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Monday, November 23, 2009

Piper's Hemangioma: Happy Scoop







Hi again! Just wanted to show you how much smaller the scab is on my strawberry. My mommy and daddy are very excited and hope it will be healed up by the end of the month! I don't really notice it anymore and it doesn't hurt much when it gets touched or brushed either. I've stopped trying to reach behind my neck to touch my birthmark too. I'm just happy crawling around the house and getting into everything I see! There's so much to explore in this big old house! Since my strawberry doesn't bother me very much, I don't need to hold on to my mommy all the time. I'm more open to investigating other people and things. I'm even chasing my brother and stealing his toys! I'm happy and I know it so my face really does show it :) By the way, these pictures were taken on Saturday 11/21/09

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Piper's Hemangioma: Home Scoop


Hi again! Last night my mommy and daddy were thinking how it's been two months since the scab started forming on my strawberry. They read that the average ulceration period is 86 days so I'm in the home stretch! By early December I should be all cleared up. My daddy thought we should take a poll for anyone reading the blog that also has a hemangioma. Did your birthmark ever scab and ulcerate? How long did it last? I hope we get some comments!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Piper's Hemangioma: Fresh Scoop







Hi everyone! Here are those pictures I promised. As you can see, my hemangioma is now shaped kinda funny. It is no longer plump and perfectly round. I'm sure you can see that it has decreased in fullness and it is flattening out. The part that hurts me is the middle part where you can see the raw skin and such. I am feeling better every day though and my mommy is very happy to have her bouncing baby girl back. I forgot to mention that when my strawberry had the scab and was oozy, it had a bad odor. Thankfully as the ulcerated part improves, the odor has gone away. Now I'm fresh as a daisy! I'll update you with new pictures next week to show my progress. See you then!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Piper's Hemangioma: Third Scoop

Hi there! This is me just a few days ago. I'm almost eight months now and I love to stand whenever I get the chance! Although October was a difficult month for me as bactracin worked to break down the scab, it really did go fast. It's now November and my hemangioma looks a whole lot better. The scab is now gone and underneath it the area is sunken in and ulcerated. It hurts to clean the area but by gently removing the top layer of yellow slough each day to reveal the raw skin underneath, it makes the area continues to shrink. The ulcerated area is now probably the size of a quarter and the hemangioma is now much more flat. I'll have to pose for a picture tomorrow so I can show you all! My birthmark still hurts when it gets touched or brushed but I am able to sleep through the night and only wake to eat. I went for an MRI at the end of October because my dermatologist was concerned because of the location that it might be attached to my spine. Thankfully the results are back and it is not attached to anything. Our next step is to meet with the plastic surgeon to see if and when he would recommend surgery. My mommy and daddy are still undecided but they want to see what he has to say. I'm getting my beauty rest now so I'll update you with a picture tomorrow! Goodnight :)




Piper's Hemangioma: Second Scoop
















Hi again! Here's me at the park with my mommy when I was a little over five months old. This is probably the point where my hemangioma reached it's high point. In my first few months, my birthmark kept growing and the color changed from a bright red to a darker red. It felt very full and firm to the touch. Later gray patches then began to show as you can see in my pictures. Our dermatologist told us that the gray patches could mean that the hemangioma is starting to involute and the blood vessels are starting to die. At this point in time, it didn't hurt me if you touched my birthmark. My mommy and daddy were hoping that my birthmark was going to start shrinking soon but instead it stayed about the same size and just changed color. It got lighter and the gray patches became more pronounced. We had a checkup in the middle of September and the dermatologist noticed we could press on the middle of the birthmark and it sunk in a little and bounced back. She said this was good because the hemangioma was becoming less full. She did warn to watch out for any crusty spots my birthmark and that it may start scabbing and ulcerate. Unfortunately about a week later two crusty spots appeared in the gray patches and they eventually formed scabs. The scabs kept getting bigger and eventually grew into one large scab that took up most of the hemangioma. The dermatologist recommended we use an antibiotic ointment called bactracin zinc to break down the scab. The edges of the scab started oozing yellow and green and I had to go on oral antibiotics for a while. The next month was very hard for me and I woke up every night because my birthmark hurt so much. I would cry on and off throughout the night and needed to be cuddled close to my mommy to sleep.

Piper's Hemangioma: First Scoop


Hi everyone! Here's a picture of me when I was one day old in the hospital. After the doctor checked me out, they told my parents that the small red dot on my back was a special birthmark called a hemangioma. The doctor said it would get worse before it got better. By the time the nurse came to visit me the following week, it was about the size of a quarter and raised. At the two week checkup it had grown even bigger. Although this scared my mom and dad, it was totally normal. Hemangiomas grow for the first six to twelve months so I'm still considered to be in the growth stage. They are also called strawberry birthmarks because of their red/pink color. Hemangiomas are composed of lots of blood vessels and are a vascular anomoly. The doctors told us that no one really knows what causes them but one of the theories is that it could be a part of the placenta that broke off and attached to the skin. Hemangiomas will naturally shrink and fade in color over time and we were told about 50% of them involute by kindergarten and about 90% by middle school. Recent advances have made it possible to remove them surgically but my mommy and daddy are not sure if this would be something they want me to go through.