G AIBU to think that 3 weeks is too long to wait?

[TheWholeTruth]

Yesterday my DD (11) showed me a lump underneath her ear just at the top of her jawbone. She said it had been there a while (but no idea how long) but it started hurting yesterday so she told her teacher. I got home expecting to find a pea shaped lump showing that she had a swollen lymph node. It's more like the size of a grape

So I took her to the GP this morning and saw a nurse practioner who said it's probably the result of an infection though she couldn't find any signs of one and DD hasn't been ill. She said to come back if it's still there in 3 weeks because they're not going to do anything about a lump that's been there for one day!!

It looked like it had got bigger overnight and I've just got home from worked and checked again. It's got bigger again and there is a second pea shaped lump behind that one. AIBU to think that 3 weeks is too long to wait and see what happens?

In my experience (not remotely medical, but personal), lumps that grow that quickly are generally less to worry about. More likely to be fluid?

But I also firmly think that if you are worried, then you go to see someone who knows. If you’re not happy with what you’ve been told already, go back and see your GP tomorrow.

Can you call them tomorrow morning and say it's growing?

Chances are it's an infection and the lumps will disappear

We had similar with DD a few years ago who was two at the time. GP said most likely a sign of infection and if it wasn't gone in a few weeks to go back. She said she was confident waiting as the lump was round like a pea or something and not an odd shape which would give her more cause for concern. That and DD had no signs of being unwell. It went away after several weeks.

But if you are worried or it is is hurting her I would ask for her to be seen again.

I feel a bit better now. I've just never come across a lump like this but it sounds like they're normal. I'll keep an eye on it over the next couple of days.

My dad died of non-hodgkins so I think I'd gone into panic mode.

I get them behind my ears regularly and they go in a week or two. They're not nice to look at tho. That being said if you're worried you should get it looked at again as not all lumps are harmless, but thus one likely is

3 weeks is pretty early for a recheck - I suspect they advised seeing you again earlier than they normally would due to your understandable anxiety given the family history. They don't usually get blood tests etc unless either examination findings are odd, or it's been there 6 months. Because it's so common, and they usually disappear.

All fingers crossed that this one disappears promptly.

I know it’ll seem like a long time but it’s far better to see how it is after 2-3 weeks. Most enlarged nodes are reactive (due to infection) and will resolve after a couple of weeks. If you see the GP too soon it’ll be unlikely to have changed, and you’ll be no better off. I’d try and wait it out. My DS has similar as a toddler

I used to get them a lot but they are all gone now. I would get them before a cold and they would stay for a couple of months.

That sounds exactly like swollen glands, I used to get that a lot. Like Dr said usually when you've had an infection or been under the weather but could also be a sign that your body's been fighting off an infection and so you've seen no signs of it. Definitely right to get it checked out and from your history i can see why you're worried but this sounds very normal