lumps in the neck - please reassure me.

[mumnosbest]

I took DD 18 months to the doctors as she's got a small pea-sized lump in her neck (just below her ear. The doctor found 2 more and sent us for blood tests so now we have to wait for the results :(
She said it could be a number of things and most likely nothing to worry about. Anyway I heard her speaking to her colleague to arrange the tests and she mentioned lymph nodes, so like an idiot I went home and googled and scared myself silly.

I know all the bad outcomes (thanks google) but please come and reassure me with any positive stories about lumps in the neck :(

Not in neck but dd had one on the back of her head and it was a gland. I think it's most likely glands up tbh.

that's what I guessed originally as she had a cold but that was 2 months ago, it's only on one side and there are 3.

At this age, they are constantly fighting off coughs and colds as their immune system isn't fully developed, so the glands tend to come up regularly. They take a while to go back down, but often at this age, by then they have encountered yet another virus they are fighting off, so they stay enlarged.

This is by far the most likely explanation for your DD.

Stay away from google for health issues of any sort - it's always the worst case scenario, never a simple explanation.

Ds had the same it was nothing.

Thanks both and I'm sure you are right. Knew I should have stayed away from google!

Ds had this and it was eventually diagnosed as glandular fever (7 yo)

I have 2 experiences. My DS has a lump in his neck, exactly like you describe. We took him to the GP and he was refered to a specialist. They looked at it, made sure it could move freely, and said that it was an enlarged lymph node and not to worry about it. It's still there about 1 year later.

However a little girl in my antenatal group had a lump on her neck, and it turned out she had a rare cancer. After chemotherapy she is in remission.
I hope I haven't scared you. The key word here is rare, most lumps turn out to be fine, but it's always worth getting checked out. I reckon over 99% are like my DS and it's just a lymph node. Let us know how you get on.

Ds had one for months on end as a toddler.He s a strapping 8 year old now!

My nephew has a permanent lump on his neck. He is 6 and has always had it. Doc has said it's a gland and not to worry.

Good to hear some reassuring stories, thanks. She is perfectly well in every other way :)

Here's another reassuring story - my DS has had one for years, it was completely innocent :)

I noticed my D's had one on his neck as a baby, worried took him to doctor all normal, he is 5 now and still has it. Do not Google they always give you the worst case. sure all will be OK.

pk, here's an update. The results are in (just rang the surgery) but they wont give them over the phone and said I will need to wait for an appointment at the hospital in 2 weeks! I rang the hospital and said 2 weeks was too long so they said my doctor would call me tomorrow or after the weekend. Is it normal to not be given a normal/nothing to worry about result over the phone or are they waiting to give me bad news in person?
Worried sick now :(

No idea, sorry. Ring your gp tomorrow, don't worry all weekend x

My dd 8 has a lump on the back of her neck, we were referred to the hospital to see a consultant who immediately diagnosed it as a cyst. We had three weeks of googling and thinking the worst before the appointment but often it is just that the GP does not have the experience to diagnose strange lumps. My dd has to be seen again in three months to decide if the cyst should be removed. The fact that they are willing to wait two weeks to see you at the hospital would kind of make you think that the blood test has shown that it is nothing too urgent? If the blood test has come back clear they may still want to refer you to the hospital so they can get to the bottom of what it is, (apparently there are several different types of cyst) As Valium said, ring your GP tomorrow or if you can, go into the surgery, they will understand how worried you are.

If they thought it was anything sinister they would have you in immediately, none of this waiting around. The lab would have alerted the consultant, not waited to send them to the GP if it was anything major. The fact that you contacted them before they did you is a positive sign I would say!

If you pay £1 the GP will give you a copy of the blood test results, in fact i'm pretty sure they're obliged to give you a copy!

Hope you have managed to get some answers from your GP today x

If it was serious, you would have been called in ASAP. DS had raised glands repeatedly from 2.5 onwards, we had scans, multiple blood tests etc, and the conclusion was its just the way his body deals with minor infections/bugs. He's never ever ill!

I also think they would call you in immediately if it was anything sinister. Do chase your GP today though so that you don't have a weekend of worry.