Lymph nodes enlarged and worried about moles

November last year I was urgent reffered to the dermatologist regarding some moles which I thought had changed and gotten darker. She looked at them all through a microscope only and said they all seemed fine to her apart from one on the right side of my face just infront of my earlobe, she said it looked like it had, had some trauma and mentioned something about the blood vessels. I had stupidly used the sunbeds when I turned 18 and stopped once lockdown came and then went on again for a few months once they re opened and I had got sunburnt on holiday in 2019 and blistered slightly but not in the areas that the moles where in apart from my face.
 

So I was reffered for a puncture removal of the mole. Then the day comes and I was in a gown waiting and the surgeon/dr looked at it and said I'm sure that it looks fine but I will get a second approval, so 3 dr came and all came to the decision that it looked benign and didn't need to be removed. I was quite annoyed as having anxiety I worked myself up for this and it didn't end up getting removed. 
 

I forgot all about the mole situation, had the occasional worry which isn't unusual for me as I am a natural worrier over anything. 
 

Now January this year I had worn a pair of earrings too tight and was not taking them out at night and they were bloody and crusty and then around that time I felt a lump in my left sudbimandilar (I think it is) area and it was tender and sore to touch and I had a sore throat, so I think the piercing must have been infected. 
 

Then mid feb I noticed some lumps in my groin either side ( slightly enlarged I think ) I am quite slim and small for my age (I am 19, few months off 20) and I had recently had a quite bad yeast infection - which made the area down there really dry and cracked and also bled. I also always had strong fishy smelling urine which I always put down not to drinking a lot of water.

In March I went to the doctors about the lumps and also my urine. She felt the lump in my neck and said it felt like it was going down now. She also felt the lumps in my groin and said that they're not suppose to be able to be felt and so she reffered me to have a blood test and also said to do an std test regarding my discharge and the itchy (which was from a yeast infection) I have been with the same partner 4 years so knew and std wouldn't be the case and did it anyway and it came back that I didn't have on and she also gave me a 3 day course of antibiotics for the uti which cleared up. 
 

I got my blood test results back and I was told that I had enlarged red blood cells and I was told to do another blood test to see if it corrected itself. 
 

In this time I developed health anxiety which I think actually stemmed from everything to do with my moles and now I was getting lumps I never linked the two together and the main suspect for me was Lymphoma at the time. I constantly was checking for lumps which made me come across a lump underneath my right collarbone which was moveable but felt hard and was pea sized, this freaked me out and I was crying non stop and from this time I'm constantly convincing myself that I have cancer and everytime I would see something on social media about cancer I would think that it's a sign and I was suppose to see it because I have it. 
 

At this time I had one lump in my left side of my neck under my jaw/ear and one in my collarbone and 2 either sides of my groin. I also found another lump in my left side of my neck slightly above my collarbone but in neck and behind my right ear which feels like bone, I also found one behind the left side of my knee the outer part which was really small like a seed but ball shaped and I could slightly move it. This made me believe I maybe had bone cancer or soft tissue sarcoma. I also then found another lump which feels fatty behind the same knee. 
 

When I had my other blood test it came back as satisficatory and it had corrected itself. 
 

I went back to the doctors about the lumps and also about my anxiety. She said the lumps and said felt really small and the one In my collarbone felt like a fat lump, she never felt the lump behind my knee said she would refer me for an ultrasound I can't remember now if it was urgent or not but I was seen within 2 weeks.


So the day of the ultrasound came and they had messed up my appointment which means I had less time and felt like it was rushed they scanned the ones in my neck, collarbone, behind my ear and in my groin. I heard them said 20mm x 5mm LxW which scared me because at the time I thought of 20cm stupidly and thought omg that is big. I left feeling dissatisfied from this appointment and still worried. 
 

It took a month for the results to come back but they came back in may and I had a phone consultation and she said that they come back as enlarged lymph nodes but they want to find out why they had been enlarged for so long and that I was being urgent reffered to an haematologist. This scared me as now my mind jumped to possible lymphoma or luekemia after Googling what a haematologist was. 
 

