lymph node on chest from EBV?

[worriedmom69]

Has anyone ever heard of a 12 year old having a lump on the chest just below the collarbone from EBV?  My daughter just tested positive for EBV but is asymptomatic other than tiredness when exercising (well, she had a small cold last week but it included nasal congestion, not just a sore throat like most mono) - NO fever, general fatigue, sore throat, swollen glands in neck, etc.  She had a CT scan and an x-ray before the bloodwork came back that both showed no mass and no lymph node enlargement according to the radiologist.  Yet she has a firm (but not hard), immoveable, visible and palpable lump about 1 1/2 inches long that the pediatrician says could be explained by the mono (although they said no lymph node enlargement).  She has an appt. with a pediatric surgeon, but I am afraid that we will just get blown off now that she's tested positive for EBV.  Maybe that really is the answer, but the lump has not gotten smaller in about three weeks (and may have been there for 4-5 weeks according to a friend who is a p.a. and saw it on her but didn't think much of it at the time), and I'm not thrilled about waiting around until the mono is gone to see if it goes away.  Has anyone seen this before?  I can't find any mention of chest lumps and EBV, and most chest lumps seem to not be a good sign.  Should I try to insist on a biopsy if the surgeon doesn't want to do one?  Any other suggestions? Thanks.

[cardsfans]

I was wondering how you daughter is...

I am going through the same thing with my 8 year old daughter right now.  She tested positive for Mono in Sept of 06.  Her nodes were swollen then too but not the ones above her collarbone, which are enlarged now.  I was hoping you could give me some insight on this...

[piousfem]

I'm paranoid these days, and this may just be my paranoia coming thru, but my husband was diagnosed with Burkett's lymphoma, which is rare in-and-of-itself, but when it is found,it's usually in children. It's an agressive lymphoma (and like a leukemia) and I have no idea where it starts with children, but maybe you can ask the dr. to rule it out for you.

[riley180]

That's good news. Keep an open mind and a hopeful heart.

[worriedmom69]

Thanks for your response.  She saw the pediatric surgeon today.  He didn't exactly blow us off, but he kinda acted like it wasn't much of a lump and there wasn't a reason to worry about it since she has mono right now.  I thought a 1 1/2 inch lump, or "swelling" as he called it, on a thin, fairly small 12 year old was pretty significant.  And if it's an enlarged node, I don't understand why the CT wouldn't have shown it.  But, her bloodwork did show EBV titers, so I guess even though she doesn't feel bad, there's no doubt that she does have mono.  He wants us to come back in one month.  As you said, that's not an unreasonable amount of time to wait.  Maybe I'm just putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5!  There are just certain aspects of it that don't make sense, but hopefully it'll be gone in a month and it'll all be a moot point.  Thanks again.

[riley180]

The location of the lump doesn’t sound like the usual neck nodes associated with infectious mono, but there are nodes in that area. I understand that sometimes, doing nothing (waiting to see if the lump goes away) may indeed be the harder thing to do. Waiting 2-4 weeks for as long as the lump isn’t getting bigger may not change overall outcomes even in worst case scenarios, but if she isn’t feeling quite like herself performing the biopsy now may not be the best time. But then, if she has minimal or no symptoms then perhaps you should see the pediatric surgeon. I don’t think that you’ll get blown off because of the EBV (95% of adults are likely infected).