4 year old daughter surgery

kfrank · #1 03-25-2013, 05:07 AM

My daughter has a hemangioma on her lower lip. It was growing rapidly and ulcerated leaving her lip pretty deformed. It stopped growing years ago because of (we believe) the propanolol treatment she received. She is now 4, and we are scheduled to have surgery to remove a portion of it this week. Both my wife and I are having second thoughts about going through with the procedure since it will not remove all of the hemangioma and the doctor says it will still be noticeable and that the surgery will leave a small vertical scar. Has anyone gone through with a procedure like this? If so do you have any advice or recommendations on how to proceed? I have included 2 pictures of her lip for reference.

smurph · #2 03-26-2013, 02:42 AM

I wish I had more info to give you. My daughter had surgery on her lip hemanioma but it was her upper lip and a different situation. Where are you having the surgery done? Maybe you could get a second opinion just to get some peace of mind. OR you could email Dr. Levitin on the Ask the Expert panel here and see if he can give you his thoughts. Good luck! Keep us posted!
Shannon

kfrank · #3 03-27-2013, 09:32 PM

I still haven't heard back. We are pretty sure we are going to go though with it at this point. I talked to my daughter about it and she gave me a lot more confidence that this is the right thing to do. I still would find any experiences others have had useful.

smurph · #4 03-28-2013, 01:15 AM

Do you mean you emailed the doctors and didn't hear back? Sometimes it takes a few days. If it makes you feel any better, I ALWAYS had second thoughts about my daughter's procedures-her surgery and both lasers. And she always took things in stride while I was a wreck. My daughter's surgery was on her upper lip and her stitches were straight up and down (vertically) on her lip. She had just turned 5 when she had it done. You cannot even see the scar at all. Your daughters may be much different due to the location, but I thought I'd show you these pictures just for your reference so you can see how her lip healed:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...0902383&type=3

Good luck with the surgery. I'll be thinking of you.

Shannon

kfrank · #5 03-28-2013, 01:51 AM

My husband posted this thread, but your generosity in sharing your daughter's pictures has helped me calm down so much. I know that my daughter's is a bit more extreme, since hers hasn't faded or shrunk much, but just the fact that your gorgeous daughter was brave through it all, and had the same feelings as my daughter and that now your (still) gorgeous daughter has no noticeable hemangioma makes me much calmer. Thank you! From the bottom of my heart, thank you. God has used you in my life.

smurph · #6 03-29-2013, 12:54 AM

I just read your reply to my daughter Faith (she's 8 now) and she had the hugest smile on her face! There were a few people who were so helpful to me when we were in your stage and I just am sooo happy that we can help others now. Really, your email made me smile/almost cry, because I feel like it's all been worth it. That's why I truly believe in online groups like this and that is why I have stayed involved. I'm not sure when your daughter's surgery is, but I will pray for her tomorrow. God bless you and your precious girl!

Shannon