But recently I remebered I was due a mole check up with my dermatologist and the date given was in July and it was suppose to be in may. I recently saw some old pictures of my self and thought that my moles actually did get bigger and the dermatologist last year wouldn't of picked up on that because she hadn't seen the size of the moles before she only seen them as they are now. They used to be quite small but after going on holiday in 2019 and also using the sunbeds I don't know if they have turned to melanoma ? I'm really worried now because now I'm linking the lymph nodes to the moles. There's not a drastic change but enough of a change for me to now notice they seem quite dark brown, they're on my stomach and quite shiny but still look one colour and they look round and even. The one that they was going to remove still seems the same but now I'm paranoid thinking that if they did actually remove it would I be having all these lumps now. I also have a lump which has always been atypical, not regular quite jagged but it has a lighter bit of brown in it the dermatologist last year said it looked fine but how when that is a possible sign of melanoma. I just feel like doctors seem to be doing everything so slow like I rang my dermatologist to tell her about the change but I had to speak to the secretary first and she got my email and said she would email me a link to send photos of my moles on which was thursday and she hasn't sent it me, she also said that she would get back to me the same day and she didn't and that the dr who I was under the care for, for my moles was very good with replying and would ring me that day and didn't. 

I was reffered by haematologist to another ultrasound which was today and did a more thorough scan but didn't do my leg because again, my records wasn't passed on even though I've made it clear I have a lump there as well but they just keep on referring me for the ones in my neck and groin when no one has actually felt the one in my leg yet.


At the scan they allowed my mom in with me due to my anxiety. He said he couldn't say much but they looked normal and wasn't necessarily enlarged but they are more prominent due to me being slim, I heard him say one was 7mm which I think was the one in my groin and they will determine from the results if I need a biopsy. He also said they was a few really small lumps around my neck area. 

I am still really worried as just because they don't seem enlarged which I think they are, I could still have melanoma which I am convinced I definitely have and now I'm scared it is too far gone and it is terminal or not curable because I wish they had just removed the moles last year and now I'm thinking the lumps are definitely related to the moles and my family keep saying that moles change when you get older but I'm only 19 I've not gotten much older so surely they wouldn't of grown and also I have used sunbeds which they knew and they just keep saying my moles are fine because the dermatologist said so. But the dermatologist didn't biopsy any so how do they know for sure? And I have seen that they have definitely changed, they are still all under 6mm and only the one seems irregular really but always has been but it has the different colours in it.

 

I am just really worried I just feel like I'm not being listened too but having anxiety also don't help because I don't speak up to to get my point across and tell them what's wrong and I also keep having my family reassuring me which isn't reassuring to me at all. I really hope that they do biopsy the lumps so they know for sure and don't just go off the biopsy saying they look fine and I'm just skinny so they are more obvious.

 

Does anyone have any advice.

 

I am 19 years old 

 

  • Hi Amelia,

    I've read your other posts to get an overall picture of what has been happening over the last few months. I know you are getting more & more anxious regarding your swollen nodes & are worried they may be linked to the moles that weren't removed last year, so I just wanted to try & calm your fears a little but can I just see if I've got your situation right?

    The mole that caused the initial worry was on the right side of your face near your ear? They didn't remove it because, at the eleventh hour, they thought it looked fine? Since then you have been suffering from different infections and subsequent swollen nodes on the left side of your neck and both sides of your groin? You have been having ultrasounds & blood tests & are awaiting the results of the latest and you have been trying to get your July dermatology appointment brought forward because you are worried everything is interlinked? You are also being referred to haematology?

    One of the biggest things to focus on is the location of your swollen nodes. When melanoma spreads it, in almost all cases, spreads in a certain direction - if the mole is on the lower body it spreads upwards towards the heart (following the flow of lymph in the lymphatic system). If the mole is on the upper body it flows down, towards the heart. It also usually stays on the same side of the body as the mole. So, in almost every case a mole on the right side of the face would first travel to the nodes on the right side of the neck and then possibly the right armpit or chest. It would be very, very unlikely for it instead to go straight to the opposite side of the body, the left side, where your nodes are swollen. Neither would it go down to the groin, on either side. So that is probably why the doctors aren't considering your facial mole as being the cause & that it may be due to something else.

