Has anyone been through this?

[tierrajo1]

I had a pediatrician's appointment for my 11 month old daughter today. Several months ago we found a lump b ehind her ear, the pediatrician told me then that it was probably a swollen lymph node and that it would go away on it's own. Well, it has not, it is still there, it is still large. She gave us a choice today, we have to bring her back in a month and she said we could either wait another month and see what happens or bring her for some lab work now. She said the chance of it being cancer or leukemia is small. My husband wanted to wait but I wanted to do the lab work now. It has been there for awhile, the dr. also said that usually they are alarmed by anything over a centimeter and that it is just under a centimeter. I know she said there was only a small chance it could be serious, I just feel like testing now will either help us put our minds at ease if we find out it is nothing serious or allow us to catch it early if it is serious. But, now I am so nervous, I have felt sick to my stomach since the appointment. Has anyone else been through this?

[sherriann]

My son was born with a small lump on the edge of his right eyebrow. For the longest time I just thought it was part of his browbone. When he was about 9 months old (he is 13 mos now), I pointed it out the the ped. We were sent to a pediatric opthomologist (sp?) aka children's eye surgeon. I was told it was a probably a dermoid cyst, which is not a form of cancer and is benign and is fairly common. I was then told that it would need to be removed before he was 18 months or so to make it less tramatic for him. He would need to be put totally out...I was freaked...I got a second opinion. The other dr, who I researched before going to see him, agreed and gave me the same diagonosis. I felt better about having to have it done, but not actually about doing it.

My son had the surgery just over a week ago at our local Children's Hospital (they were GREAT!!!) and all went well. He came out really fussy (bc of the anestesia), was tired all day then went to bed really early. You wouldn't have know anything had been done the next day if it wasn't for the little piece of steri-stip covering the stitches. It came back from pathology confirmed as a dermoid cyst.

Long story short, the doctors totally knew what they were talking about. It really wasn't a big deal for him looking back, but at the time OMG it was AWFUL for me. He did much better than I did. I was a wreck. But hey, that's what moms do. If you feel like getting a second opinion would help before subjecting your daughter to tests-then do it. The peace of mind was worth it for me. If you feel you need to go for it and make sure everything is ok (which it will be) then do that.

Good luck and blessings to you and your daughter.

[mom2aboy]

I havent been through that type of situacions, but if I were you, and they are offering me a way to have an answer in the inmediate future, I'll do it. I couldnt wait a month to have it checked out. Hope everything turns out the best for you and your family.