My son, who’s 8 y.o., has swollen lymph nodes in his neck, something like 4cm. :eek: He’s been referred to an oncologist, since they have persisted for a few months. I’m pretty freaked out by this, obviously. He has no other symptoms, i.e. fatigue, weight loss, etc. He does have pretty severe allergies, but those are springtime allergies, so I don’t think that’s it. We don’t have a cat, so it’s not cat scratch fever, either.
We’re getting him to treatment by the proper medical professionals PDQ, so this isn’t any type of “medical question”, but I would like to know if anyone has experienced this sort of thing and what might be going on. I am scared that it’s lymphoma. I don’t know how to deal with that prospect, any tips on that would be helpful.
I put this in MPSIMS because I’m not seeking opinions or asking a specific question; just trying to get some commiseration and possibly reassurance. Thanks for reading.
Could his allergies have triggered a chronic, low-grade sinus infection? If you click on the sinus link, it says swollen lymph glands can be triggered by sinus issues which can be triggered by allergies or ear infections, which my son suffered from as a child. His glands were frequently swollen because of it. Not all ear infections are accompanied by pain (as I found out with Kid Kalhoun).
As a wee lass, I used to have swollen lymph nodes with any and every sort of illness. Head cold, swollen lymph nodes. Strep throat, swollen lymph nodes. Ear infection, swollen lymph nodes. Sinus infection, swollen lymph nodes.
Sometimes it would be my only symptom for days or weeks. I tended to be generally asymptomatic though. I assure you I’ve never had cancer - just swollen lymph nodes.
An Arky, let me tell you something. Persistent swollen lymph nodes are no big deal. At least, they’ve been a pretty remarkably unbig deal for me for about the last 22 years.
I just checked and mine seem a little swollen right now, as a matter of fact. It seemed like as a kid I always had an ear infection or strep throat, and like Aangelica said, swollen lymph nodes were always part of the package. I saw plenty of doctors, and they always checked , but they never raised any concerns specifically about my lymph nodes being swollen. I always assumed it was just another indication that my body was fighting some kind of minor illness.
I’m glad you’re getting him checked out thoroughly, because they can be a big deal, or they can be nothing at all, or somewhere in between.
Mine were/are somewhere in between: I get persistent swollen lymph nodes whenever I get mono, which happens every year or two. (I guess repeated mono is technically Epstein-Barr, but whatever.) Mono’s not fun, but it’s rarely life threatening, and it gets me out of shoveling snow or mowing the lawn, whichever season it hits. I know when it’s coming on by the stiffness in my neck and shoulders from swollen lymph glands that don’t go away. I’ve been able to notice that symptom and head it off herbally for the last few years, so swollen lymph nodes are sort of my bellwether.
Thanks, everyone. It’s hard not to freak out about having my kid have to go to an oncologist.
He’s always had what I call “electrodes” (bumps on the sides of his neck), and he’s had the places under his eyes puff up so he looked like a monster before due to allergies, so I’m hoping that this is just the way he is and he’ll be OK. That’s all I want for Christmas this year…
I used to get constant canker sores in my mouth, and when I got a particularly inflamed nasty one, the lymph node on the corresponding side of my neck would swell (as well as the salivary glands on that side).
The canker sores must have been due to some sort of allergy, because since I’ve been taking Claritin on a daily basis, I almost never get them anymore.
Lymphadenopathy is the official term, and if he’s not displaying any other symptoms it’s probably not a whole lot to worry about (IANAD, I leave that to Qadgop and al., please take this with a pinch of salt).
Another poster here with benign swollen lymph nodes as a teen. After I got mono at the ripe old age of 12, right before it became famous as the “kissing disease,” mine would swell up like pomegranites at the slightest infection. I looked like I had three adam’s apples, always a good look for a teenage girl.
I had a prominant lymph node under my arm when I was about 7. Mother panicked and took me to the doctor (as she should have), who said it was no big deal.
I’ve had chronically swollen lymph nodes in my neck since I was three or so. 25 years and many doctors later I’m still alive.
I’ve had thyroid ultrasounds, lymph ultrasounds, massive doses of antibiotics, etc. Still have chronically swollen lymph nodes (the ones just under the jaw joint where you find a pulse in the neck and the ones in my armpits will swell sometimes too). The only problem I get is that when I do get sick and they swell because of infection, they get fairly painful and very noticable.
I think they’ve been at their worst since I got mono, chicken pox and shingles in the space of about three years.
As long as a doctor is checking up on him, I think everything is ok.
I’m in my 30s and still have them. I once had a doctor in the checkout line at the grocery store go nuts because he could SEE my swollen glands in my neck. He wanted me in his office that day, lol.
I’ve had every test known to humans; I just got swollen glands. And a sore throat if the slightest thing goes wrong with me.
I reckon we’ll know more after further Dr. visit(s). He still bounces around like Tigger and feels fine. I just have to keep telling myself that until we know more.
Bennett (my son) is the picture of indomitability, so even if something’s really wrong, I think he’ll be able to get though it.
Well, my son’s having to get one of his lymph nodes biopsied tomorrow. They’re going to excise it in an outpatient procedure. Then we get to wait a few days. This is going to be fun. He’s still feeling and acting normally, which is about 100 mph.
I’m not sure what the chances of malignancy are at this stage, but I am hoping like hell that those chances are still somewhat remote. I just wish I could go through it instead of him…
He’s still feeling and acting normally, which is about 100 mph.