    You have moles on your stomach that you now want checking but you say they don't look sinister? It's probable that you are so anxious that you are now fixating on all your moles as you think this is the cause of your health problems. I'm sure the dermatologist will check them. Can I point out that someone with a primary melanoma tends only to have one primary at any one time - I've never heard of someone having more than one at the same time, especially on different parts of the body. 

    It's also very unusual for someone so young to have melanoma. This is because most are caused by UV damage done in our younger life & the mole then changes over the years & becomes cancerous when we are older (25 and upwards). Although you suffered sun damage and have used sunbeds recently it would be very rare for this damage to turn a mole cancerous so quickly. Although it would now be good practice not to use sunbeds or get sun burned to stop any future melanoma diagnosis in 10 or 20 years time.

    There is obviously something wrong that is causing you these symptoms and it sounds like you are having extensive exploratory tests to try and find what it is. With regard to your dermatologist - if you haven't heard back from them since last Thursday it may be that they have unexpectedly been tied up (emergency surgery, personal illness etc). I would contact their secretary again today and ask for a call back - I'm sure they will chase it up. 

    I hope you get some answers quickly and they find it's something easily treatable. Please let us know how you get on,

    Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

  • Hi AngieT,

    Thankyou so much for replying and also thankyou for also claiming me down, when I get anxious I start to believe whatever my head is telling, no matter how sinister it is and don't really feel any better after any reassurance but you have reassured me and I don't feel so worried now because you are right it could be something easily treatable. 

    My dermatology appointment has now been brought forward to the 9th of June, which has put my mind a rest knowing I have an earlier appointment and I will be seen soon. To be honest I would just want the moles gone just for peace of mind, knowing that they're gone. Because if they was in 2 minds of taking them off last time, they may as well. I know they're reluctant because of me being young and it causing a scar but to be honest I would rather just have the scar then have something that could potentially be sinister. I have become really fixated on my moles now I know that a few of them have definitely changed but they haven't gotten as big for me to really notice a big change. 
     

    That does make sense with the lymph nodes because the mole was on the right side but the lump came on the left side first and to be honest I am skinny so I've always felt lumps in my groin but they were bigger on both sides and I don't really ever feel myself for lumps since having this scare so I could had them in my groin for a long time but they are on both sides which as you mentioned they dont usually cross over to the other side. The lump on my collar bone is on my right side same as the mole and the one behind my ear and I'm worried about them still.

    I definitely won't use the sunbeds again and I know wear spf all the time under my makeup because it has made me quite paranoid to be honest. I will just stick to fake tan now, I do regret using the sunbeds but I was 18 and I wanted to try it and I've tried it now but never again! 
     

    When I had my ultrasound he said that they didn't necessarily seem too enlarged so I suppose that is good but I hope they still decide to do a biopsy because I just want to know for sure because it is quite effecting my mental health and it sounds stupid but I keep on thinking that I'm going to die soon but it's just my anxiety tricking me, I hope. 
     

    Amelia. 

  • Hello it's crazy I am literally experiencing exactly what your experiencing, difference is I still haven't been given any appointment- I have health anxiety and I myself always constantly convince myself because if I had 2 and 2 together it makes sense, when I use google this is the only thing it suggests to me, I am so terrified- let me know your results when you get it x

  • Hi,

    Really? What things are similar what you have? The moles or the lymph nodes? 

    What symptoms do you have or what are the locations of your lumps/moles or whichever it is. 

    Have you been seen by a gp? 

    I am the same but it's our mind trying to make sense of it all by putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with things that it may not even be. 

    I will let you know once I know, I don't get my results until the 24th June, which is 4 weeks after I had the ultrasound. I don't know why it is so long away?!

    Try not to worry in the mean time. X