Swollen lymph nodes in my 8 year old son

nic · New User Joined: 03 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

I know you guys see a lot of these "swollen lymph node" topic so I appreciate your feedback! My 8 year old son is generally very healthy, has had only 3 ear infections in his life and is hardly ever sick. About 7 months ago, he told me he found a lump under his jaw that he has to "bring out of hiding" by pushing it up for me to feel. At that time it was really small ( a little smaller than a BB). I thought nothing of it because he wasn't sick or anything. A couple months later he told me that it grew. At that time it was a little bigger, but I thought I would just keep an eye on it. Also at that time he had an ear infection and was on antibiotics. Fast forward to last month I check the lump and it had grown to the size of a small marble (a little over 1cm). It doesn't hurt him at all, and it is hard. He also developed another one on the other side that is a little smaller than the other one. I took him to the doctor and she thought they were cysts and referred me to the ENT. The ENT looked at it and said they were lymph nodes and put him on a round of antibiotics. We did the round and yesterday we went back (5 weeks later) and the lymph nodes have not changed. So the doctor gave me two options, either watch and wait, or do a biopsy. Since they are just borderline abnormal he said we can wait but he understands why I'm concerned because it's an unusual place to have enlarged nodes. So my son is going to get a biopsy done next week. The ENT found another swollen node further down on his neck that he will do the actual biopsy on since the one under his jaw may affect my son's facial nerve if they take it out. My son has not had any other symptoms other than an occasional headache that goes away with Tylenol and stomach aches (at least once a week for both). The ENT said it is probably nothing to worry about but went over the different types of lymphoma. What do you think about this situation? I know without seeing him you can't make a call, but maybe you can relate or reassure me if you think he's ok based on my son's story. Thank you again!

Nicole
Worried Mom

ChemoMan

Hi nic
This is your son and you must be scared. Don't be. First off swollen glands are very common , doubly so in children, whereas Lymphoma is not common, especially in kids. Secondly even if it is say NHL children respond really really well to cancer treatments much better than Adults do. Kids take it really well and because their bodies are young they recover quickly.

Its up to you wether you wait a bit longer as the doctor suggested or go for the biopsy. I would look to your doctor for directions in this.

Good luck and keep posting with progress

Cheers
_________________
Age 52
Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma
Stage 2a
Finished six cycles of R chop 21 26th May 2008
Officially in remission 9th July 2008
Remission confirmed 1st October 2008
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9620

nic · New User Joined: 03 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

Thank you Chemo man. My son's biopsy was yesterday. They took the node on his neck, not the ones under his jaw. The doctor told me that it was a lot larger than he anticipated, the node ended up being the size of a little larger than a quarter. This has me worried even more! Now I wait for the results which will be about a week. Thanks again!

ChemoMan

[quote="nic"]Thank you Chemo man. My son's biopsy was yesterday. They took the node on his neck, not the ones under his jaw. The doctor told me that it was a lot larger than he anticipated, the node ended up being the size of a little larger than a quarter. This has me worried even more! Now I wait for the results which will be about a week. Thanks again![/quote]

Hello again

Please don't worry too much. A node the size of a quarter is not that large, they have to be over 17mm to be considered 'Bulky'. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you all.

look at it this way . I am a 51 year old man who has abused his body all his life. I had lymphoma for 6 months before they tracked it down. I had tumours the size of small apples under my arm when I started treatment. By the time my second cycle of chemo started my tumour's had disappeared!!! After 3 cycles I was in remission. I still am in remission. Now if a 51 year old in a poor state of health can do it , your son, who is young and strong, will have no problems. Mind you it could all be nothing more than a local infection, thats what I'm hoping.

Cheers and goodluck you are both very much in my thoughts
_________________
Age 52
Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma
Stage 2a
Finished six cycles of R chop 21 26th May 2008
Officially in remission 9th July 2008
Remission confirmed 1st October 2008
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9620

brainman

Nic, I am sorry for your concerns about your son's health. Like ChemoMan said, there are so many other things that can cause nodes to be enlarged... especially in children.

I am curious: did they try antibiotics before the drastic step of a biopsy? Usually, the try antibiotics because the number one cause of enlarged lymph nodes is an infection of some kind.

You and your son are in my thoughts and prayers.
_________________
Jim
Site Administrator and long-term cancer survivor
1992 Astrocytoma grade 2, left motor strip
2005 Recurrence this time said to be an Oligodendoglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=7350
My Story Part 2: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=8029
Blog http://jimhawkinsport.blogspot.com/

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