Treatment 20, Post-op Day 1

Elliot slept like a rock last night. He's usually awake mid-way through my shift (I teach ESL online) and today he slept through all of my classes until 10am! He woke up extremely swollen, which we were prepared for. He's currently holding a bag of frozen corn on his eye to open it a little more. This is another solid treatment by Dr. Orringer, and I'm pleased to see that he went heavy on his lower cheek. That's always been the most stubborn area. Oh, and we're still rocking that pony spout. ;)

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

1 week post op, tx #16

I Elliots spots are healing pretty nicely. He does have a small scab underneath his eye area. He has seemed to be leaving it alone so hopefully it won't scar. Here's a picture of him showing you his spots! :)

And a silly pic from St Patties Day

3 days post op #16

We had a fun family day at our Aunts house for my cousins 17th birthday. Elliot enjoyed getting outside  for a while this evening when it was overcast. The worst part of all of this for him is not being able to go out and enjoy the sun on beautiful days! 

He's doing well though. He had swelling the day after the treatment but that subsided quickly. He asks me to put the Eucerin cream on a couple times per day. :)