Neck mass in 3 yr old boy

[lmjs]

Hi,

My son will be three years old next month. Since he was the age of 11 months I have noticed a lump on the left side of his neck.  It appears to be a swollen lymph node and is mobile.  I have brought it to the attention of our family doctor, a walk-in clinic doctor and his pediatrician and they all have only ran a CBC (blood test) and shrugged it off.  His results of the test came back within normal range all three times.  The mass has not changed in size, but is still there.  His doctors don't seem concerned, but as a mom I am.  Last night I felt another swollen node in his groin area, again it is not fixed.  He is very active and seems perfectly healthy as he is gaining weight and devoloping as he should.  The only other concern I have which may or may not be related to the swollen glands is that he itches quite a bit, regardless of changing detergents, lotions, etc.  Any thoughts on what his condition may be and how can I convince these doctors to take our situation more seriously?

[DebM412]

Another thing is lymphoma typically will not show up in the blood until later stages. His blood tests could all be within normal levels. Hope this all works out!

Debbie

[lmjs]

I am definately going to try to see a ENT.  His doctors should be tired of my visits by now and constant requests for more blood work that they should be more then happy to send us on our way with a referral.  Thanks for the advice concerning the biopsy.  I am certainly hoping he doesn't need one!

[DebM412]

It is typical for doctors to not take you seriously. Is there anyway that you can get in to see and ENT, Ears, Nose and Throat doctor? These doctors see this more often and you would have a better change of the biopsy getting done. Here is some more advise. If you can get a doc to do a biopsy make sure you fight for a full removal of the lymph node. When an FNT is performed, this is a needle biposy, it typically comes back inconclusive and they have to remove the complete node anyway. From my understanding the lab work to identify lymphoma is not that easy. When you do the needle biopsy it only gives you part of the cells.

Debbie

[lmjs]

I have done my research and I made sure to let the doctors know of the itching, all the while the lump is still there unchanged.  The doctor said to use Lubriderm because it doesn't contain perfume.  I have an appointment with his pediatrician near the end of the month which I schedule randomly because neither of his doctors care to do any kind of follow up.  Any advice on how to get them to take this more seriously?

[DebM412]

Not to scare you, itching is a symptom of non-hodgkins lymphoma. A biopsy of the lymph node needs to be done and this is the only way to know for sure if he has lymphoma.

Debbie