Tales of a Lymph Node

It is Saturday, October 12th, 2013. I awake with a sore neck, so sore in fact, I can barely turn it to the left. Initially, I assume it's muscle inflammation from working out (those hang cleans will get ya!). As I squeeze my neck in what should be a massage releasing move, I feel a round lump on the back left side. I know it is a lymph node (it's a posterior cervical node), I know I've been feeling on the verge of a cold, and I know the lymph node is painfully swollen with white blood cells because it's doing it's job to protect me from illness. This swollen node tells me to get extra rest and extra fluids to help my body stave off a nasty bug, and so I listen. Within a few days, the node is significantly reduced and I remain healthy. The thing is, this lymph node never fully flattens. It's not a bother, but I do vaguely wonder why it's not completely hidden - am I still fighting a cold? for three months??? It is now Saturday, January 11th, 2014. I awake with a sore neck, though not as bad as my October neck. The same lymph node has grown in size, and not surprisingly, all week I've been feeling run down. I know what to do - rest, fluids, etc., but my previous wonderings about why the lymph node didn't fully retreat have grown into catastrophic wonderings ... do I have Lymphoma? Hodgkin's Disease? Joe assures me I have neither and encourages me to call my doctor so I can "put this to rest."

I get in with Dr. Diehr on Thursday, by which time the lymph node is reduced to it's usual smaller, yet distinctive size. Dr. Diehr palpates it and says with a warm reassuring smile, "I have felt hundreds of thousands of lymph nodes in my career. This feels healthy. It's rubbery, movable, not overly large. I will tell you that in my gut, I think you are fine, but I will double check myself by ordering blood work." This relieves me, but the pressing question remains, why didn't this node completely disappear in between swellings? Dr. Diehr explains that everyone's anatomy is unique, and because I'm (in her words) "so slender", my lymph nodes are easily felt and seen. She said neither she nor myself would feel or be aware of a swollen node if I was 300 pounds. {as a side note, I have to say that when she used the word "slender" I was momentarily floored. Even though it's been 20 years since I was overweight, the idea that I'm heavier than I am never goes away. Yes, I know I'm not fat, or even over weight, but somehow it doesn't seem that slender is connected to me ... but of course it is! I work my ass off and will gladly own this descriptor☺} This slightly raised node may just be the new normal for me.

Lab results have not been posted yet and I contemplated waiting to write this post until the blood work returned with normal findings, but there is no reason to think anything abnormal will show up, so I'm going to boldly predict that I do not have cancer and am just a bit run down with all my training (I just ran my first 35 mile week!). If the blood work says otherwise, you'll read about that in the next post! Oh, just one last tidbit from that appointment. Dr. Diehr, always on the cutting edge of science and research, informed me that I no longer need to take Calcium supplements, that in fact, I should stop altogether. The medical field is finding that normal healthy people increase their risk for kidney stones and heart attack by taking daily doses of Calcium. The best practice now is to get your calcium in smaller, natural doses throughout the day from food. Interesting, huh?