Paediatric referral - very worried.

[BonnieBlueButler]

Hi, I posted a couple of weeks ago about a swollen lymph node in DD's (4) groin. She's had it since late December. We took her to the GP as soon as we saw it who put it down to her eczema - she had patches on the back of her legs at the time. She said to give it 6 weeks and if it was still there to go back.

We were fine with this. The gland seemed to come and go but was definitely still there at the end of the 6 weeks so we took her back. This time her neck glands were up - she had a cough and cold which may explain this. GP gave her antibiotics and sent her for blood tests.

Two weeks on, we went back again today, as advised. Bloods still not back, glands still up. We have now been asked to repeat the bloods, including liver function this time and are being referred to a paediatrician.

I'm really annoyed about the bloods but I am now in a major panic as to what could be wrong with her. Throughout January and February she's had a number of illnesses including chicken pox, stomach bug, cough and cold. My other child has had all of these too. DD's eczema has been present, to varying degrees, throughout the period.

Stupidly, I've been googling and have frightened myself. I am scared this could be something serious. I have gotten myself into a state and am not sure whether to wait for the appointment, not knowing how long this could take or ask to be referred privately. I have no clue how to do this, how much it would cost etc but I just feel like we need to do something other than just wait, especially as it has now been 2 months since we first spotted the swelling.

Can anyone help/advise me please? The GP wasn't particularly reassuring. She also asked if we have a car in order to get DD to a different hospital to our local one as we may get seen quicker. This has also worried me - does it suggest urgency?

So when are they planning to do the bloods? Did they say why the bloods aren't back?

I'd ring the PALS dept in your hospital tomorrow and kick off.

Hopefully its nothing, but must be very worrying for you.

Was just heading to bed but couldn't ignore this. I know what you have seen via google. Please step away from google... It will just freak you out more. I did the same.

Ds3 had a similar lump in his groin and his neck over Xmas. Gp said to go back in two weeks if it was still there. I took him back and they marched us straight to paed ward for blood tests.

All was fine. Ds had had various bugs and coughs and cold over the weeks and lymph nodes often come up with bugs as a way of protecting the body.

If gap thought the worst you would have been sent straight to the ward. They don't sit around with scary stuff.

I do know how you feel. Our lives flashed before my eyes after I googled and I imagined what was to come once the worse was confirmed, he is fine. Got chicken pox now though

Gp not gap

We got referred by our GP when ds (then 2.5) had swollen lymph nodes in his groin. I was very worried as ds had been unwell for weeks with colds etc. He had also lost lots of weight. We were also referred to a hospital forty miles away in order to be seen quickly.
Anyway, the paed took two minutes to declare ds absolutely fine. Apparently 10 percent of children have prominent nodes in their groin. The paed seemed astonished that ds had even been referred tbh.
This was 4 years ago now. Ds took another month and a hot holiday to get better. We think he probably had Swine flu.
I hope this reassures you a bit.

My daughter had a similar referral when she was a few months old due to long-term swollen glands in her neck. She was scanned and checked over and was totally fine. Doc said it is very common, a good idea to get it all checked out but vast vast majority of these cases are totally harmless. She is now three and last time I checked still has the swollen glands - the doc we saw said she may have them forever but that we are not to keep checking them or anything as we will just worry ourselves unnecessarily.

(In retrospect, I wonder if it was due to her milk allergy, which was only diagnosed months later, but that's probably irrelevant here...)

I'm sure it will all be fine, but good that your Gp is being thorough, it'll put your mind at ease.

Thank you all so much. We have to take her back to the hospital for blood tests tomorrow. What is the PALs department please? I asked the GP where the results are & to chase them - she said it may take longer than 2 weeks or they may be lost in the system (!) so would be quicker to repeat them. I didn't really know what to say - was expecting to be told bloods were fine and sent away so my head was spinning a bit. Can I get the results direct from hospital or do they always go via GP?

It's good to hear reassuring stories - thank you for taking yet time to reply. Worrying is so pointless and exhausting - but I just can't stop thinking. Am definitely stepping away from Google though!

Pals, is the patient advice liaison service (I think). Every hospital has one and they are a go between for patients who have issues with their care.

Though if you're getting the bloods done tomorrow then maybe not needed.

I'd have thought most areas the blood results were updated on the GPs system automatically but. Suppose some areas they may need to wait for a paper copy in the post.

I'd certainly check at the hospital to make sure they're not on their system as if they are it will save them been repeated. If the GP has sent you for the repeat tests I suspect they know the results aren't on the system and have been lost. In patient blood results are on the computer system within a couple of hours of leaving the ward, so I'd have though out patient bloods should be ready the same day or at least the next day.

Thank you Viva. I was told it would take 5 days to get them back to the GP. Have been calling regularly to be told they would definitely to back by today's appointment. Clearly not. I'm really annoyed because I was hoping for some reassurance from them - but also DD was very stressed about the needle last time and now she has to go through it again.

I do need to get them repeated as GP has asked for liver function this time which wasn't done last time. When do you think I could hope to have them back if we did them tomorrow Viva?

Jennifer - can I ask how long the referral took? Tonight has seemed to last forever- don't think we can take weeks of waiting.

I think we were seen within two weeks. I was worried about how fast we were seen, I assumed they must be really worried for it to be so urgent. But apparently it's standard procedure. Of course the two weeks then seemed to last forever and I wanted to go private to speed it up. So glad I didn't!

Hello, just wanted to add my support-also waiting for paediatric referral for my dd. Have also scared myself stupid by googling. Hope you get your appointment soon xx

My dd was referred for a lump behind knee.
The paed had an all over feel and noted lymph nodes lumpy in groin. He asked if she went without shoes a lot, yes she did, she was 3 at the time.
Apparently, it is a known reason for raised lymph nodes, no shoes. Who'd have thought?!

Thanks for the reassurance and shared experiences. It really helps to know others have had similar issues and all was ok.

Bit of an update - I went back to GP this morning and insisted they chase the results. Apparently there was a computer error which prevented the results from being transferred electronically. The lab were able to read the results to my GP. Bloods look fine but we have still repeated the bloods with the added liver function test. Should hopefully get these results tomorrow.

I also sat with the GP while she found us an appointment for our referral. The appointment is on 17th March which seems like forever, but I'm hoping we can get some reassurance from the blood results in the meantime. Am also a little reassures by how well my DD seems. Her appetite is good and she's full of energy.

That's very positive news about the blood tests, hope the liver ones also come back clear. And great to hear your dd is feeling better and has got her appetite back.

Thanks Jo. Have you heard anything regarding your DD's referral yet?

Hi

Have had DD's blood results back today. The liver function test was normal which is good. However, her white blood count is slightly elevated (12.9) and her neutrophils count is up slightly too (although down from last time).

So of course I'm freaking out again now. The doc wasn't too concerned and is happy to wait for the referral appointment in 2 weeks. She said DD's recent cough/cold could account for the results. However, I'm still thinking the worst. 2 weeks seems forever to wait, especially if there is something wrong .