small soft lump on ds back, please tell me not to panic!

[kaylasmum]

I just noticed while my 18 month old ds was playing with only his nappy on that he has a small soft raised lump on his back, about half way down to the left of his spine. You can only really see it if he bends over not so much when he is standing up straight. I am a terrible worrier and now feel absolutely sick with fear, i suffer quite badly with anxiety and quite frequently worry about my kids or my own health to an extreme. Please if anyone has noticed this on there child let me know. I'm going to phone for a GP appointment first thing in the morning but it would really help if someone else had any experience of this.

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Tracey.

Hi Kaylasmum. I've just posted yesterday about a very similar thing with my ds (has a lump on his neck). Luckily we got in to see the consultant within a couple of weeks of our visit to the GP (saw him yesterday), and thank God he is convinced it is a swollen gland due to eczema.

I know how you can't help imagining the worst etc, but you must try to put all that to the back of your mind as much as possible. I'm sure you know in the rational, 'non-mummy' part of your mind that the odds are it's something completely harmless. PLease try not to wotry too much, I'll be thinking of you. Let us know how you get on .

I am sure the appointment will come through soon - in the meantime be assured that if the GP had the slightest suspicion that it might be anything serious she would have sent you straight to the hospital.

Fatty lumps are remarkably common, talking to a friend who is a paediatrician - DS's consultant was honest enough to say that they have no idea what causes them - and the reasons for removing DS's were in effect purely cosmetic (i.e. to prevent him being self conscious/teased about it!) so even if it is the same thing there is no need at all to panic about your DS having to have an operation.

milkysallgone - that must be a huge relief for you. My 4 yo dd has swollen glands on her neck too, she's had them for about 10 months now and had her back and forward to the gp and hv and they say that some children are just like that. She also has mild eczema and seemimgly that can cause the glands to swell.

Stealthsquiggle - how large was your ds's lump and could you see it quite easily. my ds's lump is very small and don't really see it too much when he's standing, more so when he's sitting or crawling. Did it get bigger over the years and was it quite soft to the touch. Sorry for all the questions. The gp did mention a lipoma aswell as a cyst. I'll just have to wait and try not to get to stressed about it.

No problem with all the questions - I know how worried you are. I am trying now to remember how large it was when we first noticed it - you certainly couldn't see it unless you were really looking, but could feel it when he was bent over or you were cuddling him. It did get larger as he grew and was described as being about 2cm in diameter when it was removed. It was mobile (not very, but you could move it, it was clearly not 'attached' to a bone) and fairly soft to the touch. Right up to the point at which it was removed it was described as a lipoma - turned out to be a deep haemangioma, which made it a little more fiddly to remove but made no other difference.

Hello kaylasmum, nothing very useful to add, just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone. I have suffered from anxiety for years and I also often find myself in a state of panic over both my childrens and my own health, I understand how debilitating it can be and how hard it is to believe other people (even professionals) when they tell you everything is alright. It's good to put stuff out there though, just reading this thread has made me remember lots of people worry, and whilst it's not quite normal it is common. My ds vomited once last thurs AM and I was convinced he had menengitis, yesterday I had an achy boob that I was sure was breast cancer. I guess all mums worry but if you already have anxiety then when you have kids that worry is going to be 10 fold. I feel very sympathetic and I hope you manage to feel less stressed soon.

mum2oandh - my anxieties are also mainly about the health of my kids and my own. I'm taking citalopram for depression but i feel that the anxiety is the worse thing. Over the years i hav had many dark moments thinking the absolute worse about my kids and my health, so much so that i sometimes feel paralysed with fear. Its a terrible way to live!

stealthsquiggle - one more question, did your ds's lump have any difference in colour to it or was it the same as the rest? My ds's is exactly the same colour as the rest of his back.

No colour to it at all - in fact, no external sign of it at all unless you were looking really closely when you could just about see there was a lump (not at all what you get if you google haemangioma, hence the diagnosis of lipoma) - the GP had to draw round it to be able to measure it

Sorry, haven't read the whole thread (have 5 mins of MN time!)

Dd2 has a lump on her shoulder, which has been under investigation since she was a few months old ( she is now 14 months ), so far, the paed has suggested it could be a haemangioma, a cyst and a cystic hygroma (sp?). Because she has exczema, it has become infected twice, and so they were going to surgically remove it. The surgery was cancelled ( a cold ), and it was then decided to leave it for 6 months to see whether it changed, it hasn't, but where it was infected she now has a red square on her shoulder.

It was at smallest the size of a pea, and at largest a grape. I was in a state of panic, when I first felt it, and until they drew fluid off and said that it was not cancer related (I don't know why, but I felt like an idiot for even suggesting it), I was so worried for her.

We rang and asked to be seen immediately, when the lump suddenly looked different (it had been colourless, and suddenly looked a grey blue colour), this was when it was discovered it had become infected. So if you are worried about anything, please ring the hospital, because they may be able to see you sooner. We went in the same day, but had to wait for ages, which was fine for us.

Sorry for long rambly post. Hope it gets sorted out soon.

I'm really hoping that when we take to see the paediatrician that he will just take a look at it and tell us that it is just a harmless cyst or something like that. I don't want my ds to have to go through having needles and horrible things like that.

Stealthsquiggle - did your ds have to have fluid drained from the lump too?

Hazeyjane - how soon did they give you the results after taking some of the fluid?

No - the paed was so sure it was a lipoma that they didn't do any sort of biopsy. The consultant we saw (privately with DH's insurance) happened to be an oncologist (not why we saw her - she also happened to be the only paediatrician in the area who did private practice) - and because of it's location she was 100% confident it couldn't be cancerous and I trusted her. She then referred us to the same surgeon who removed my gall bladder

It was about a week, I think. They were supposed to phone gp's and didn't, so I kept phoning them (I am a bit of a nuisance!)

I won't pretend it wasn't horrible, when they drew the fluid off, she was very upset, as was I, but it didn't last very long. Because they were unable to be definite about a diagnosis, I was hoping doing this would clear it up. They still weren't able to say what it was, but they could rule out other things, which put my mind at rest to some extent. They also thought that draining some fluid off, may help it reduce in size. (it didn't, BTW!)

I have noticed a lump on my babies back around the size of a penny. It has a tiny red mark central to the lump which looks like a blood blister without any fluid inside. Reading these comments has put my mind at ease a little until I can get her in the doctors. Thank you so much.