Hey!!!

I am so sorry to hear about your dads diagnosis and I completely get why this would make you check yourself, be worried and feel upset with how your doctor treated you. 

i can resonate !! Although I have sore throat swollen throat and ear pain with it all! No infection tho x 
 

im 24 and since December have had several palpable lymph nodes in my neck, armpits and collarbone (left side though)! I had loads of bloods done, ultrasound on neck and armpit who said long lymph node on armpit and she would biopsy if she was worried which she isn't although I wish I had asked her to just do it! And my neck are all apparently normal including collarbone. It's right under my skin it's tiny 3.5 mm but it's just under the skin moves around loads and aches. As does my whole neck to be honest with you! The ones in my neck feel like big glands either side then small nodes around mainly left side (1cm and under) none of them have gone, my throat feels swollen and sore and I have unusual things on my tonsil (had two swabs clear) so I consulted my dentist as I too was told it's because I'm skinny.. I guess skinny on one side of my body only lol !!! My dentist refered me to maxiofacial and they have ordered me an mri and reflux medication to try in mean time which I'm waiting for. I have seen lymph nodes below 1cm are normal but I'm not skinny I'm 10stone size 10-12 I'm normal lol but it's like you say the collarbone that's making me nervous and that so many are palpable in different locations! 
 

keep pushing for answers, hopefully we will get them x

Hi Becks, thank you so much for your reply! It's really nice to hear from someone who can relate (although of course I'm so sorry you're going through this all as well). I'm crossing my fingers the new medication may help alleviate your current ailments. 

I had exactly the same thought as you - "but I'm not even that skinny", if so there would be loads of really skinny people out there freaking out all the time with these lumps!!! It's so frustrating hearing 'they are not of a concerning size', when it's like yeah but all big lumps have to start out as small lumps don't they.

Can you push for a biopsy on one? I was going to leave it a week and if they don't get better try and push for one. I can't stop feeling the stupid collarbone nodes in the meantime thinking they are never supposed to be palpable! 

Please keep me updated on your progress - wishing you the best

Oh it's okay, it's nice to not feel alone lol! 
 

I know I'm glad I'm not a size 6 because I probably would freak out at everything if I can feel stuff now lol!! I doubt I'll be able to have a biopsy depending on how my MRI goes next week! Booked in already and the lovely lady said they will take my temp and give me a mask to keep safe lol! My usual hospital didn't provide me anything for my chest X-ray and staff with no PPE were always within 2 metres of me so I'm super excited about this new hospital and their practices! How sad lol! 
Because my lymph nodes ache and are super sore I think I'm going to put up a fight if they do turn round and say they are under a cm it's all good because my throat is sore every day and as you say, my collarbone lymph node is right under the skin although it moved everywhere so sometimes I think (more like pray) it's a shotty lymph node that my fiancé accidentally broke through during a tough massage lol but I doubt that considering I have loads more lol - wishful thinking! 
 

Sounds like a good plan! It really can be nothing and from what I've seen when it's lymphoma or something they tend to grow quite quickly and I'm clinging onto that because mine have stuck around but not really grown! 
 

I wouldn't be so pushy if my throat and ears didn't hurt and coronavirus wasn't super high risk for lymphoma lol! My partner is a key worker for London emergency services so I'm constantly scared he would bring it back to me and my toddler!!

please do check it out ASAP if it doesn't go down! X

From what I've read, sore lymph nodes that haven't grown at all is actually a really good sign, as you would generally expect them to be painless and growing if it was something malignant (mine are painless :/).

Regardless, make sure you tell the doctors exactly how you feel and hope they understand how important it is to explain their reasoning with you - I think a lot of anxiety often comes from doctors being really nonchalant about results leaving us like ???

Oh - and push for an explanation on the palpable supraclavicular node and report back :)

I will do!! I'll push it with my ENT doctor over next few weeks! 
what size is yours roughly the suprsclavicular one? Is it deep or can you feel it super easy?

only one node of mine hurts that's the submandibular node, the others just ache in my neck and when I prod them lol! 

