Swollen lymph node in neck

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Hi, my husband was diagnosed with base of tongue cancer back Feb due to a swollen lymph node that wouldn’t go down on one side of his neck. He is now having RT for 7 weeks and CT for 6 cycles and is doing well despite having a few side effects and is currently on week 5. At first I thought the Lymph node was going down- but it is still very prominent and about the size of an egg on his neck. My question is when do lymph nodes go down- we thought in week 5 we would start to see a decrease in size and that it would be a sign that the treatment was working- but nothing really yet.

  • Hi and welcome 

    Lymoh nodes can take a long time to reduce in size so please don’t worry. 

    Dani 

    Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019

    I BLOGGED MY TREATMENT 

    Macmillan Support Line -  0808 808 00 00 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

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  • I am 18months since treatment ended -i had the same as your husband. My lymph node took ages to go down, and often went down and cam up again. Like you I thought if it went down the treatment was working - but that wasnt the case. Give it time (easy to say I know!) and it will work out. 

    Im well now and hope I can reassure you that changes in the lymph node shouldn't worry you 

    I hope your husband recovers well 

    Rachel x

  • Thank you so much for getting back to me, it’s nice to hear from people who have experienced the same. Did the lymph node eventually go down, and if so, at what stage? They have told us that if it doesn’t go down it will mean an operation to remove the tissue which has us worrying.

  • We kind of thought it would go down during treatment, but still pretty prominent.

  • They have told us that if it doesn’t go down it will mean an operation to remove the tissue which has us worrying.

    Were you given a timeline? 

    Dani 

    Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019

    I BLOGGED MY TREATMENT 

    Macmillan Support Line -  0808 808 00 00 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

    Community Champion badge
  • No, they have just said that if it doesn’t go down they remove the node and dead tissue. Curious at what stage they will do this? 

  • Exactly. You should ask. No wonder you are worried. 

    Dani 

    Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019

    I BLOGGED MY TREATMENT 

    Macmillan Support Line -  0808 808 00 00 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

    Community Champion badge