Hard lump on child’s neck

[Sun2021]

Hi everyone

really upset and anxious mum here….
i know your ladies are not medical professionals but just needed to know if anyone had a similar experience

so my son who is 5 has had swollen lymph nodes for years. He had a ultrasound 2 years ago and they said it was reactive lymph nodes.

since then he’s got sleep apnea - really bad. His tonsils are huge and are touching and his nose is almost blocked from adenoids - we are currently waiting to have these removed and also have a private appointment booked for a months time for surgery.

he had a blood test in July as he was complaining of tiredness - we put this down to sleep apnea as he wasn’t sleeping great but he bloods showed anemia - quite low numbers - got given supplement for this.

today I went to see the gp about all of this- and she did a check around his lymph nodes and she said she could feel a few lymph nodes down the left side of his neck and one felt hard down the bottom towards the collarbone (but not the collarbone - still the neck area) she said she will refer to have an ultrasound will be 2 months before we get an appointment. She said she wasn’t concerned with the bloods but the lymph node being hard is concerning but not enough to do 2 week pathway referral.

I have managed to book a private ultrasound in 6 days time to get this checked.

I have checked his neck I can’t feel any of these lymph nodes bar one which is soft and movable. I don’t know how big or where this lymph node is exactly that is hard.

now I am absolutely worried sick!

in general he is a good eater so don’t really make sense regards to why iron is low. He is generally well but is looking a bit pale and is complaining of tiredness.

has anyone had any similar experience or can offer some advice please ?

thank you so much in advance and thank you for reading this far.

There have been a few lymph node threads on here so a search through those will hopefully provide reassurance as almost invariably nothing comes of it. If they contain calcium deposits they can be hard, that's not abnormal in itself. On the whole, noticeable lymph nodes from cancer specifically go along with a child who is very ill-looking in other ways (this is a bit different from in adult medicine).

Thank you for your reply!

I have read most of the other posts on here, but everyone has had one lymph node or all lymph nodes are soft and movable.

my sons has around 5 swollen nodes and one is hard and not soft and movable hence why I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience

it’s reassuring to know nothing comes of it generally but a worried mum here with mind going into overdrive 😞

Hello, Any update on your son? I’m in a similar situation. My daughter is 8 months and has what feels to me like a hard lump on collarbone. She is also constantly scratching her neck. I initially thought it is eczema and didn’t think much of it until she received a referral really quickly. I then did a google check and I’m now freaking out about lymphoma. I can’t sleep and feel constantly sick. I have another week to wait. It’s interesting that you mention apnea as she also suffers from this occasionally too.