Surgery

Jeffrey is scheduled for another surgery. This will make number two for him. Our other kids (not including Emmett) had each had a surgery by this point in time, but for getting tubes in their ears. Jeffrey decides to be more interesting and have odd cysts form.

The first surgery was on his eyebrow about a year ago. Everyone started asking me if he had a black eye, and that was when I realized there really was a cyst there. He has deep set eyes anyway, but the cyst really made it look like he had run into something or someone had hit him.

He was young, but the cyst had gotten bigger, and you don't want that to affect their eyesight, so that was one big reason why we had it removed.

Then, about a month ago, he had a cold virus. He was really sick, complaining about his tummy, and that had me worried, because he was also throwing up for more than a day, and lethargic. The pediatrician was concerned about him as well, and even had me watching for certain things to rule out appendicitis. (Our family has a tendency to get appendicitis, especially juvenile.) Thankfully, it wasn't appendicitis.

Anyway, when I took Emmett for his 15 month checkup it happened to be the day after all of that, and the pediatrician wanted me to bring him in for a follow up since I was coming in anyway. Jeffrey was feeling much better, but still not 100%. That is one thing about kids with lots of energy, you ALWAYS know when they don't feel well, because they stop moving!

While we were there, Jeffrey was being silly and sitting on the floor and he stretched his neck. That is when I really noticed a lump in the hollow of his neck (or sternal notch, if you want to get technical). The pediatrician felt it, and said to watch it for a week, and if it was still there after a week, he wanted to see him again, because if it was still there, he would need to be seen by a general surgeon.

It was still there, so off to the general surgeon we went. The general surgeon told us that normally, on an adult he would biopsy it and see if it was something to be worried about, but on a child as young as Jeffrey, it's safer to just remove it surgically. (I agreed with him 100%). He told us he felt that it was something that should be removed, because of the location and size. At this point in time, they suspect that it is a lymph node, but they won't really know until it is removed and tested. Because they suspect it is a lymph node, that is another reason they feel it should be removed, because there is the possibility of it getting larger and obstructing his airway if he ever got sick and the lymph node became inflamed.

I did ask the doctor if it was possible that Jeffrey is prone to getting these types of cysts. He told me that considering his history, it is possible. So, it could be a lymph node, but it could be a cyst. The same type of cyst that he had before, but in a different location.

Never a dull moment in our home!