Hi boylan96,

My 6 year old daughter has had a swollen lymph node on the right side of her neck for over a year. Then she had some pop up on her groin back in July 2020. So a trip to the doctors, & a referral to the hospital has come back that she's had the EBV Virus.

She's had chronic, acute tonsillitis, which we suspected since she was born. She is now awaiting an Adenoidectomy & tonsillectomy. Hopefully, once she's had them out, all her troubles will go.

The doctors are confident that the swollen nodes are trying to fight the tonsillitis, even though she never complains of sore throat. (Just so you know, she has VERY swollen tonsills since she was a baby & suffers sleep apnoea because of it.)

Hope you get it sorted.

Tendra157

Can I ask what made the drs refer to ultrasound?? my little boy (just 5) has had a swollen lymph node for nearly 2 years. It started after he got chicken pox (oct 2018) and gets bigger and smaller. I've taken him to drs and they told me to go back 6-8 weeks later which I did and they just measured and monitored and blamed every virus he kept getting. He's under a few consultants for asthma, eczema and ent. and The asthma consultant said when I asked her that it was reactive and nothing to worry about but nearly 2 years is a long time when I can see it

Thank you 

Hi Lindsay59 well I requested ultrasound because we rushed to hospital when he kept getting temperature and that swollen node was huge . But specialist for throat he seen him and said is nothing to worry about he is pretty sure its because of the virus and than he said just to.make sure we will do the blood test and ultrasound.  Last week we had another ultrasound so they keep checking him it has been now 4 months and he has it very little there but still there.  So they checked and they said its all good nothing to worry about and he had even in the groin small ones but they seem.to go away slowly . I hope your little boy will be fine and you dont need to worry . I was very stressed and I dont believe doctors much but I see him happy, active, playing and eating so well so I kind of put the bad thoughts on the side and focus on him to enjoy our time together he had often tonsilitis and has bleeding from the nose as well which is quite scary but his cousin has it too so it is in the family . I hope I helped with my answer 

I sometimes get  nightsweats but I'm 52. Is the itching all around the body or just the neck? 

Hi, I don't know if anybody is ever really on here but i'm looking for reassurance. i've just turned 18 so please go easy on me because i'm so scared at the moment!So about about late september time i felt a small lump at the bottom of my hairline on the back of my neck. it's not that big but it is kind of hard. i obviously thought to call the doctors. so i booked an appointment and the doctor felt it and told me that it was kind of hard but not solid and that he wanted to see what happened in the next 6 weeks, because it could've been an infection on the way.  

i was still very worried so i decided to request a full blood test to put my mind at ease. the results came back around a week later and my liver and kidney function was fine and so were some of the landmarks that they said they look for with most cancer so there was no real cause for concern. they did say that i had EBV at the time which was such a relief, but i got a call a few days later to say that that wasn't actually the case and it was misread. they did say that my thyroid levels were slightly raised (i have hypothyroidism-under active thyroid) and that could be due to an infection. this was verified by 2 doctors at my GP.

so nothing was that clear to me. i can't just go on like i'm fine, i'm always worrying about it. two weeks ago i booked a phone appointment with the doctor and i went through everything again and he told me that he would refer me to the hospital to get an ultrasound in the next few weeks, but to call back if i get symptoms such as weight loss, night sweats and unusual bruising. i'm still awaiting the referral letter 

the lump seems a lot more raised when i wake up in the morning and seems to calm down slightly as the day goes on, i'm holding onto this fact as i think it's a good sign but i'm not 100% sure. i haven't had any of the symptoms that they are worried about, but i'm making myself feel ill worrying all the time. 

i really hope someone can offer me some reassurance because google obviously isn't helping! 

Thank you

Hi Emily, 

Welcome and sorry for the delay in answering. I hope you are doing OK. 

What has happened so far all sounds standard, and precautionary. Doctors feel lumps all the time, and they know when it's something to worry about - there are signs they look out for, like a lump that is growing quite rapidly, or in certain locations, or with a certain consistency. So you would have been told by now if they thought it was worth getting alarmed about. 

Not hard is good, and the fact that the size seems to fluctuate is also good. Malignant masses tend not to do that.

The symptoms you have been told to report - night sweats and so on - are what are known as "B" symptoms, if I've got that right, and if you had any of them it would warrant a quicker process to rule out malignancy. So it's great if you haven't.

Ultrasound can usually distinguish between a malignant node or mass and what is called a reactive node, which is basically a node that has swollen as a result of infection or inflammation. So this ought to give you some reassurance. 

Please try not to worry too much. Small, reasonably firm nodes are really common, and the vast majority prove to be harmless. 

I know how easy it is to let the thought of it being cancer take over your thoughts, but from what you have said I really think the odds are on your side that it's nothing to worry about. 

Let us know how you get on, 

Take care, 

AK

Hi There,

Just seeing this thread,have had a lymph on my right armpit after the birth of my last baby,its going to 8 years now gone to my Gp he checked and said he thinks just tissue swollen of fat that it will surely go down,but it didn't was worried and concerned about it went again to the gp and he booked me for an ultrasound,got to the hospital did the ultrasound and the radiographer confirmed there was nothing there and I shouldn't worry about it.

That was how I left it since then and carried on with my life. So don't worry about it.

Hi I'm 28 and I've had a lump on the left side of my neck since I was a child, never had any other symptoms. Weirdly still worry about it from time to time cos it seems to swell and then go almost none existent sometimes. I'm pretty sure it's nothing to worry about! 

I had a swollen lymph node in my neck following an infection from around September time. When I went to my doctor they described it as a 'shotty node' meaning it may remain swelled for a prolonged period of time. I still have it now in feburary so I have had it for around 6 months and the doctor assured me it was nothing to worry about following an examination. This might be the case.