Hello,
I need help, thoughts, opinions, words of wisdom, whatever you can spare. I have a 5 yr old little boy that is having surgery in a couple of weeks to remove a neck lump/lymph node from his neck. He has had the lump since was about 16 months old. It used to rise and fall with colds etc. It just never goes down now. It has not grown either. It is painless unless I push hard then I am not sure if it's painfull or just annoying him. It is about the size of a quarter or a bit smaller. Our pediatricians have watched it over the years and measured it, and pretty much have brushed it off. We met with a pediatric surgeon about 2 years ago who advised us against taking it out. He said it was common in children and that his own child had one too. We recently met with another surgeon who feels it is time to take it out. It will be biopsied. I am so scared. I will never forgive myself for not insisting it be removed years ago if it is cancer. The surgeon felt some other slightly swollen nodes on him. She was reassuring but yet, not so reassuring. I would think that having had the lump for so many years would mean he does not have cancer. However, after reading so many articles I have found that Hodgkins sufferers have many sinus infections. My son always seems to have a stuffy nose and has had many fevers. I am so scared......If anyone can share I would be so appreciative.

greeneyes, please don't feel guilty. my daughter has cancer and when she noticed the lump, i told her it was probably a bad spider bite. you do what you can with the knowledge you have. luckily the doctor that saw her in the ER told her he thought it was cancer which it was. please just find a good oncologist and take care of it. what ever happens YOU will handle it, even if it seems like you can't. you are in my thoughts.

I hope these facts could ease your mind until you get the biopsy results!

Cancer is quite rare in children at this age. Lymphoma particularly is very rare in children at this age group or below.
On the other hand enlarged nodes are indeed very common in children. Children are prone to infections and their nodes enlarge accordingly.
Since your child had this node from over 3 years ago and it has not increased in size or caused serious problems by now, it's highly unlikely it's of serious origin. You did not mention if he has other symptoms or concurrent infection, though. JUST for instance, if he did have lymphoma, the vast majority of children and adolescents who DO get lymphoma get the aggresive types -- and those types progress fairly rapidly, they would normally cause symptoms in several days or weeks not over three years time! In case you wondered I never read about children who had the indolent type of lymphoma that some adults get, so I will assume it's an extremely rare or most likely nonexistent occurrence.

So considering these facts, I would advice you to take a deep breath and relax, it's extremely, extremely unlikely your child has what you fear. But it's a good idea to have it biopsied anyway so you would get your peace of mind.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Hi Greeneyes, My now 11 year old son had one of his neck lymph nodes surgically removed for biopsy when he was 8, so I can understand your fears and concerns. At the time, he had had alot of unexplained fevers and both of the lymph nodes in his neck had stayed huge for years so finally his pediatrician decided to have them biopsied. What she didn't tell me until the day before his surgery, at his pre-op check up, was that she fully expected to find that he had a cancer, either Hodgkins or non-Hodgkins lymphoma! Then she wanted to talk about chemotherapy, radiation and that kind of stuff. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest!!! My baby might have cancer???
Well, the surgery went as planned, he had some neck pain for a couple of weeks but it wasn't bad, and you know, you don't get biopsy results overnight! That wait about killed me!
It turned out not to be cancer, thank God. It was 3 more long years before we wound up getting his periodic fever diagnosis, after several more rounds of invasive procedures and poking and probing!
Whatever it turns out to be, you and your son will get through this. It won't be easy but you sound like a strong, loving mom who will do whatever she needs to for her baby. Please keep us posted and you are in my prayers!

Thank you so much. I so appreciate the kind replies.
My son does have some unexplained fevers. What was the diagnosis finally for your son? He also has a lot of sinus problems.

Hi Greeneyes, Read mine and other parents posts on the "Childrens Health" section of this board under the title of "fevers in small child"! Re: periodic fevers.

Pat :bouncing:

I wanted to post an update...my son has his surgery/biospy yesterday. They removed 2 nodes. One 2.5 cm and the other 1.5. Both were painless nodes with the first being there basically unchanged for several years. I am not sure about the second. It wasnt too noticable. We must now wait for up to 10 long days for results. The only thing the surgeon would say is that they were soft, and came out in one piece and not crumbly and that it was a good sign. He is amazing....came thorough like a trooper and is my hero!
Any ideas on what the healthy nodes should look like?

dear greeneyes, i read all of your posts and wanted to tell youto hang in there i have a student who is five and diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma b-cell she has had surgery and is doing chemo every three weeks but the cancer is going away. So even if it is the worst it is still highly curable, things have been rough but she is over half way through her chemo and is doing well. i'm sure you guys will be ok and things will work out. good luck

Thanks for your kindness...I appreciate the well wishes. My son is fine. The nodes are "reactive" and there is no cancer. My heart aches for those who have not received such news. It breaks my heart and my spirit to think of the little children struggling and fighting through this. Love to all....

Wow, that is great news! I hope all continues to go well for you! Your family was in my prayers the last few days! {{{{HUGS}}}}

momof4luvstorun

Great news. I wish you you never need to go through this again.

Take care.