Hello Clef66, 

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss - losing your daughter 10 years ago must have been a truly traumatic experience. It's normal after experiencing something so tragic that you are terrified now and you did the right thing to book an appointment to see your GP and I hope everything goes well on Tuesday and the doctor can shed some light on what is causing this swollen lymph node. The temptation to poke and prod it can be strong but try to resist it if you can as it will only irritate it and increase your anxiety as will looking things up online to try and make sense of it all; unfortunately it never gives satisfactory answers and will only make you fear the worst - but least likely - scenario. 

Rest assured that there can be so many benign causes to swollen lymph nodes and your GP will be able to explain everything to you on Tuesday and tell you whether you need some additional tests. Do mention to your doctor that the hot flushes have returned over the last 5 days as they might have helpful suggestions to help you manage these and will be able to tell you more about what might be causing them. 

I hope that you will hear from other members of our community who have had similar issues before and that they will be along shortly to share their experience with you. We're thinking of you during this stressful time and we hope that you will get the reassurance you need soon. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator 

Hello Clef66, 

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss - losing your daughter 10 years ago must have been a truly traumatic experience. It's normal after experiencing something so tragic that you are terrified now and you did the right thing to book an appointment to see your GP and I hope everything goes well on Tuesday and the doctor can shed some light on what is causing this swollen lymph node. The temptation to poke and prod it can be strong but try to resist it if you can as it will only irritate it and increase your anxiety as will looking things up online to try and make sense of it all; unfortunately it never gives satisfactory answers and will only make you fear the worst - but least likely - scenario. 

Rest assured that there can be so many benign causes to swollen lymph nodes and your GP will be able to explain everything to you on Tuesday and tell you whether you need some additional tests. Do mention to your doctor that the hot flushes have returned over the last 5 days as they might have helpful suggestions to help you manage these and will be able to tell you more about what might be causing them. 

I hope that you will hear from other members of our community who have had similar issues before and that they will be along shortly to share their experience with you. We're thinking of you during this stressful time and we hope that you will get the reassurance you need soon. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator