Big neck gland - been up for months - now got bigger

[katepol]

My dd has had a marble-sized gland up just by her windpipe since the beginning of the year. After several gp appts, we were referred to hospital who confirmed it was just a gland, not a lump. They said it was big, but as it hadn't grown in the weeks it took to get the appt, all would be fine. They did say it might take a while to go away.
Since then dd's big gland has stayed big, as have her smaller glands in neck and groin (these are smaller - pea sized).
This eve I happened to check the one in her neck again. It is now elongated and about the size of an unshelled monkey nut.

Any advice? Gp has said it is perfectly normal for glands to be up all the time as my dd's seem to be, but there seems to be no explanation for this huge one in her neck. She is only 4, and petite, so it does seem very big.

don;t want to nag again if it really is just one of those things. Anyone had anything similar?

Ta

has anything happened lately to cause her immune system to work hard (insect bite, infection etc) this happens to me if lymph nodes are needed to work hard.

Thanks BBB. DD was generally 'under the weather' at the begining of the year, but this gland has been up for about nine months now. She had a blood test at the time which showed some misc viral infection, which the doc at the hosiptal said was of no concern. Therefore I don't understand why the gland is still up, and in fact is now bigger...

thye can be up for months though and the test is to see if there is a reason. I have one on the back of my neck that came up really badly with a huge insect bite and that was a year ago - it hasn't gone away completely adn if I get ill it comes up a bit.

It seems your doc has not explained this to you very welll if you are still worried.

BBB I am still worried because all her glands are up pretty much all of the time, and this one on her neck is in an odd place (right next to her windpipe in the middle, rather than near her ears), and big and now getting bigger.
It just doesn't seem right to me...

Go back and get it checked if your worried.. the siting does seem a bit odd.

My ds was similar,was refered to a consultanton an unrelated hearing matter, I googled him and found out he was a glands specialist,so made sure he checked him over. He said that if glands are up for a long time they can scar and that was why his lump never went down, childrens necks have little covering fat which is also why they can be so prominent (and scary)

HTH

Could she have possibly had glandular fever , my dd had it 4 years ago and the glands in her neck often come up.

I did wonder about that Lucy5. Her tiredness etc was noticeable before the neck lump, and went on for a couple of months (she used to fall asleep in the afternoons, despite giving up her day naps two years earlier and not being a tired kind of a child).
Hwr, the blood test she had was after this tiredness was getting better - about 3 months after the tiredness started and 2 months after I noticed the lump.
I assumed that if she had had it, then the tests would have shown it, even if she was on the mend, but is that right? Could she have had it and the blood test just been too late. Could that explain the lump 9 months on?
Yaddayah - thanks for that. So it might been scar rather than a raised gland? I assuma that means it won't ever go away?

If its scarred then no it'll stay like that, but it will be less noticable with age as your dd's neck thickens out (IYKWIM) Consultant said they can remove it, but TBH unless its causing a problem (which in our case it isn't) they generally leave them.

hth

hello, just resurrecting this thread as my 4yo ds has the same thing - well, his lymph node is enlarged, the size of a large marble in his neck to one side, and as it has not gone away after 2 weeks of antibiotics he's booked in at the GP tomorrow for a blood test. It's just the one on one side of his neck, nowhere else.

Katepol, what's the latest on your dd? Glands still up? Any explanation yet?

I really want to know what's up with ds. Was a bit stressed when I spotted the lump as my brother had lymphoma when he was 18, which started with a lump in the neck... But am sure ds is fine of course! I'm panicking over nothing.

He also felt excessively tired at one stage, falling asleep during the day (which like katepol's dd he hasn't done for 2.5 yrs), crawling around the house as he said he was too tired to walk, going to bed earlier. But he's back to his usual self now.

sorry for rambling!

any updates on this indie as have similar worry thanks x

I've had one the size of a large marble one side of my neck for at least 25 years - well that was when the doc found it when I had tonsilitis.
Everytime I get checked for anything in the neck area (which is quite often as a I get tonsilitis at least once a year) the doc will feel it, look at me, I say 'oh thats always been there' and they go 'oh, ok just an enlarged gland then'.

I find it less noticeable now that I am heading for middle age and getting a turkey neck

The gland's been up for ages. You're worried. You need more information.

I would say that it would be perfectly understandable to a GP if you came back under those circumstances, and asked more about it.

some of ds's glands never seem to go down (groin and neck) and there's nothing wrong. I have the same thing, have several pea sized ones in neck and one in windpipe area that are just there all the time, we've both got skinny necks though so could just be that it's more noticeable.

bump for indie!