Suspicious node

I am so sorry that you and your wife have to go through something like this yet again.  It's not fair and I totally get the need to vent.  I hope it does turn out to be nothing - you two have had enough.  When will they biopsy the lymph node?

Nancy

Tiago, welcome to the boards! we're so sorry to hear that you and your wife have this worry hanging over you. 

We really hope that everything works out okay. Please keep up updated and be free to vent as much as you need!

Warm regards, 

The Mods

Coni, Can you ask to have an ultrasound of it?  I think that would tell you for sure if it was a lymph node, and if it is, then they can measure it.  That way you'd know how big it is and then recheck it in say 3 months and see if it indeed has grown.  As far as I know, and I'm not a medical person, lymph nodes can grow and shrink due to infections etc. I have ones in my neck that have done that my whole life. Blow up with every sore throat, then shrink right back down .   The good thing about ultrasounds are they are not invasive!  

Tiago, I was thinking the same about your wife's node. Why not look at it with ultrasound to try to confirm it?

Just a thought.  

Hope all will turn out fine !

Tiago: I'm so sorry you have this gut-wrenching worry. Please feel free to vent. I completely understand about always having the most unlikely, worst-case scenario happen over and over. I was told it felt and looked benign, so I pushed for a biopsy and had to push hard. The surgeon's rationale was "you're young and have no family history. Plus the radiologist said it was a BIRADS3 and 'probably benign.'" I pushed harder, so he removed it and said he was certain it was a fibroadenoma. He was completely shocked, like my husband and I were, that not only was it malignant, but very aggressive Grade 3 Triple Negative that was also basal-like. I was 34 years old. Then, nobody thought I'd have a BRCA mutation because there was no family history; well, you know how that goes. Not only was I a BRCA1 mutation carrier, it was a variant that had been studied quite a bit and has a high rate of penetrance. Then, I found out I passed this stupid thing to my only child, my daughter. And, I was in the small group that gets permanent joint problems and moderate hearing loss from chemo. Why can't I just win the lottery? I feel like my chances of that are better than all of the unlikely things that have happened to me up to now. 

It could be just a benign lymph node. Try to remember that. At my almost exactly one year anniversary, I found a lump on the side of my neck on the same side as the cancer. I freaked, and my team were quite worried as well and got me in for a biopsy ASAP. They felt my chances were more than 50% that it would be metastasis to the posterior triangle (spinal accessory) lymph nodes and I would be bumped to Stage IV. The biopsy came back benign, thankfully. 

I'm so sorry you both have this with which to contend. Please come here as often as needed. 

Best of luck.