When P was about 11 months old we noticed a small red dot near her eyebrow. Thought it was a scratch, thought nothing of it. Instead of going away, it began to get bigger and look a little raised above her skin. Being the doctor that I am, I researched and researched and diagnosed her with a hemangioma- a cluster of blood vessels that grow too quickly. They are very common-in fact 10% of Caucasian girls have one withing 3 weeks of birth. At her 1 year check up, her pediatrician confirmed my Dr. Mommy diagnosis, but gave us the name of a pediatric dermatologist anyway. We made an appointment and waited almost a month to get in. Mind you, I am researching, worrying, and pretty much freaking out this entire time-worried that it will continue to get larger, that she might have a scar, that it could be some type of skin cancer, that kids would make fun of her...yada yada yada. It was consuming me.
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| This is a good picture so that you can see what it looks like. |
Well this week, the week of our appointment, she scratched it. I won't go into detail, but I will say that it happened on the way home from school and involved a lot of blood and a mommy with a racing heart beat. Scariest.day.Ever. Our pediatrician said to hold pressure for 10 minutes-IMPOSSIBLE. She is 1 and will not sit still. Let's just say that we ruined a few towels this week. We put a bandaid on it to prevent it from happening while she was at school.
We saw the most wonderful dermatologist this week and she informed us that it is NOT a hemangioma at all. (good one Dr. Mommy) It is a Pyogenic Granoloma. This is a a place on the skin where there was some sort of injury-could be a tiny scratch, a bug bite-the skin does not heal properly and there are too many blood vessels on one spot. You can get one at any age and it is not a reoccurring condition. It is a completely random occurrence and apparently that are quite common. Our doctor said she would be shocked if we ever saw her get one again.
We will visit another specialist in November to have it removed by laser-the only option that assures no scar and no chance of it coming back. We are praying that it only takes one visit.
In hindsight, we wish we would have gone to see the dermatologist when we first noticed it, when it was teeny tiny, so that it might be easier to laser off. Although it is still small, it could take 2 or more visits to completely remove. However, ourselves and our doctor had a misdiagnosis. Like I said, I think you should be aware of these little bumps because it's always better to catch things sooner rather than later.
Beyond thankful that it is 'just' a Pyogenic Granuloma. ;)
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