Lump in toddlers neck for several months and nose bleeds

[livelovelaugh30]

My 20 month old son has had a lump in his neck for the past few months. It's the size of a small grape and feels quite hard.

He also has has several nosebleeds over the past few months. I took him to the gp who referred him to paediatrics and they were much more easy going about the nosebleeds- I had assumed that they had done a full blood count to rule out anything sinister, but I've since been advised that they didn't.

I took him back to the gp a month ago to re flag the lump and they advised that if it was still there in a month they'd investigate (at the time it had already been there for 4 months). I took him back again last week as it obviously was still present. My gp inspected the lump and confirmed it wasn't a lymph node (it's positioned in the posterior triangle) and referred us for an ultrasound and full blood count to rule out anything sinister. Because of covid, she was pretty candid and advised us that the wait times are excessive and we might be best to go private if we could. To speed things up, I've since booked a private ultrasound (rather than wait for the nhs one), which takes place this Friday and he'll have a full blood count test tomorrow (through the nhs).

He's generally a very healthy boy and not off his food. He hasn't lost any weight. However I have noticed more bruising under his eyes but I don't know if I'm hypersensitive to the symptoms of something more sinister.

Just feeling quite concerned and eager for the results of the ultrasound and would love to hear from people who have been in a similar position and what the outcome was.

Try to keep positive until the results are back.

Thanks @mynewself - definitely trying to keep calm and stay positive and rational. I definitely think it's a great sign that he seems in good spirits and I'm hoping that might suggest it's something more harmless like a cyst.

I guess I'm just alarmed at how hard it feels, the fact it's painless and how much it protrudes (it's difficult to ignore it). I fully expected our gp to say it was a lymph node and I was surprised when she said she felt sure it wasn't.

I haven't been in exactly the same situation but I am a mum and can imagine how your imagination might be going into overdrive. My daughter had a lump on her jawline at a week old and it turned out to be swelling from the forceps but it took us a trip to a and e, a specialist and an ultrasound to find that out. We were told not to google it because we'd only worry.

I know it's easier said than done but I would do as the poster above suggests and stay positive. The most likely outcome is generally the most obvious one that like you say it is a harmless cyst and of course you have to get it double checked and in the meantime it would be possible for your thinking to make it look like there is something to be worried about but that doesn't mean there is.

Thanks so much @rainbowninja for the really thoughtful reply and so glad to hear your little one was ok, although it sounds like it was really scary experience and it must have been incredibly stressful- particularly so young too. So glad it all turned out to be ok 🙏

You're completely right, definitely doing my best to remain rational and positive. Thankfully it's not too long until we'll know.I'm really hoping it's just something harmless and that the nosebleeds are just a separate thing all together. I'm hoping the two things are just totally unconnected and harmless in themselves.

OP, I went through something similar although ours was lumpy lymph nodes. I do remember from my incessant googling at the time that anything too horrible in children tends to develop very quickly, so the fact it’s been months with no change is positive.

Thanks @Lou573 that's really reassuring! And a really good point- that's the one thing that's been really reassuring, the fact that he seems so well in himself. It's really good to hear from others who've been through this and I hope all was ok with your little one xx

Glad if it helped, just know what it's like to be on the worry train and you start putting 2 and 2 together etc

There are lymph nodes in the posterior triangle. Quite often get big with scalp problems, or ear problems.

Thanks @nocoolnamesleft that's useful to know. Hopefully it turns out to just be a lymph node thats raised for a pro longed because of something viral. I can't remember the specifics of why she didn't think it was a lymph node, she suggested it was where it was positioned on his neck, but I may have misinterpreted that!

I guess ultimately there's just no way of knowing until his ultrasound but it's not long to wait now so just keeping my fingers crossed! He gets his bloods taking tomorrow and the following day is the US. We actually did funnily enough get the nhs referral appointment through today, which would have been in two weeks time, but I think we'll just stick with Friday's just so we can have the peace of mind sooner.

I'm generally not a worrier but I think what threw me was that our gp noted the size and hardness of the lump and then called paeds for advice just to be sure she shouldn't send him in the same day; they advised to instead just be guided by the blood count (which takes place tomorrow). Appreciate our gp was just doing the right thing and being thorough so obviously very grateful to her for wanting to quickly rule out something more sinister, but it's definitely thrown me.

Thanks again for your replies and reassurance! I really appreciate it and v thankful to the lovely network that is mumsnet! Xxx