Waiting 4 weeks for lymph node biopsy results

Hello again!

I posted on here a few months ago about my boyfriend's neck lump. Since then, he's seen another consultant who arranged an ultrasound with the possibility of biopsy depending on what was seen on the scan. Long story short, the lymph node was biopsied at an ultrasound appointment 3 days after the consultant appointment.

The biopsy was almost 4 weeks ago and he still hasn't heard anything from the hospital. I am worried about the effect this is having on my boyfriend. He's not one to share his negative emotions openly with me (or anyone) but I can tell the waiting is taking a massive toll on him - I think it would do with anyone. We both had the understanding that results from lymph node biopsies usually take 1-2 weeks. Is this long wait typical? Has anyone else had experience with this? I hate seeing him so worried :(

  • Hello.

    yes agreed - 4 weeks is a while to wait for biopsy results. So may be worth chasing up with the hospital

    however -

    a lot of information has been gathered already by this point, in the form of the ultrasound, blood tests, how your boyfriend is physically presenting etc.. this information while not diagnostic is very important, and COULD be leading the hospital to believe that his case is less urgent, which would be hopeful news for you guys.

    it's very hard to tell so do contact the hospital and chase it up ASAP. However based on my own personal experience, if your boyfriends physical condition hasn't worsened in those 4 weeks, and you haven't noticed any other lumps anywhere else - I'd be feeling more hopeful.

    For context my biopsy results were returned less than 1 week after the biopsy, but I found out later down the line that was because the hospital had strong indication that I had cancer from very early tests.