Could be a fluid filled cyst or possibly a fatty lipoma. Looks too superficial to be a lymph node. Just an educated guess. At least Anthony Kennedy retired with some vitality left to enjoy life. Old Ruthie is too hardcore leftist for that option.
“Looks too superficial to be a lymph node.”
Older people sprout these lymphomas, slow growing. I am quite sure that it’s been checked out and most likely benign. Too large for a sebaceous cyst, don’t think Lipoma.
I’m going with an Upper Posterior Cervical lymph node etiology unknown.
Causes
Infection
Pericoronitis
Staphylococcal lymphadenitis
Mycobacterial lymphadenitis
Rubella
Cat scratch fever
Infectious mononucleosis
Streptococcal pharyngitis
Viral respiratory infection
Toxoplasmosis
Tuberculosis
Brucellosis
Primary herpes simplex infection (primary herpetic gingivostomatitis)
Syphilis (secondary)
Cytomegalovirus
Human immunodeficiency virus
Histoplasmosis
Chicken pox
Malignancy
Lymph nodes may become enlarged in malignant disease. This cervical lymphadenopathy may be reactive or metastatic. Alternatively, enlarged lymph nodes may represent a primary malignancy of the lymphatic system itself, such as lymphoma (both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s), lymphocytic leukemia,
Metastatic lymph nodes are enlarged because tumor cells have detached from the primary tumor and started growing in the lymph node (”seeded”). Since cancer generally occurs more frequently in older people, this kind of lymphadenopathy is more common in older persons.
Metastatic lymph nodes tend to feel hard and may be fixed to underlying tissues and may or may not be tender.
Usually the lymph nodes that directly drain the area of the cancer are affected by the spread (e.g. Sometimes metastatic cervical lymph node is detected before the main cancer). In such cases, this discovery leads to a search for the primary malignancy, firstly in the nearby area with endoscopy, “blind” biopsies, and tonsillectomy on the side of the lymphadenopathy. If no tumor is found, then the rest of the body is examined, looking for lung cancer or other possible sites. If still no primary tumor is detected, the term “occult primary” is used.
In lymphoma, usually there are multiple enlarged nodes which feel rubbery to palpation.
Rhabdomyosarcoma
Neuroblastoma
Other causes
Surgical trauma, e.g. following a biopsy in the mouth
Kawasaki disease,
Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease
Rosai-Dorfman disease
Castleman disease
sarcoidosis
Lupus erythematosus
Cyclic neutropenia
Orofacial granulomatosis