Hemangioma update- Laser time

Our sweetie pie had her first pulse dye laser treatment two weeks ago. The procedure didn’t even phase her but made us a complete wreck. Isn’t that how it will always be? Parents are the ones who will stress about all the what if’s, while the child won’t even know what’s going on. I started stressing and crying about it three weeks before the appointment.

Having this treatment was a huge deal for us. It’s been something we’ve been waiting to do since she was diagnosed with the hemangioma. Her Propranonol was stopped in November and we had to wait six months before we could begin the laser treatment. The dermatologist told us he could take care of the whole area in 90 seconds.

Our thought was, “Really? Then do it now”. Over the past six months the hemangioma did start to regress on it’s own, but without laser, it would be years before it would significantly lighten.

When the appointment was scheduled, we asked a lot of questions. We wanted to know if this was the right procedure for her. We were hoping they would anesthetize her, thinking that it would keep her from being traumatized. But the associated risk was not worth it, considering the length of the procedure.

The doctor told us to order a special numbing cream, lidocaine, from Florida. It has a 12% strength vs 2% we’ve used in the past on her lip ulceration. We were instructed, by the doctor, to apply it 2hrs before the appointment. However, it came with a scary list of warnings and directions. Enough to make us think we shouldn’t be applying it ourselves.

Since Olivia was born we have faced a lot of frightening times. Perhaps the toughest part is not having people around you that are familiar with hemangiomas. Most people have never heard of it, can’t spell it or even pronounce it. Our only option is to completely trust our dermatologist, pray and have faith everything will be fine. I have to say, knowing we’ve made it through the toughest part, when she was younger, makes things bearable.

Very happy to say the procedure took less than two minutes. The anticipation, and expectation, of it being terrible, was far worse than the event. Our sweetie was wrapped up with arms at her side. Her favorite word to say is, “hi”, to everyone. Without fail she said it the entire time, only stopping when the nurse covered her eyes with gauze. Luckily, not being able to see was the only part that made her cry. The numbing cream worked so well she never felt a thing.

The moment the laser ended, the doctor handed her to us and with her bunny blanket, “num-num’s” in hand everything was fine. I was thinking the recovery could be rough, but I was wrong. Her face did have some bruising that lasted a week. There wasn’t any blistering or pain. I can see some lightening to the whole area and hopefully over time it will lighten up even more.

We are now scheduled to have our consultation with a plastic surgeon in August to discuss the scarring above her lip. Our next laser treatment will be in October. Hopefully two or three laser procedures should be enough.