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DD has a bruise that isn't going away.

616 replies

SaulGood · 10/06/2015 12:03

8yo dd complained a few weeks ago that she had a bruise on her inner thigh. She said she couldn't remember how she did it. It looked very much like a mark made by her little brother pinching her which on occasion, when frustrated, he does. He also tends to aim for her thigh or the tops of her arms. She's also as active as most 8yos and rides her scooter everywhere, occasionally crashing and bruising her legs. I put it down to that.

A week ago she mentioned it was still there and I had a good look and it had faded to a browny colour but I could feel a lump directly underneath it. Around the size of a pea. She said it was sore.

A week later and it's still there, same size, sort of a reddy colour but she says it's more sore than it was. She does admit though that she squeezes it because there's a lump underneath it and it 'feels funny'. I don't know if that's exacerbating things.

I have a terrible health anxiety, particularly where the dc are concerned and I am jumping to the absolute worst conclusions. Because that helps, obviously. Hmm

She's not ill, not tired or not herself. She's perfectly well. She's also had other run of the mill, fell off her scooter or got whacked with a golf club bruises in the last couple of weeks and they've cleared up within a couple of days. It's just this bruise on her thigh.

I've made a GP appointment for after school today as it's preying on my mind but is there a chance this is absolutely nothing and my sky high anxiety and terror is unnecessary? I need to stop googling.

OP posts:
dontbesillyhenry · 23/08/2017 21:45

Sending best wishes for a positive outcome

Maryz · 23/08/2017 21:48

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SaulGood · 23/08/2017 21:50

Grin the elephant in the tree ate peanuts. Her imaginary friend aged 3 iirc. Along with a multicoloured invisible ant and Alec who was permanently At School and as such, she'd never met him. It was an apple tree. Good memory Hassled!

OP posts:
SaulGood · 23/08/2017 21:52

It's all Trump's fault.

Where have you beeeeeeen Maryz? How's tricks? Still confused about which way up to eat a weetabix?

OP posts:
2017SoFarSoGood · 23/08/2017 22:05

That frickin trump. Wish he was someone's imaginary friend tbh. Sad

Your story of your DC today sounded like a modern day chapter in Little Women. Loved it. Distressed Dresses. Children are just marvelous.

Tomorrow is another day.

Hassled · 23/08/2017 22:47

I do not have a good memory - I frequently call the cats by the names of the DCs, or vice versa. I don't know what I did yesterday. But elephants in trees stay with me. Will be thinking of you.

Maryz · 23/08/2017 23:26

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flumpybear · 24/08/2017 10:31

Hope you get a phone call today that helps relieve your worries Flowers

SaulGood · 24/08/2017 13:06

I phoned the hospital an hour ago and am awaiting a call back. I expect they're extremely busy.

DD and DS are in workshops doing drama type stuff and I'm hanging round Norwich city centre on a sunny day in the school holidays. I've been in no less than 4 shops, murmured "could I squeeze past please" to 87 vapid shoppers, hidden in the library for an hour, eaten disappointing soup (spinach and quinoa ffs) and am currently sitting on a hill with a book and crossed fingers.

OP posts:
RedDahlia · 24/08/2017 13:13

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SaulGood · 24/08/2017 13:34

Just heard from a very lovely nurse clinician as the consultant is busy. The MRI has been looked at and perhaps unsurprisingly, it actually isn't very informative. They need the contrast MRI for a clearer picture. They have also linked her up to Birmingham hospital apparently and were very clear that it's just standard and not because they've seen anything worrying. There are lump and bone specialists there who they work with to ensure the right people at the top of the field are always involved. They already have her scans so far and will be sent the next one on Wednesday when it is done. She actually said "I always tell the whole truth to parents" and confirmed that they know no more than she has an unexplained mass. I think she heard the fear in my voice. She reassured me that every mother reacts this way.

So I'm afraid I still know nothing. I wish I did but it's more waiting for now.

OP posts:
SaulGood · 24/08/2017 13:53

I feel quite tearful all of a sudden. I think it's because I'd hoped to know more. To be reassured maybe. I know it doesn't work like that. There are no quick answers. So now I'm the wazzock in the city centre trying not to sob.

8 minutes until I collect ds. I need to get a grip.

