My husband was giving my 19 month old daughter a bath on wednesday night and i noticed a lump on her left rib cage below her chest area. It wasnt red nor did it cause her any pain. It is very visible and its kind of hard to the touch and the surrounding area is squishy. We took her to urgent care because i was scared and they did an xray and everything was fine. They also listen to her lungs but not very well since she threw a fit once the nurse got close. They told me everything was fine but im not buying it. I understand if she was born with the lump but she wasnt, so it is not normal for her. I also forgot to tell them that the night before (tuesday night) she was coughing really bad not like a cold cough. she was whezzing and gasping for air. Last night it got worse. She was also constipated a couple of days ago for about a week. im not sure why her diet didnt change and we dont eat fast food or junk food. Maybe none of these symptoms have anything to do with each other but my mommy instict is telling me something just isnt right. She is normally a very healthy baby.
Its a fractured rib. She lump is kind of going down. She has a 4 year old girl cousin whom she rough plays with. They are always wrestling with each other. Sometimes her cousin does get a little out of hand and it is usually when no one is looking. No more of that for a while. Well i dont know for sure where she got it from but im assuming its that since i have nothing at home she could get that from. Her cousin is 4 going on to 5 in a couple of months but shes supper tall and big for her age.
Trust your instincts and get a 2nd opinion. Also anytime she's wheezing or gasping for air, that's an ER visit.
The symptoms probably don't have anything to do with each other and probably your daughter is fine.
But, take your daughter to her regular doctor and have him figure out what the lump is.
Could be a lymph node, could just be benign fatty tissue... the swollen node makes sense if she's getting a cold. Most people don't realize that your 'armpit' extents to other parts, like your arm, rib cage, back, and chest, so really, where you're describing it would be perfectly normal.
Keep an eye on it, and take her to her regular pediatrician if the cough lasts for longer than 5 days, her fever goes above 104, she starts 'just not acting herself', gets extra sleepy during normal awake hours, etc...
9 times out of 10, strange lumps and bumps are absolutely nothing and go away on their own, but sometime's you need a little antibiotic to helps kick start the immune system to knock the funk out.
I'd ESPECIALLY not worry or stress too much based on the fact that it doesn't bother her.
Take her to her pediatrician for follow-up and get a second opinion. I can't believe urgent care didn't suggest you follow-up. I have to believe that it isn't something serious after they examined her but like you I would want a second opinion and rule out anything else.
Hi Y.,
You need to take your daughter to a good pediatrician. Make sure you bring a list of all the symptoms you've mentioned, and any you haven't, minor or major. Look over her entire body for other bone anomalies (like mishapen toes, swelling joints, etc), and if there are any others, point them out to the doctor.
This website is not the right place to pose such a question. No one on this site is equipped to evaluate most of the medical questions that appear here adequately -- people can only give you advice based on personal experience, and not usually complete medical knowledge. I've never seen a doctor respond on this site (I think I'm about the closest that I've seen as a Molecular Biologist and Medical Writer with substantial expertise in Allergy, Immunology, and Infectious disease), nor would I expect one to. Doctors know that conditions need to be seen, felt, and sometimes listened to, a complete patient history is essential, and appropriate blood, urine, and imaging tests (and potentially other tests) need to be run before any kind of diagnosis is suggested.
In healthcare, we speak of disease in terms of "differential diagnoses." Any set of symptoms lead the doctor to suspicion of many possible causes. Without seeing your daughter, I can think of at least a dozen that could account for your daughter's symptoms, ranging from completely benign (like an inflamed bug bite), to more serious (an allergic/toxic response to same bug bite, which could account for the wheezing and potentially the constipation), to severe (like a herniation of the lung from the severe cough you described), to catastrophic (like a number of fibrodysplastic diseases, sarcoidosis, etc.). It is also possible that the symptoms are completely unrelated to each other and just happened to show up around the same time. (To not be so scary, think "horses, not zebras." The vast majority of illnesses are minor. The more severe and catastrophic diseases are usually quite rare.)
This is why it is essential that she be evaluated by a doctor, not a bunch of moms. We're all very well meaning and caring, and can give great advice based on experience in lots of areas, but this is not really one of them.
If you don't have insurance, take your daughter to a Children's Hospital or look for a free clinic at the UC San Diego Medical School. Also, apply for healthy families. California provides healthcare for every child under the age of 18 who is not privately insured. But do get her checked out ASAP. The wheezing, if nothing else, is a major concern and needs to be addressed.
OK-obviously you are thinking cancer. odds are that it isn't. I'd go to the pediatrician.
Did you follow up with your pediatrician? Follow your gut about and follow up.
Hernia??? If your instinct tells you something is not right - listen to it!
I think you should go to the pediatrician with this lump issue. As for the wheezing and gasping for air, you should have taken her to the ER immediately for that.
Last winter, my then 11 year old daughter helped to shovel some snow. A day or so later, she noticed a sort of soft movable ball under one side of her ribcage. I took her to the pediatrician and he said it was probably a pulled muscle. I wasn't 100% convinced. A couple of months later when she had another appointment, I had them recheck it and that doctor said it was her "floating rib" which is the last rib that is attached to the rest of the ribcage by cartilage instead of being attached to the breastbone. There only seemed to be a lump on one side. Just recently, my daughter saw her orthopedic doctor to check on a slight spine curvature they've been watching for a couple of years. They took an x-ray as part of the exam, but then I asked the doctor to check the lump again. He explained that it WAS in fact that last half-rib thing and that it was more noticeable on one side because of the slight curve to her upper spine. THAT made sense and I trust this doctor 100%. That might be what you're feeling on your daughter, but I would have it double checked by her doctor or an orthopedic. Never hurts to double check something like that so you can forget about it.
