Monday, October 15, 2007

Lymphadenitis...

Lymphadenitis is the inflammation of lymph nodes. It is often a complication of bacterial infections, although it can also be caused by viruses or other disease agents. Lymphadenitis may be either generalized, involving a number of lymph nodes, or limited to a few nodes in the area of a localized infection. Lymphadenitis is sometimes accompanied by lymphangitis, which is the inflammation of the lymphatic vessels that connect the lymph nodes.

Aly has Lymphadenitis. Let me tell you...the HUGE (bigger than a golf ball) size lymph gland was certainly a give away that something wasn't right. Aly told me earlier in the day that her neck hurt, but never really touched on anything other than that. I asked her if her throat hurt, was she congested, all the typical questions, and the only answers I got were "no". I honestly thought maybe she slept funny or something, and since we didn't really go out yesterday, her hair wasn't done. I never noticed the Big lump below her ear/jaw. She was playing fine, running, dancing, eating, whining/complaining, but nothing that wasn't typical. *lame attempt at humor with pure exhaustion on the brain* Then she said it again at bed time. Brad was rubbing her neck for her, when he came upon the "LUMP".




HOLY CRAP!!! By dr's (a man mind you) weird measurements...it is 3 fingers wide x 5 fingers long. It's very Hard and hurts her to be touched. Aparantly there's an infection in her poor little node. So when all was said and done, got our antibiotics, got back in the car and heading on our 45 min drive home, it was already 2am. I got home, put Aly to bed, and CC woke up. Fed her, and got her back to sleep. Then poor Brad had to get up to head off to work after only 3.5 hrs sleep, and having worked all weekend, so no day off. So lets just say...we are ONE VERY TIRED Family!


11 comments:

Jess T said...

Awww..geez! That sucks. Feel better soon, baby!

Joani said...

Oh man Melissa, I had flash back of Bella when I saw her poor neck. I know she is hurting. Isabella had the same thing happena and I FREAKED out. She complained of the same thing also, just her neck hurting and no other symptoms, she was playing fine too. She was admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics, cause she was not responding to oral (long story) anyway that was a 2 years ago now.
I hope your sweet baby will sleep well tonight,and you too.

S said...

Poor kiddo! OUCH!!!! I hope you all get some sleep tonight!

Melissa said...

Thank you so much! I can't believe how big and swollen her poor neck is. These pictures don't even come close to doing justice for the size of it. Thank you for the support. =)

Joani...how long did it take for the node to go down? Wow..I'm glad so far we are able to just do the oral treatment. These kiddos sure know how to put mom and dad through the ringer, don't they. =)

Joani said...

It took about a week to see improvement. Her pain was relieved within 48 hours though.
You wanna know something funny....I though her brain was swelling or something, and I flew to the ER, it was at night when I noticed. I was really scared. I hope she feels better soon.

Dani said...

OH MY! Poor girl. I would have had a heart attack seeing that!! I hope she heals fast!

tiburon said...

Awww poor little Aly! I hope she is doing better. I have never seen anything like that! Get some rest - all of you :)

Katrina said...

Awe! that doesnt look fun at all!

Jenine said...

oh boy!! I hope she feels better quick!

. said...

Poor girl! My DH had "cat scratch fever" when I was pregnant (Yep! It's a REAL thing! LOL) the cat infected him and caused the lymph node under his arm *in the armpit region* to look just like Aly's! I know it's VERY painful. Hold her extra tight. When DH had it he even got tears in his eyes. I can't imagine how tough it is on a little one.

Melissa said...

Laci...that's what I thought it was at first. :( I couldn't find any scratches, or anything on her. She had no illness symptoms other than that. Scary stuff. It's always so sad when you see your man cry from pain. We think of them as invincible and that's sometimes just not the case. Glad he's all healed up. Thankfully, Aly is responding so well to her meds...the swelling is about gone, and she said she feels so much better. YAY!