Good Afternoon!
My son woke up Monday morning and the left side of his neck was swollen. I took him to the peditrician that night and she said that it was probably an infected lymph node. She put him on augmentin and said if the swelling doesn't go down within 7-10 days or if it gets worse, bring him back. Well, this morning he woke up and it looks like it's twice the size. I am now panicking! I have a 4:30 appointment to take him back but of course I am panicking and thinking the worse. Any ideas of what could be happening? Has this happened to anyone else? I'm trying my hardest to put my mind at ease but it's not working! We're already going through losing our house, my mother in law was just diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and had no symptoms. I don't think I could handle one more thing!
Thanks mamas!
When I was 12, I was out of state visiting my grandparents. I got a swollen lymph node. It was really bad, so my parents sent me home. They put me on antibiotics and put me in the hospital while they biopsied it, ran tests, and drained it. It came back negative, it drained, swelling went down and that was it. Never knew why. Never bothered me again. Just one of those things that happens. So don't panic.
Sorry about your MIL. I know it's hard because I just experienced a loss and now get really nervous about things too, but try to relax about the lymph node. My son had one once that was about the size of a peach in the area between the neck and the jaw. Your son might need a different antibiotic, a strep test, etc., but chances are good it really is a swollen node. Good luck.
Try to breathe. Swollen lymph nodes happen all the time and are the sign of the body fighting an infection. Or, it's turned into an infection. It's rarely cancer. It's unsightly but it's way too soon to panic. It's so hard when you have a cancer diagnosis in the family, but try to keep your wits about you. If you have to, get a 2nd opinion to determine the cause and any course of treatment, but try not to let internet information or other random thoughts get in the way of thinking rationally. If you can, take another adult with you to any appointments and have that person take notes. It will help you focus afterwards and help with subsequent appointments.
Breathe mama. Always remember to breathe. And pray. Breathe & pray. youa reo in th emiddle of a tough season - I know what those are like. You have to pause and pray - ask for a spirit of peace. Ask for wisdom and discernment.
To me it sounds like mumps. Did he have all of his immunizations? Please don't panic - as mom's we automatically project to the worst possible scenario. Kids get much higher fevers than adults, they swell up much more with bugs bites than adults do, etc. Their young bodies just react more dramatically than ours since most things are new to their immune system. Who knows maybe he's allergic tot he Augmentin. I remember one Christmas day my daughter was really sick, the antibiotic didnt' seem to be working, she wasn't getting better. Then I realize her fever would spike about an hour after she got her medicine! The pediatrician said it wasn't common but it wasn't rare that kids sometime have allergic reactions to some medictions.
ugh - this grown-up adult parenting stuff is just not easy!
I will say a prayer for all of you. My kids and I have had swollen lymph nodes in the past that were never anything serious. Perhaps he needs a different antibiotic. Hang in there.
OMG, take a deep breath and remember God only gives us as much as we can handle . . . I'm sorry you're going thru so much right now. It could be an infected lymph node that isn't responding to the antibiotics. Sometimes it takes a second, stronger dose.
Are his glands swollen under his arms or his groin area? Sometimes the infection can be a viral one and if that's the case, antibiotics won't help. Has he had a cold recently? Sometimes it has to run its course.
Is it painful? Is it close to the collarbone or up farther closer to his ear? How old is he? Is he old enough to tell you if it hurts? Is it hard or soft?
Is it red and hot to the touch? Is there a red trace from the node to the heart? Is it hard for him to breath? (if so take him to the ER)
They will most likely do a blood test, maybe an x-ray or CT scan of the area.
Children tend to have a more active lymphatic system, so their nodes may feel enlarged or look larger than if it were an adult.
Let us know the outcome! I will be thinking about you and sending prayers up, with hugs your way -
So sorry to hear about your MIL. My best to you and the family.
About your son, you probably don't really have to worry about the lymph node on his neck. You have to worry about the one on top of his collarbone. THAT'S one you don't want to see.
My son had one that made him look like Frankenstein. That was awful. He was very sick with bloody poop and we were waiting for the stool sample results to come in. I took him back to the doctor when the node got big (before the stool sample results came in) and he told me that he was fighting an infection, and we just needed to see the results of the stool sample to know which infection it was to be sure of how to treat it. To be safe, and because I was back in the office about to have a proverbial "heart attack", he took blood this time to see what it showed.
It turned out that my son had salmonella. His body was fighting that infection hard. This is when I found out that the lymph nodes up on top of the collarbone are the bad ones to get swollen (it can mean leukemia). So his body was fighting this so much that his neck lymph node was huge. (Thank goodness his collarbone lymph nodes weren't affected.)
Anyway, I hope that they are trying to pinpoint what your son's infection is. It takes a while, but the lymph node goes back to normal size. If it doesn't, then it's something to worry about.
That's our experience with a big node on the side of the neck.
Hope he's better really soon!
Dawn
