Katharina Buczek
Have you ever suffered from a swollen lymph node? The odds are that you have. In fact, swollen lymph nodes are extremely common and often seen as a positive bodily response.
Normally, swollen lymph nodes are a natural reaction to illness or infection and indicate that your body’s immune system is working hard to fight it. Nonetheless, this kind of swelling could also point toward more severe health conditions.
One woman named Melea Patton recently learned that her supposed case of recurring swelling was actually a much more significant cause for concern. She shared her entire story with the TikTok community in hopes of raising awareness.
Melea described how one day, she noticed a “really large bump” on the side of her face. Despite being concerned, Melea did not have health insurance at the time and did not visit a doctor until her relatives began commenting on the swelling.
But, after visiting a clinic, the doctors declared Melea’s swelling “just a swollen lymph node.” They prescribed her steroids just in case the inflammation was caused by a virus and advised Melea to return in ten days if the swelling did not go down.
“I took the steroids for ten days, and it actually completely cleared up. Then, three days later, it came back,” Melea explained.
Again, she became concerned and wanted to return to the doctor. Unfortunately, she had to wait six months until her health insurance was reinstated before doing so. Shockingly, though, the recurring lymph node swelling was written off again.
“The doctor said that it was probably just a swollen lymph node. But, they wanted to cut it out of my face because it was getting really large and was likely infected,” Melea said.
TikTok; pictured above is Melea in her video
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