Swollen Lymph Node in Toddler

[Reusmum]

Hi

My little boy has just turned 2 and at the end of October last year we noticed a lymph node was swollen in his neck. I took him to the GP who wasn’t concerned and said it should go down in 4 weeks. It didn’t so I went back and was told it would be 4-6 weeks. 2 weeks later it was still swollen like a marble. The GP requested a blood test. This came back fine apart from some the red blood cells were slightly abnormal shape wise. She said she didn’t think this was connected and may just be one of things that we found because we were looking and we’d never normally know.
She contacted the hospital to check on next steps and they said they wanted to see him. I chased the appointment last week and was told it was marked as urgent and it came through today for in a couple of weeks. Has anyone experienced anything similar?

Following with interest. My DS has the same and it hasn't gone down in over a year (thought to be fighting off infection for the past year as he's a nursery).

Was at the doctors yesterday, came home and another appointment had been made to check on it in a weeks time?

Ps I hope you and your little one are ok. It's so worrying

My ds had the same thing at the same age. GP referred him to consultant who was very reassuring. He felt DS's neck and asked us many questions about if we noticed any other changes in ds: tired, no appetite, etc. We said no and the consultant said that if anything was very wrong there would be other symptoms of trouble. He said it's likely the lymph node was raised from past illness and just never went down. DS is 9 now and it's gone, although I couldn't say how long it took.

@yaboreme it’s such a worry isn’t it. Hope you’re both okay. I’ve seen a few posts and it seems like it can be quite common at this age. They tend to pick up on thing after another don’t they at nursery and sometimes it can just take a while for them to go back down again. Keep me updated xx

Thank you @hennybeans that’s reassuring xx

It really is, I have the appointment tomorrow so will see what they say. It does worry me as it's always there but reassuring as other people have mentioned they tend to be there a while.

I've noticed he has a few little ones on the back of his neck too, so I'll mention them tomorrow and let you know what they say.

My two year old has a large lymph node that I noticed last year. Had a phone consultation last year and Dr said don't worry.
Obviously I did worry... took him back last week and had an in person consultation. She felt it and said no concerns. Feels normal. She said he has large tonsils (she looked) too.
So I've crossed that off my worry list now.

My DS had a similar pea sized lump in his neck when he was about two or three. We did get it checked out and GP didn’t seem concerned. He’s now a teenager and still has it! I’m not sure if it’s always there or just when he’s run down but it hasn’t progressed to anything worse in 10+ years so fingers crossed yours will be the same.

Hi, doctor is referring for a scan just to be on the safe side but pretty sure it's nothing.

Fingers crossed. Hope you are doing ok x

Thank you for the update. Hope you’re both okay xx

My 7yr old has had an on and off enlarged lymph node since a young age; he also has enlarged tonsils. After repeated visits to GP we finally got blood tests and ultrasound a year or so ago, which confirmed nothing ominous, just a reactive lymph node. He recently had to have another urgent ultrasound referral, his ENT consultant was concerned about its size etc. The scan came back the same as before, however they have also requested a follow-up scan to check in a few months.

It is really worrying, but it's great that your hospital is being speedy and proactive. Fingers crossed for a positive result. Try not to think about it too much - easier said than done, I know!

• I should add that, over the past few months, the lymph node has been permanently enlarged.