Leo's Lump

Today we went back to the doctors.

Not for the first time, nor the second...But the third.

Last Friday I found a lump on Leo's groin, a completely un-explained lump that seemingly just appeard and scared the living day lights out of me. Suffice to say that I got him straight into the out of hours and followed their advice.

The out of hours prompted me to bring him back first thing the next day to our regular surgery. The locum GP told me to come back next Monday to see the pediatrician. 

That is exactly what I did.

Over the week I have noticed the lumps get smaller, the smallest of the two vanished all together. Last night I sat here umming and arhing as to whether or not I should keep today's appointment. I couldn't help thinking that by taking him in I would have been wasting their time. 

At one point I had completely planned to cancel the appointment and go into work, but then the what if's entered my mind and I decided that the worst they could do was insinuate that I was over reacting.

Leo and I arrived at the surgery for the second week in a row, and took a seat waiting for Leo's name to be called out. Leo spyed the vibrant red fire alarm and kept pointing it out in the hope that I may let him have a closer look...Not on my watch!

Leo's name was called out and we went off to the appointment where I explained everything for the third time. I told her how the swelling was not as bad as it was and it was obviously showing signs of reducing but just to be on the safe side I wanted to see what she thought anyway. It was around about now that I apolagised for potentially wasting her time, but she quickly re-assured me and told me that these things do need to be investigated.

Leo was once again as good as gold, he lay there baring all while the doctor did the examination. Hernia was ruled out for the third time and the gland seemed to be the culprit. Despite the lump going down she said it was still much larger than it should be, but the second lump was no longer a problem,

Leo chuckled throughout the exam as the pediatrician was much more child friendly than both doctors prior to this visit. It was actually reassuring to have our regular doctor on this occasion.

It looks as though Leo's lump really isn't anything to worry about, and it is just a case of swollen lymph glands. We have to go back again in two weeks just to make sure everything has returned to normal, but my little man is going to be absolutely fine. It hasn't affected him in the slightest and all of the googling I did in my search for a diagnosis was not worth the scare factor it provided.

Thank you everyone for thinking of Leo and asking about him, I really appreciate it.

Laura and Leo

xx 

Together

Today Leo and I spent the entire day together. 

A day we wouldn't usually get as my work schedule falls on a Monday. 

Today I had to get little man back into the Doctor's surgery to get him checked out again as per the doctor's orders yesterday.

I had no problem getting him an appointment and with Timmy Sheep, blankie and the kitchen sink in hand, we were ready to head out for the 10:20am appointment slot. 

We didn't have long to wait and my usual fidget bum of a toddler sat so still and contented next to me until his name was called, and off we popped into the Doctor's office.

I lay Leo on the patient bed and showed the Doctor where the lump was. There is actually one big lump and one smaller pea sized lump. He did all the checks and once again confirmed that it is certainly not a hernia, and it most likely isn't anything to worry about.

He praised my little man for being such a good patient, the normal wriggle bum just lay there not moving an inch. My how I wish daily nappy changes were this easy.

The Doctor concluded his examination and told me that it is most likely an infection, what kind of infection he did not say. They say these things can happen if he has scratched himself on something that later causes the infection, which would explain why both Doctor's asked me if he had cut himself recently. 

I couldn't even begin to tell him just how clumsy my little man actually is. Just this morning he was skipping around me as I got ready and somehow managed to trip over himself and land on his bum at the other end of the room.

So yes...He may have cut himself, but I couldn't begin to tell you how, why, when or where. The possibilities are endless.

We don't know when the lumps would have first appeared, but if they have not gone down by Monday morning, we have a appointment booked in with the pediatrician who may wish to run some tests and a scan. 

For now I don't really know anything. I can't help thinking that today really didn't shed any more light on the lumps and I learnt nothing more than I did yesterday. 

But despite not having all of the answers to my questions, I was presented with a day that I wouldn't usually have.

I had the sunshine on my side and I had one happy little chappy to spend it with.

So we got ourselves out into the garden and spent some quality time together.

Suspected Swollen Lymph Gland

On Friday while I was changing Leo's nappy I ran the baby wipe over something I had not noticed before. 

What would usually be a smooth wipe was encountered by an alien a bump in the road.

Investigating further I realised that Leo had a lump on the left hand side of his groin just *above his manhood*.

I ran my fingers over it and checked his other side only to find that it was normal. Going back for a closer look I noticed that this lump was actually rather big and when you lay Leo's leg flat you can actually see it protruding slightly. 

I would say that the lump is about the size of a large marble. 

I made a mental note to tell Luke when he got home, but with the general running around of an evening it completely slipped my mind. It was only last night when Leo was in the bath when I suddenly realised my error *Mummy fail* and called Luke in to have a look.

Luke agreed that it was a rather big lump and after consulting with the lovely ladies on Facebook last night I decided I should get him into the out of hours doctor surgery to be checked over.

On the drive into our local out of hours service I couldn't help but feel like a parent who was over reacting, but lumps are scary things, they can be anything. And sometimes I think the not knowing is the scariest thing in the world.

I wasn't even sure that they would see us, but I felt that taking Leo to get this sorted was my responsibility and was something that needed doing sooner rather than later. Being Sunday if I had not gone in with him today I probably wouldn't have been able to get him in myself until Friday, and I wanted to personally be there to take him to the appointment.

The doctor beckoned us into his office and I explained the issue as I was undressing Leo. He had a good feel of the swollen lump and checked out all of Leo's anatomy just to rule out any other problems. 

After a few minutes he said that there was indeed a sizeable lump and that I was right to bring him along to get checked out. He said that he could rule out a hernia and he was pretty sure it was a Lymph Gland that had swollen up. 

However he did say that because the lump was so big that I should get him straight into our own doctors surgery tomorrow, where they may want to refer Leo to hospital for a scan, just to see what is going on. 

Now the lump is not bothering him at all, he has been poked and prodded by both me and the doctor today, but he is still his happy self. But now I guess it is just a case of waiting to see what tomorrow brings.

And I think I will need to be on top form to make sure I don't go getting fobbed off by the doctor!