On August 12th, Evi had her first appointment in Arkansas. We drove up on Sunday and Evi did much better in the car than I expected. We stayed in a less than ideal hotel and I was just feeling anxious about the whole trip.
Then we walked into Arkansas Children's Hospital and I instantly felt better. Up on the Vascular Anomaly floor, I met another mom whose little girl had a birthmark (different than Evi's) that was being treated with the laser dye. She and I bonded quickly and it was so nice to find someone in our same boat.
We were called back quickly and met with Dr. Richter's resident. He came in and asked us a bunch of new questions. It was exciting to feel like we were finally where we were supposed to be!
A few minutes later, Dr. Richter came in and introduced himself. He asked if Evi would come to him and she did. She immediately snuggled up to him and it made me feel so good to see her so comfortable with him! He loved it too saying that he and his wife were trying for their third baby and how sweet and cute Evi was. It was nice that he was so hands on and I just immediately felt comfortable.
He even made a little joke saying "So your daughter... she has a birthmark." We both laughed and then he immediately moved on asking me how our journey to him had started. After looking at her, he said she not only had a venous malformation, but also a capillary malformation. The treatment is the same, but he wanted to make sure I knew exactly what Evi had which I appreciated.
We next talked a bit about the laser treatment itself and at one point, he turned towards his resident and said "Don't expect all the parents to be as informed as she is!" Ha! I have definitely done my research and I thought it was funny that it was so obvious.
He mentioned scheduling the first treatment and I asked how many he thought we could get in since we've met our deductible for the year. Once he found that out, he said he'd have his secretary to schedule us for 3 treatments and that if we didn't need the 3rd we could always cancel it.
I would love for it to only need 2 initial treatments and really I was expecting at least 3 so I'm good with that as well. Unfortunately, he said that sometimes their are hidden malformations that we can't currently see until the more superficial ones are gone. So we'll see how many she'll need. I'm hoping after the first treatment we'll have a better idea.
Probably the most substansial information to come from this meeting is that if we don't treat her birthmark, she will have bleeding issues later that could also cause deformities. It completely confirmed that we were making the right decision and I was so thankful for that! In the back of my head, I have always been a little hesitant about the treatments even though I felt mostly at peace about them. I just hated making the decision for Evi even if I knew it was better for us to do the treatments when she was young versus waiting long enough for her to decide for herself. Now I know that these treatments truly are medically necessary and they aren't just cosmetic. So thankful God answered my prayers concerning that.
We leave soon for E's first treatment and I'm mix of emotions. I can't imagine her without her birthmark. She's had it for 16 months. I've never seen her without it. It's such a part of her and I love it. How can I be so excited about something that also makes me so sad? I know that the first treatment won't take it away completely so I'm hoping that the gradual approach to it being gone will help ease me into this.
And so the journey continues...
