Hi Cocopop, and thank you for posting,

I can appreciate how worrying it must be to hear that your son has been referred to the hospital. This must not be easy.

Swollen lymph nodes are common in young children and are often a normal response to infections or viruses, including those that may have occurred in the past. In most cases, they’re nothing to worry about and settle down over time. However, because your son’s lymph node has been swollen for so long and seems to be getting worse, the GP has done the right thing by referring him to the hospital to make sure everything is properly checked out.

It's important to know this doesn't mean that something serious is going on; it's more about being thorough and ruling out anything that might need treatment. Paediatric teams are very experienced in assessing these kinds of things, and they’ll likely do a few simple tests to get a clearer picture.

It can be very stressful and cause anxiety when waiting for hospital appointments, especially when this is for your child. Hopefully, you will hear from the hospital team soon, and they will be able to give you more specific answers and peace of mind.

In the meantime, feel free to get back to us, if you would like to speak with one of our nurses on the helpline, you can call on 0808 800 4040 Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm

Jemma