Treatment #20: Post-op days #5 & 7

The week has flown by, and Elliot is 7 days into his recovery period. His spots are healing nicely and he had very minimal scabbing. He had a small spot next to his nose, a small spot next to his top lip, and a small spot under his eye. They are very small compared to scabs he's had in the past, and I'm very pleased with this treatment. 

Usually recovery means a lot of downtime but this time has been different. On Tuesday Elliot went to his Ninja gymnastics class, with a face full of spots. He walked in with his head held high and I watched his demeanor stay the same throughout class. One child asked him what happened, and he told them he had laser surgery. That's it. So matter-of-factly. I could not be more proud of him.

Tomorrow we head to co-op at the local library. We are studying geography with Mrs. Linda this year, and a whole room full of other kids! We're learning about Africa and will begin working on our African culture project at home this week.

Elliot built a Lincoln Log mansion at Papa's house (Day 5 recovery)

Day 7 recovery

xoxo

Laser Treatment #20!

TWENTY!!!!!!

That's the number of treatments Elliot has had since he was born. I remember talking to other moms going through this and when they'd tell me a high number I'd gasp! "Woah, we'll never need that many!" I'd tell myself.

It's amazing to look back over the years and see the progress, the regression, and more progress. A port wine stain is always a work in progress when treating since the body is a self-healing machine and PWS is vascular. Summertime is a PWS's worse enemy, and without fail we miss many days of sunblock. This year we put a pool in so we tried extra hard to remember that sunblock.

Ten days ago Elliot started counting down the days to his treatment like it was Christmas morning. This was a first. He's always great about it, but it's usually a "ugh, here we go" type of attitude. This time was different. Last night he got his stuffy ready to take, made sure he had clothes and that I packed the things he needed. He woke up excited to get on the road to head to Ann Arbor. My heart was happy.

We were checked in and he was in the OR within 30 minutes. We were released and heading home after spending 90 minutes in the hospital. We basically get drive thru service these days. ;) Since we're now on once yearly maintenance treatments we opted for a full-power treatment as opposed to blending. The downside is more recovery time, the upside is less treatments. I can always tell when our progress is regressing because his little horseshoe mark above his brow makes its appearance. Elliot spent the few minutes we were in the recovery room gushing about how kind everyone was there. It's always a top-notch experience and I'm so thankful to have this hospital and their staff so close to home.


xoxo

Checking in to Pre-op

Ready to head back!

Spots complete :)

His hair was making his spots itch, so we problem solved. ;) hahaha