Ref. 28637-5A WOMAN feared for the life of her nine-month-old son after his tongue swelled up to three times its normal size.

Tracie Culley, 31, of Deerhurst Way, Toothill, Swindon, felt helpless as Xander's condition got worse.

"I didn't know what was happening with him and stayed up all night staring at him in the cot in case his tongue stopped him breathing," she said.

Tracie, who is expecting her fifth child in April, took the baby to an emergency doctor on New Year's Day, where he was prescribed antibiotics and referred to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

Tracie said: "Xander wasn't eating, sleeping or drinking. I felt so frightened and didn't know what to do. No one seemed to know what was wrong with him. All Xander could eat was fruit puree and juice. I just didn't know what was wrong with him."

A consultant at the hospital told Tracie she would contact the Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London and that Xander might need further tests.

Tracie contacted Great Ormond Street hospital herself and after speaking to a consultant, emailed pictures she had taken a week after Xander's tongue had started to swell. She added: "Great Ormond Street said judging by the pictures alone it looked like cystic hygroma and that I should ask my doctor or consultant to refer me to the London hospital.

"I still didn't know what to think as Great Western had initially said they thought it might be a hemangioma, and later said it could be lymphangioma.

"I have now received a referral to Great Ormond Street and feel relieved that he is going to see a specialist but am still worried about what will happen. "

Xander will attend an outpatients appointment on Tuesday.

Angus Waddell, consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at Great Western Hospital, said: "Lymphangioma is very rare. It can occur anywhere in the body but 75 per cent of cases are in the head and neck.

"I estimate that we would not see more than one case per year, which works out to be one in every 10,000 to 15,000."

A spokeswoman for Great Ormond Street Hospital said she could not comment at this stage.

A cystic hygroma is a thin-walled, sac-like structure. It occurs most commonly in the head and neck area and often appears as a soft bulge under the skin.

Hemangiomas are abnormally dense collections of dilated small blood vessels (capillaries) that may occur in the skin or internal organs. The majority of hemangiomas will disappear on their own, but when treatment is desired, if it interferes with vision or feeding, medicines and laser therapy may be used.

Lymphangioma is an uncommon benign neoplasm (an abnormal growth) arising from lymphatic vessels resembling a raised, soft, bubbly, pinkish-white lesion.