swollen lymph node?

[Von66]

hi I’m 2 years Ivor Lewis surgery been having pain in my neck for a while and very tender to touch just above my collar bone and a bit of trouble with swallowing again not too bad big enough to worry had a stretch a year ago which helped anyway due to these issues my surgeon sent me for a ct scan results are a swollen lymph node in neck so they sending me for a biopsy so anyone else had this ? How worried should I be ? X

[redsquirrelmeister]

You're getting it checked - that is the absolute priority. Sadly both myself and TelfordHiker had the same or very similar problems and both of us had a recurrence of cancer. I am clear again for the second time after nearly 18 months chemo and another round of radiotherapy. Not heard from TelfordHiker for a while but he was undergoing chemo too last time we emailed each other.

Ian

[telford-hiker in reply to redsquirrelmeister]

yes getting it checked is priority..I just had 6 th round of chemo (capox) which hasn’t been very pleasant..but I’ve had a CT scan and getting results on the 18th so taking a break this month 😊 plan on hiking trip to wales last week of April..still no voice (7 months)..which was the warning sign ..I also had a camera up nose and down throat ..one of my vocal chords is stuck ..same as yourself I believe,but the doctor seems to think that a vocal coach and throat exercise can improve it ..worse case scenario is surgery and an injection into throat ..Do you have no sign of cancer now 🙏🏻 I think if my Ct scan doesn’t show an improvement I may ask for a different chemo..What have you been having and was it manageable ?..

[Deeedals in reply to telford-hiker]

sending my love and positive healing thoughts. Enjoy your trip, you’re an absolute legend xxxxxx

[telford-hiker in reply to Deeedals]

🙏🏻 you ok ?

[Von66 in reply to redsquirrelmeister]

thank you for reply sadly yes the cancer has returned was told on Thursday they saying chemo and radiotherapy not got any details yet waiting for appointment for oncologist not spread at minute just in lymph node in neck so gutted and scared didn’t have to have any chemo or radiation stuff after surgery so don’t know what to expect it’s gutting isn’t it after all we go through with surgery and after affects 😞 x

[Deeedals in reply to Von66]

thinking of you xxxxxxx

[Von66 in reply to Deeedals]

thank you x

[telford-hiker in reply to Von66]

good luck mate..I know a few who didn’t have adjuvant chemo..and they not had a reacurrance..just bad luck in my eyes ..but it’s here so we have to deal with it ..it depends on your oncologist what treatment they think you should have ..but you also have a say ..mine put me foward for CAPOX ..as it’s supposedly the platinum treatment..as in the strongest but it’s not pleasant..but until you’ve spoken to oncology ..it’s a guessing game ..which can be as bad as googling it..good luck and keep us informed….always good for others opinions..🙏🏻

[Von66 in reply to telford-hiker]

Thank you x

[redsquirrelmeister in reply to Von66]

A brief overview of what I had done. Prior to the operation , 6 years ago now, I had 6 weeks of radiotherapy on every weekday, then also had chemotherapy each Thursday. No idea what the "code" for it was but it was paclitaxel and carboplatin. Had a couple of months break then the IL.

Was fine then until I lost my voice about two years ago. Due to my history GP accelerated appointment with surgeon, usual tests etc, found something untoward in my right neck area. Inoperable due to location in relation to every other vital structure in your neck.

Started on, and forgive the spelling, something like capecitabine, cisplatin and a targetted drug called Herceptin. Capecitabine was a tablet - 3 times a day for three weeks then a week off. I managed one week and had to give it up. It basically put me to sleep nearly 24 hours a day.

Changed to Herceptin every 3 weeks, fluorouracil, folinic acid and oxaliplatin every two weeks. This went on for many months then I started to get pins and needles so the oxaliplatin was stopped and all the others moved to a regular 3 week cycle. I then had two weeks of daily radiotherapy which gave me a bad sore throat, treated with a milk of magnesia like liquid containing a local anaesthetic. After a few more months the 3 monthly echo cardiogram showed something unusual going on with my heart, a known side effect of Herceptin so that was stopped. Other two continued for a few more cycles, then the quarterly CT scan showed all clear bar some scarring so the whole lot was stopped.

The only slight annoyance was the fluorouracil infusion was 46 hours so had it fitted on a Thursday then had to have it removed on the following Saturday.

All in all, last "round" was about 18 months and I filled 4 of the Macmillan books you can get to track your medication, sessions, etc

Currently still have 3 monthly CT scans and echo cardiograms

Apologies, the second word was brief but I lied

Ian

[Von66 in reply to redsquirrelmeister]

thank you for information mine too is right hand side neck it’s mind boggling all the treatments and Google only makes me worse seem to find all the worse information lol good to have information from ppl that have been there so thank you x

[Deeedals in reply to redsquirrelmeister]

glad to hear you’re clear xxx