I can feel 3 or 4 above the right collarbone, and one above the left collarbone, and both submandibular glands I can feel. One of them on the right collarbone is around 4mm I think (although may be larger, ENT said all were definitely less than 7mm and I got slightly confused), and the others are slightly smaller. Submandibular gland on right side is largest of all. Can feel them at most orientations of my neck, but not the collarbone ones when I'm sitting upright which is maybe why the ENT missed them on his clinic exam before the scan. All are fairly movable, some cause pain in my right ear when I press on them. In hindsight, I really wish I had taken the time to push the ENT for more answers! 

Feeling really under the weather today!!! Oddly enough though I'm considering going for a jog, read somewhere exercise can help swellings haha, worth a try

Wow they do sound tiny! It's worth mentioning I have read a lot of academic journals on the subject that says you can feel lymph nodes and they should be pea-bean size so anything around 1 cm! So it could just (hopefully) be the case that you can just feel yours! Mine aren't much bigger I can feel my sub mental one which feels just over half a cm and my armpit about 1-1.5 cm. it's all strange and we will always look back in hindsight I cried because just before lockdown I had my armpit scanned and she said if she was worried she'd biopsy it I wish I'd pushed and said can you just biopsy it lol but I didn't and cried after like a baby! 
 

I think the body is just different for everyone, I felt my fiancé's neck and he literally just has squishy-ness under his throat but has a lymph node on the side of his neck I can feel.. where as the side of my neck has nothing but under my jaw is bumpy lol but I'm sure I've always though it had some bumpiness lol! Also the fact you can't feel some of your nodes upright sounds promising... I have to really dig to find the ones in my right collarbone but the one on my left is right there at the top I'm not concerned about the tiny ones in the right because they are meant to be there and if I have to search that hard I'm sure they are fine unlike the left ! I saw lots of things saying if you have to search for something then it's probably not a problem! 

oooOoo I hope you enjoyed your jog - funny enough I watched a programme where one of the actors said he was going to go for a run to get his lymph nodes going - I have been awfully lazy and wanting to bake rather than work our but I might give it a go tomorrow lol! I hope you enjoyed your jog :)

So I had a reasonably OK weekend, then slipped up after feeling the collarbone node in the shower... ended up reading an article saying all palpable collarbone nodes are suspicious and should be considered that way until proven otherwise and voila I am right back where I started with the anxiety and unable to stop prodding it... how do you take your mind off things when you get anxious?? I don't know why I cant just trust the doctors opinion on the ultrasounds :/

Hey! Oh I'm sorry to hear you are struggling, to be honest I never really cope. I just have to forget about it, my partner is not really open to talking about it he won't let me check his lymph nodes to see if I can feel any to try and feel normal or anything but he's always like it's all ok etc but I have previously been told I am fine and had the flu and a week later ended up in a coma on life support and eventually woke up deaf in one ear and had a blood transfusion at 16 ! (Deaf was the good result my parents were told to expect the worst haha) I only got seen because my mums friend was concerned I couldn't move to answer the phone lol! Anyways my point is my anxiety is bad, so so bad. I don't trust the doctors either, but I had my son who's 17 months that I have to suck it up and pretend I'm okay, either that or he's constantly climbing on me so I don't have the time to think about it really. 
 

I have seen about 4 doctors and 2 different radiologists all who almost laughed at me when I told them that google says my collarbone lymph node is a death sentence and one radiologist even rolled her eyes! I'm not convinced but my node hasn't grown since I found it, none of them have and I haven't got night sweats, weight loss etc so I'm clinging onto that! 
 

i have my MRI this week, my consultant is a specialist in head and neck cancers.. I will ask his verdict on collarbone nodes specifically and I'll let you know what he says okay, if anyone sees this kind of stuff then I'm sure he does! 
 

please try not to worry, watch your fav movie, make your fav dish and keep busy! Everyone has that lymph node we have, ours just want extra love and attention and it could be any reason!! 
 

it will be okay, whatever happens :) but try not to let those anxious thoughts take over, it's exhausting and there is a high chance it's all for nothing and you are just torturing yourself. 
 

hops it gets better for you!

did you contact your doctor? 

Also you had a recent biopsy that's really reassuring plus you've been poorly !! That could really explain why your node is palpable! I don't have any of that to fall back on but that would help with my anxiety and reassure me! And the CT scan would have picked up dodgy looking nodes! Breathe it all looks positive! X