Treatment #19

It's that time of the year! Elliot visited Dr. Orringer at Mott's Children's Hospital on December 20th (2017) for his 19th laser surgery! He was a champ like always. We opted for a full treatment this time, with plans to do a blending treatment in the spring.

Since we always do his laser surgery around Christmas break he always misses out in the school Christmas parties. This year I mentioned it to his teacher, Mrs. Verde, during conferences and she surprised Elliot with a special party the day before his treatment. It was so nice that he was able to partake in some of the fun activities with his classmates this year.

If you read our blog often you know that Elliot always looks forward to eating lunch at Chipotle post treatment. This summer we went to Chipotle for lunch one day and he no longer enjoyed the food like he used to. He was a little bummed about not having taco's to look forward to, but I told him we would eat at the place of his choosing after we left the hospital. Unfortunately he wasn't feeling well this time and just wanted to head home without stopping for lunch.

December was a crazy month for us all. Rob finished up his fire academy and took his test on December 23rd (still awaiting the results). We had a wonderful Christmas though and we're still enjoying the break from school.  Elliot said his favorite gift was his fire truck RC car.

Here are some pictures from the day of treatment, up to today (9 days post op). The spots are healing nicely, though he did get a few small scabs.

Waiting to go back (without pre-med still!)

In recovery

I love this face

Reading on the couch

All the kiddo's ready for Christmas!

Kissing our elf Jingles good-bye for the year!

Christmas morning cuddles with his momma and Hatchimal

9 days post-op. Spots fading nicely

Family photos and school updates

Hello all!

We just got our "sneak peeks" for our family photo session and I had to share them here. I realized after we left the session that I forgot to mention the PWS to the photographer, and I've had people try to "edit" out his birthmark before. I was happy to see that she didn't touch it. <3

Elliot is scheduled for his treatment in December so there will be a lot more activity here next month. He is overdue for his ophthalmologist appointment due to switching insurance, but that's next on the list to be scheduled.

Second grade is going VERY well! We had parent teacher conferences last week and Elliot is testing above the national levels for reading and math. WOOHOO! We love this kid to the moon and back. Enjoy the sneak peek, and I'll be back in a couple weeks with more.

xoxo
Jena

2nd Grade!

Elliot started 2nd grade a couple of weeks ago. It's so hard to believe how quickly he's growing. It seems like yesterday I was making my first post here and scouring the internet for everything I could find about Port Wine Stains. What helped me get through those early times the most, was knowing that I was not alone. I reached out to several parents and spoke to them directly regarding their children's journey. I hope that the information you've found here has helped ease your fears as well.

Elliot is now scheduled for treatment #19 in December. I think we're also going to aim for another treatment in March. While he is in the maintenance phrase, I feel like it's important to do the best we can while he's still young. We slack on the sunscreen at times, but we were much more diligent this year. We're hoping that some of the scarring will eventually fade but our doctor has reassured us that he can help with that in the future if it's needed. It's amazing to see how far he has come. His birthmark is still noticeable, but it is so much lighter than it was before. He's learned to answer the question of "what is that on your face" by himself. I'm so very proud of him. <3


I'll be back in December! See you then! xoxo -Jena

Treatment #18

Whew! The holiday's and New Year are always so busy around here so I wasn't able to update like I wanted to. Following Christmas we had a nasty run of strep throat and sinus infections so we're just getting back on the mend.

Elliot had his 18th laser treatment on December 23rd and did spectacular. We did a mixed treatment of blending and lightening. If you haven't read our previous posts, a lightening treatment uses a smaller laser and higher intensity pulse than the blending. We decided to do both because he has a stubborn area on his cheek that hasn't lightened as well as the other areas. Unfortunately, this time he experienced heavy scabbing in these areas. I believe this was a result of not only the intensity but the fact that it had been 11 months since his last treatment. The blended areas did not scab and healed much faster.

I'm including a few photos from his treatment day, along with one from Christmas to show what it looked like a couple days after. I need to get better recent pics of the healing process. Sadly my Note 3 has a TERRIBLE camera so the picture quality stinks. I always forget to bust out our Sony for times like these.

Elliot has taken this week off of school (the last week was winter break). He will be going back next week but I wanted him to have a little extra healing time at home. He's still a little self-conscience about his "spots" so I don't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

Waiting in the Pre-Op room

In Recovery

Eating Chipotle after leaving Mott's

Christmas Day

That's all for now! I will get some recent healing pictures up this weekend. :)

-Jena