Worried about a lymph node

Hi I’m messaging onto here regarding my 6 year old son. My son was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2021 when he was 18 months old. He was intubated at the time due to a lymph node swelling and suppressing his airway, trapping fluid from his neck and around his head. He was septic and suffered a stroke also. It was day 5 on the icu when he was diagnosed with leukaemia and then day 7 where we learned that his leukaemia had gone into a spontaneous remission, believed to be caused by sepsis .

Leukaemia returned 5 months later and he was on treatment for just over 3 years. Everything went to plan with no genetic complications or anything. He finished treatment and then 4 months later I noticed a swollen lymph node about 1cm on his neck. Had it checked out and bloods checked regularly and nothing has shown any concern thankfully. Now it’s been 1 year and 2 months and the lymph node is still there. It grew to 2cm around a year ago and it’s remained at that size. It’s not painful for him but it’s moveable, not too soft not too firm. He had his follow up last week and his bloods are all fine. They have sent for another ultrasound scan of the node just to make sure it’s still looking ok.

My question is.. is this a common thing that people experience after going through treatment? I know it can’t be the original cancer returning as it is acute and would of shown its self a long time ago but other than not being explainable the only thing I can find is lymphoma can behave like this but I’ve looked into the odds of it being that and they are very slim so I’m not overly concerned. I’m not sure if I should be asking for a biopsy. I don’t want to put him through anything unnecessary so I just want to see if I can find anyone who knows more about this or who can offer some advise around it. Thank you

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Hi @Stephybaxo, welcome to the Forum. I’m sorry to hear about your son’s diagnosis, and what a difficult time you and your son have had - as a Mum myself, I can’t imagine what you must have gone through internally. Do you have a good support network around you?

It does sound as though your medical team are taking this seriously and keeping a close eye on things, which is good to hear. Please do keep them in the loop if there are any changes.

I wouldn’t want to speculate on the cause of the persistent lymph nodes, or on the question of biopsy - but those are exactly the kinds of questions our Support Line nurses would be well placed to talk through with you. They’re also great at the non-medical side of things too, in case you’d like to chat things through about how you are doing.

You’re very welcome to call them for free on 0808 2080 888 (option 1) or email support@bloodcancer.org.uk. I’ll also tag them here (@BloodCancerUK_Nurses) but I’d really encourage a call if you can, as I think you’d find it reassuring.

Thinking of you both, please do let us know how you get on,

Ceri - Blood Cancer UK Support Services

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Hello @Stephybaxo, I just wanted to see how you and your son are doing?

Thinking of you both.

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