pit and said she couldn't feel the individual nodes but that the area was definitely puffy and ordered a mammo and ultrasound for my underarm.

So of course if you google enlarged axillary lymph nodes you get "cancer" or "leukemia" or "lymphoma"

I don't have fatigue (I mean I'm a single Mom so I've been fatigued since my kid was born), but no fever, night sweats, weight loss, or right breast changes.

I'm not happy with my healthcare lately. I had a endometriosis situation and one doctor told me that I probably needed emergency surgery with a wound vac recently (he was very wrong) and this most recent doctor told me breast cancer was a definite possibility and shook her head like "yep" when she read my mom had breast cancer. So even though I'm trying not to worry, it's hard no to. The nurse practitioner however, was very positive and spent the most time with me and was the only one who actually felt my armpit.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for, maybe someone with a similar experience (enlarged lymph nodes after two weeks and antibiotics)? Reassurance? It's been a hell of a spring for me. My body started getting all these weird symptoms after my COVID19 vaccine.

LivinLife

Welcome kmom! Sorry you have all this going on! It sounds like you have not had the mammo and US yet? I"m glad they ordered these, esp. since you're not too comfortable with the one doc.... It seems odd to me the shaver cuts caused lymph node swelling though it they were bad cut I suppose the nodes could have become irritated? It doesn't sound like you noticed them swollen before that? Hopefully you get the scans done soon so you get the results and know what's going on. Obviously there will be some additional waiting now and in between. I'm not sure I can offer anything other than support at this point.... Please let us know what you find out...

Beesie

kmom,

Cuts from shaving definitely can cause swollen underarm lymph nodes.

Can Shaving Cause Swollen Lymph Nodes? https://www.shaverguide.co.uk/can-shaving-cause-sw...

4 main causes of swollen lymph nodes in the neck, groin and armpit https://www.tuasaude.com/en/swollen-lymph-nodes-in...

Armpit lump https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003099.htm

2 weeks for lymph nodes to go down? Not always. To my understanding, even with antibiotics, it often takes lymph nodes 4-6 weeks to reduce to normal size. And sometimes they never go completely back to normal - and that's surprisingly common. I have a few of those.

So given that your underarm nodes became swollen after you cut yourself, I wouldn't worry. Odds are these are just healthy reactive nodes that are taking their time getting back down in size.

kmom80

Hi LivinLife and Beesie thank you for responding, my appt. is tomorrow morning and I think I've had about 30 panic attacks today. I probably won't get any sleep. My LEFT axillary area swelled temendously after my COVID19 shot (I got my shot in my left arm back in the beginning of March). Back then my right axilla looked great and my left one was huge. My left one went down pretty quickly over about a week. I didn't notice the right one until a few days after butchering my right armpit with the new shaver. Long story short, I thought it was one of those that "pulled" the hairs out but it wasn't and I nicked myself so bad I had a raw ground beef look for a few days. I still have a few scabs. Am also worried that the mammo will make my left breast abscess hurt, or re-aggravate it.

LivinLife

Oh kmom that just sounds terrible! Makes sense that's what caused the node swelling then... I would've been more amazed if you didn't experience swelling with all you described! Please let us know how the appointment went....