Hello all, I’m 26M and I found a hard bump behind my left ear on January 8th and has not gone away as of today 1/25/25. It’s about the size of a pea, maybe a tad bigger. It feels fixed and rubbery but definitely on the hard side and the bump itself does not hurt at all. It’s been about 17 days and the lump is still the same size. Initially, I had no symptoms at all. As of last week, I can feel minor swelling under the jawline where the submandibular glands are particularly on the left side. I feel dull discomfort in my shoulders and back of neck, and chest bone where the cartilage is with no additional lumps just dull “nerve” pains. Lump swells down significantly when taking Ibuprofen but still there and firm. I have a doctor’s appointment on January 31st as I’m sure I’ll get blood work done and possible scans. I’m hoping I don’t have lymphoma or some type of metastasis. I’m truly nervous about this and I’ll be updating this thread with updates from start to finish just in case anyone else might be going through this. If you have gone through something similar, please share. I’ve attached an image below
Hi @dsmith454 a great big welcome to our forum although you might not need us.
I am so glad that you have a doctors appointment on the 31 Jan and lets hope they can sort out what is the cause of your symptoms.
Don’t forget all tests are to rule conditions in or out.
I find not knowing and waiting makes me anxious and nervous as well.
Yes, please do let us know how you get on and really be kind and look after yourself.
Hi @dsmith454
Thanks for your post and it’s understandable that you’re feeling anxious about all this - the not knowing while you wait for any appointment can be so difficult.
You may see some of the following information elsewhere on the forum if you take a look around - there are several other threads where people are worried about blood cancer. However, I’m posting it here again because it could be useful for you to get prepared for your GP appointment.
You may find our 'Blood cancer symptoms and signs’ page helpful to read - it contains information on what to look out for, as well as prompts for questions you might like to ask your doctor.
As it explains on the webpage:
"Most people who have symptoms described on this page won’t have blood cancer. But it’s worrying to have symptoms you can’t explain, and important to find out what’s causing them, if only to set your mind at rest.
If you have just one symptom that you can’t explain, that goes on for a long time, or is unusual for you, book an appointment with your GP. If you suddenly feel very unwell at any time, get medical help straight away by calling 999 or going to A&E."
You’ve already done the right thing by getting a GP appointment and they’ll be able to talk through your symptoms. The webpage above has a link to our free blood cancer symptoms guide also, which has a handy section to note your symptoms and things to think about before your appointment: Blood cancer symptoms guide | Blood Cancer UK Shop
One of the first tests that would be done to investigate someone’s health is a full blood count (full blood count), which measures the number of each type of cell in your blood: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. We have information about normal ranges on our website, and you can read more about each of the tests that might be done to confirm or rule out blood cancer here: bloodcancer.org.uk/understanding-blood-cancer/tests-diagnosis.
Hope it all goes well at your appointment and try if you can to relax and do something nice for yourself beforehand to help with the nerves - I know it’s very much easier said than done!
Kind regards,
Ali
Thank you everyone that has replied to my post. I’ve finally saw an ENT today, and I explained my concerns and showed her my lymph nodes. She felt them, asked me a few questions. She ultimately said because of the size, and lack of symptoms I’m having, she isn’t to concerned but she wanted me to take a course of anti-biotics for 10 days to see what happens, and she also ordered me an ultrasound of my neck. Strangely, she didn’t order any blood work requests, so I guess I’ll just follow up on this posts when I go through the next steps. She said lymph nodes can swell for many different reasons, I told her I can’t remember the last time I was sick, I felt like it’s be at least 3 years since I got the cold. She said sometimes lymph nodes can “scar” and become hard and they may go away, but she suspects mine probably won’t go away and it might be like that permanently. There’s still more testing and imaging to be done to completely rule things out, but as of now she said she’s not concerned. So I guess that’s a positive sign for now.
Hi @dsmith454 your GP certainly seems to be looking after you.
Please do let us know how the antibiotics, ultrasound and next appointment goes.
Really look after yourself