We went off to the vet this morning and by noon the swelling had increased in size so the vet lanced and drained it. turns out he had a nasty abscess. specimen is off for testing and we are still waiting for the blood results for MMM. My vet feels pretty certain that he does not have MMM and we have discontinued the prednisone while he is on antibiotics. He was only on the steroids for 4 days...we will see what tomorrow brings. I have a pretty unhappy boy right now but he's been up to pee and drink. wish me luck and thanks very much for your comments and information. It really helped.