
Noticed Movable, Painless Lymph Nodes On Sides Of Neck. Could It Be Lymphoma?

I just felt them and they seem to be a little smaller, maybe the biggest one feels like a pea - at least a "smaller bean" a and the little one half-pea. She said it was painfull to touch, too. She seems to have a little running nose, dripping on the back of her mouth (oropharix?) and her tonsils are hyperemiated, but not really enlarged. The last ped prescribed amoxicilin for 10 days because of the submandibular node and the fact that my daughter had 3 cavitys that were taken care by our dentist 10 days before i first felled the lumps- that ended up sunday.
By the way, the lymph were never noticiable, just feeled, they were never that large. Oh, and I remembered one thing: her two best friends had a very strong sinus infection 1-2 weeks before I first noticed the nodes. Could it be that her lymph nodes were still enlarged from the past july-aug infections and just swollen a little bit because of the contact with her friends illnesses/virus/bacteria? She didn't "cath" it though?
I'm sorry, but i'm a very concerned mother,
Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some information and recommendations.
First of all I want to make sure that I reassure you that I have a very strong clinical opinion that there is no lymphoma going on. In fact I do not think there is any type of worrisome disease process going on.
The most likely cause of these slightly enlarged lymph nodes is what we call reactive. Lymph nodes can react to allergy as well as infection and in the case of your daughter there is evidence of both.
Viruses commonly cause inflammation in the lymph nodes which can cause them to become slightly larger.
In addition your daughter also has a history of atopy which could also predisposed to reactive lymph nodes.
I suspect that these lymph nodes will slowly improve over time. There is no indication that there is any active lymphoma. Lymphoma causes a multitude of other symptoms including weight loss and progressive fatigue as well as changes in the hemoglobin. In the case of your daughter this is a very strong example of what I would call reactive lymphadenopathy. Thank you again for sending your question. Please let me know if you have any additional concerns that you would like to discuss regarding this.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert

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