Is this lymphoma?

I am a 21 year old female and have had a painless lump on the side of my throat for 3 weeks. The lump came up very quickly overnight and has stayed the same size since. It is very large in size (about the size of an egg). I have no other symptoms (fever, pains, etc). I have tested negative for mono and mumps. The lump was unresponsive to antibiotics. From blood work, I was found to be slightly anemic. I went to a hematologist yesterday who found suspicious nodes in my abdominal area as well. I asked the doctor what he thought it could be and he said lymphoma. I asked him if there was any chance it wasn't lymphoma and he said there was little chance it could be something else. This isn't official. I haven't had a biopsy or cat scan yet. Does anyone have any insight/advice on what this could be? I'm hoping it's not lymphoma but the prognosis does not sound good. Also, I'm a college student. If this is lymphoma, is there a chance that I can still attend school while getting treatment? Thx

Why didn't the doctor take a biopsy? The only sure way of knowing if a suspicious lump is cancer or not is by doing a biopsy, anything else is just guess work.

Your life is far more important than school at this point. Sorry, sweetie, but if you have cancer . . you can try to stay in school but it is very difficult to have treatment every three weeks and keep up with your work. But, that's jumping ahead too much. You need to call your parents or someone else who is supportive and go and get to the bottom of this. You need to know . . no matter if it is good news or bad. Do not delay, your life depends on it.

Incidentally, it might not be lymphoma at all . . lymphoma is a little bit easier to treat than other cancers, and I think that is just the first cancer all doctors mention as a possibility. It could be far more serious or . .it might not be anything. Get a biopsy immediately.

We waited too late for our teenage son. When he was finally diagnosed with abdominal sarcoma . . he was a stage IV.

Don't wait any longer.

go to doc asap

I had a lump on the side of my neck which came over night, I went to have mine checked out and I had Hodgkin's Disease. The lump was painless, I had no other symptoms or anything. You really need to get a second opinion. If it gets caught in time you have a better survival chance. I only had to have six months of Chemo. I loss my hair by the second treatment and I was very tired during all the treatment, but they have drugs that help you from being sick. I quit work while I was going though it, some people keep working but your health should come first because without it school means nothing. Good luck, I hope everything works out for you.

The antibiotics deal with bacterial causes. If could be a viral of fungal infection, but they are uncommon. Depending on the biopsy results, you will have many possible therapy regiment if it is lympoma, depending on the type. If you have to go through chemo, don't have an ambitious schedule, but have enough courses to keep you focused.

I fully concur with Jellyroll (did you read MY chart?)

Chemo is tolerated differently by different people, so it can be difficult to gauge it's effects on you. In my case, the day of infusion (when you get your chemo administered) I got tired,l and slept for a few hours afterwards. The next day or two where a bit difficult in controlling nausea, but drugs helped immensely with that. Overall during the treatment, constipation was a daily issue.

There is a simple reason why a biopsy wasn't taken, because the GP isn't a haematological specialist, and it may have caused more problems than it solved.

Presume it is a lymphoma, the subtype is important, but treatment will be the same. Chemotherapy +/- readiotherapy. Response rates are good for many Lymphoma's, and you can get treated as you study, with a few days off needed.

I had a similar lump on the side of my neck that came out of nowhere a month before my 22nd birthday. I didn't get it checked until a month after my birthday and treatment was delayed a little and I moved from stage 1 to stage 2. I did have hodgkins lymphoma. I'm still doing chemo and my last one is next friday. I graduated from college a day or so before they started my chemo but i started working immideately and have worked through the whole thing without much trouble. U may still be able to stay in school but I'm crazy I go line dancing the night of chemo and 3 other nights a week and im always out and staying up late getting up early... some people get really tired and sometimes even sick... so just wait until u see how u react to the chemo if this indeed is lymphoma. I did have all the same symptoms as u did. I hopt it isn't though. Good luck!

It could well be Lymphoma. Stay in close touch with your doctors. You will probably need a fine needle aspiration [biopsy] of that node to confirm or deny Lymphoma definitively. I am not a doc., but I can tell you I started with the exact same lymph node swelling, and went to several specialists [ENT, gastro, surgeon] before anyone knew it was Lymphoma. Now, please don't panic, if it is something bad, there are GOOD treatments out there. And, you should be able to live a full life during and after treatment.
Check this site for the best disease info, and to see if you have any other symptoms: [esp. night sweats or itching]
http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/hm_lls
Best wishes