Biopsy For My 11-Yr-Old: How Worried Should I Be?

Hey everyone,

My 11-yr-old son has had a persistently swollen node on the right side of his neck, up under his jawline.  The swelling started about six weeks ago.  It's about one inch across.  At first, the area around it was very swollen as well, leading us to think it was an infection.  After two weeks of Vantin antibiotics, the swelling around the node went down, but the node itself remained unchanged.  Over the course of the past eight weeks, my son has lost nine pounds (more than ten % of his body weight).  We attributed that to the fact that he started a new ADHD medication about five weeks ago, which has certainly affected his appetite; however, his ENT thinks the weight loss is excessive, even on the medication.  My son has complained of pain in his throat on and off, occasional fatigue, headaches, and for a few weeks, itchy skin.  We started using lotion on his skin, which helped the itchiness, so we no longer considered that to be a symptom.  The ENT scheduled a lymph node biopsy for this Monday (the 3rd), mostly in light of the persistently large lymph node and weight loss with no apparent infection.

I was very worried at first, and internet research did not make me feel any better.  But as time wore on, and my son did not seem to get any worse (and the lymph node, while still large, did not grow or change), my worry lessened; I was reasonably sure that he just had residual effects from an old infection.

Then this morning, my son informed me that he was woken up three times last night by extreme night sweats; my son told me he was drenched on his chest, neck, head, and torso.  I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.  I looked up the side-effects for his ADHD medication (for the twentieth time) and the only cross symptom is weight loss/appetite supression.

I am sorry this is so long, and thank you to any of you who have read this far.  You can probably guess my questions: Many of you have been there, have experienced the early symptoms and can be far more realistic than a worried mother can.  Does this sound benign to you?  Or should we be preparing for a cancer diagnosis, in your opinions?

Any responses are deeply appreciated!

~Scared Mom

Hello worried mom I hope everything turns out ok for your family. I am 33 years old and have Hodgkins I have been dealy with it for over a year now and still not healthy. The only symptom I had was a swollen lymph node on my left side above my collar bone. I know how scary all of this is I am scared  what the future holds for me I can't imagine this is happening to one of my children so I am praying for you and your son. 11 years old seems young  for Hodgkins. If you need someone to talk with just let me know.