OP posts:
flumpybear · 24/08/2017 13:59

In all honesty an unexplained mass may literally just be that, gristle or something innocuous
My best friend reminded me yesterday if a random lump she had which turned out to be an encapsulated abscess.... they took it out and nothing worrying since .... 20 years ago

Maryz · 24/08/2017 14:09

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SaulGood · 24/08/2017 15:01

DH said the same; in the absence of an answer there has been confirmation of nothing absolutely sinister detected so far and nobody has suggested an increase in urgency. The gremlin on my shoulder takes little comfort in this and says it's just because they're delaying the inevitable. I'm annoyingly positive about life in general. This shit I'm rubbish at.

OP posts:
Maryz · 24/08/2017 15:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lazycrazyhazy · 24/08/2017 17:55

I hope this is reassuring, my DD is a paeds cancer nurse and has mentioned before that they are obliged to tell the parents and even the patient (in simple terms) the truth. So it is genuinely unclear. You're not being fibbed off. What a horrible wait for you. DD is constantly amazed by the strength of 99% of the parents she encounters. With you all the way.

Hassled · 24/08/2017 19:33

Oh blimey - how utterly shit for you; the waiting must be so hideous. But what Mary and your DH have said is quite right - nothing bad is leaping out at them. I was where you were today (geographically, not emotionally) - not that that would have been any use to you. But I do know places that sell better soup than spinach and quinoa, which sounds more like a punishment than a lunch.

SaulGood · 24/08/2017 20:19

I do find tales of weird benign lumps reassuring. And I'm also reassured about the honesty of HCPs. She was frank about the fact they never sugarcoat. Lazy, your DD is a star. Every member of staff I have rambled at so far is brilliant and I haven't even met them. I could not do it. They are marvels and to a person so far have been kind and utterly professional.

Norwich was noisy today. There seemed to be a proliferation of buskers and of course, no puppet man.

The soup was seven shades of wrong. Had sweetcorn in it too. Texture of norovirus. Bleurgh. Had a nice spelt and pumpkin seed cookie though. I had low hopes for it too.

OP posts:
Freezingwinter · 24/08/2017 20:44

Hi OP, I worked as a paeds chemo nurse for 3.5 years and I just wanted to reassure you that all of the hcps I worked with are brutally honest, if they even suspected something malignant it would be hinted at very heavily, I think this was probably a way of easing someone into a diagnosis. I have never seen a Dr reassure or say 'unexplained' unless they were genuine. I hope that reassures you a little Flowers

ApuskiDoo · 24/08/2017 21:07

I had a weird lump on my inner upper arm as a kid. It turned out to be nowt in the end but I remember the hushed adult voices and tears. It sounds like you're doing very well as a parent.

Crucially it turned out to be 'one of those things' and I was fine. Flowers

beggingbehind · 24/08/2017 21:18

I fucking love the puppet man- he was on a christmas card one year. Anyway hope your DD is okay and they enjoyed there drama workshop -wasn't at garage was it? I hope we can reassure and hand hold as much as neccasarry

ScrambledSmegs · 25/08/2017 18:57

Showy I've only just seen this thread, I hope you have a good bank holiday and that you don't worry too much over the weekend. Health anxiety is a bugger but it sounds like you're getting it under control. Crossing everything (and getting severe cramp on your DD's behalf) that it turns out to be just something innocent.

I do have some experience of kids freaking us the heck out with unexplained lumps etc. When she was about 18 months, DD2 suddenly developed a big lump on the side of her face, next to her eye. As she was so little it looked enormous and freaked everyone out - especially me, I was a bloody wreck. She was referred to GSOH and seen very quickly, which worried me out terribly as I was imagining all sorts of scenarios. Luckily we discovered quite quickly that it was a subdermal cyst, a benign cyst full of fluid. She was due to have it removed under a GA because there were concerns about it growing and causing problems for her eye, but the damn thing vanished about a fortnight before the op date.

Anyway, I'm hoping for a similarly innocent cause of your DD's lump. All the best Thanks

ScrambledSmegs · 25/08/2017 19:05

*GOSH.

misdee · 25/08/2017 19:06

Hope the appointment gives you some clearer road ahead.
We had a minor panic just before the holidays when dd6 neurologist called and wanted to see her the following week. Turned out it was because genetics had basically told Neuro to actually tell us what they suspected was wrong rather than skirting round the issue as they had been since Xmas.