Health Forums

Posted: 26 August 2007 at 9:03pm | IP Logged

On thursday i had to have a lymph node removed as it has bene enlarged for months. The node was behine my ear and when I saw the consultant 6 wks ago he said it would only take a mater of minutes , a very small cut and bit of stricking together with some glue. This would all be done while I was a awake.

The surgeon who was doing the op said she could seen no problems  a 10 min proceedure and a tiny little nick and it will all be sorted.

But the reality  was so very different. I was not to worried as the lymph node seemed to have shrunk over the past few weeks even to the point i was going to cancel the op.

The op started okonly for it to last a totla of 50 mins and i needed atop up of Local anenestic 4 times during it as the lymph node was much larger and much deeper than it seemed. Apprantly it had not shrunk in size at all but buried itself deeper.

The op was a horrible experince .....much more tramuatic than 2 sections.

Since the op i have found myself almost close to tears just thinking about it.

I am now waiting results from histology to check what was wrong with it.

I was wondering if anyone one else has had a lymph node removed .

Posted: 26 August 2007 at 9:14pm | IP Logged

Hi. Sorry you had such a horrible experience - I'm not surprised you're feeling upset. A close friend of ours has just recently had lymph nodes removed from his chest. He has been wheezing for months, losing weight and generally run down. He had his results back, and has something they are treating with steroids now. Unfortunately, as they did the operation down his throat, they managed to damage his vocal chords and he has very little voice left. They don't know yet if it will repair itself ( could take upto 18 months) or if he'll require another op to fix it.

I hope you get your results back quickly and you're not left waiting too long.xxx

Posted: 26 August 2007 at 10:28pm | IP Logged

oh sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience hun,

ive got one behind my ear ive never thought of going to the doctors with it b4 do u think i should?

Posted: 28 August 2007 at 8:40am | IP Logged

Hey chica....I had 25 removed! So I beat you!!!

Your lymph nodes are tiny little pea sized lumps and make up a major part of your immune system.

Easiest way of describing them are like knots tied at different spaces down a piece of string.  If you have an infection of anysort then your lymph nodes try to contain it as a first call of defence (hence why they swell) before the big guns of your white cells leap into action.

It is hard having them removed..you are liable to get a bit of swelling as the fluid which normally goes through the lymph node doesnt have anywhere to go.  But its nothing to worry about.

Your histology report will be back within 7-14 days.  Try not to panic chica.  Easier said than done I realise that.