Hemangioma Removal

10/3/16

We got the bad boy removed! After a year at the dermatologist office and trying different ways to get the stupid thing removed we finally bit the bullet and opted for surgery.

I went for the usual monthly check up and growth hasn't slowed down since starting the medication and I really didn't feel good about increasing the dose simply because of the crazy side effects of this drug and being on such a small child. Up to this point we have tried lasers, topical medication and internal medication. All of which helped slightly but never made it smaller, we think it only slowed the growth. I asked the doctor if surgery was an option at this point because previously he had turned down surgery for Braden and wanted to try other things first. Thankfully after a moment of thought.. he agreed.

Dr Brad Huber (dermatologist) said it would be gone about 50% by the age of 5 and 90% by the age of  9. I already receive so many comments about it, I can only imagine what elementary school would have been like with this large bump on his head.  It looked more like a bonk instead of a birthmark but the comments, though mostly innocent, were still frequent. Kids are mean and as a mother you will do anything you can to protect your children and since this is something I could change, I will protect my son from the rude comments and teasing of others.

Dr Huber sent us to the best plastic surgeon he knew, Dr Jon Bishop. We had a consultation with him and he was more than willing to remove the hemangioma. He assured us that it would be a fairly easy procedure but reminded me multiple times that there would be a scar. I think he was under the assumption that I assumed that because he was a plastic surgeon he would be able to remove it with no scar. Thankfully having many friends in the medical field I am well aware that doctors are miracle workers but not magicians. I would also prefer a scar to a bump any day. So two weeks later we were scheduled for surgery.

Madison spent the night with Mimi the night before because we had to arrive at the hospital at 6 am to get him all checked in and ready to go. We arrived early that morning and Braden was in a surprisingly good mood considering he hadn't been allowed to eat since 11pm the night before. He played around the waiting room as we waited to be called back. He smiled at all the nurses and hospital staff. They took us back to our room and had us change Braden in to his hospital gown. Zach pulled him around the hospital floor in a wagon while we waited for Dr Bishop to arrive for the day.  We weren't allowed to go back with him while they put him under or while he woke up. So once they took him back Zach and I went to grab something to eat at the cafeteria. We went back to the room and waited almost an hour before our little man returned. The doctor came in right after the surgery and told us everything went smoothly and that it was good we got the growth out now. He said it had a mind of its own and had grown a couple larger vessels that had attached to the muscle on Braden's forehead and so he removed some of the muscle along with the growth. There was no sign of stopping that thing.

They brought Braden back to us mostly awake and we gave him a bottle and watched him perk up as he drank it. Once he was finished we changed his clothes and said good bye to the hospital. He waved as we left and we went home. His head was covered in gauze and we were unable to see how big the incision was or anything because those bandages had to stay on for as long as possible. Three days later his bandage started to fall off and we were excited to catch a glimpse of the scar. Unfortunately under the bandage was steri strips and we STILL couldn't see how big it was. We wrapped his head back up and kept pressure on the incision for 10 days before the top bandage finally came off and a few short days later the steri strips came off as well. The scar looked amazing! You could barely notice it was there. Braden experienced a little pain for the first few days but then completely forgot about it all together. Until about a month later he fell and bonked his head which made it swell and so the scar is actually a little bigger now because of the swelling. Oh well. it still looks great!