A Visit to the Dermatologist

Vivian was born late at night.  They put her little hat on and laid her on me and we just snuggled.  She was perfect.  They took her away and cleaned her up and we moved over to the maternity wing.  I spent the rest of the night being woken up hourly to be checked on, the pediatrician came in really early and checked her out, we both tried to sleep, and still she wore that little hat.  

Okay, it wasn't this hat.  This special hat was made by my Grammy.  She wore one not nearly as cute, but you get the idea.

Finally, later in the afternoon that second day, Steve was holding her and the hat came off.  And he immediately noticed a bump on her forehead.  We didn't think much of it.  Evelyn had a bump on her jaw when she was born from her delivery.  We kind of just figured it was normal for babies to have little bumps that eventually went away.  

The following morning the pediatrician came back again early to check her before we were discharged, and Steve mentioned the little bump.  The doctor turned on some more lights to get a better look, and spent quite a few minutes feeling the bump.  She determined that it wasn't a result of her delivery, but was in fact a cyst.  Nothing to be concerned about, just something we would keep an eye on as she grew.  It might go away on it's own she said, or we could maybe decide down the road to remove it.  

When we went for Vivian's first appointment at the pediatrician's office, we were scheduled to see a different doctor.  Steve decided it would be good to get a "second opinion", so after the doctor check her, he mentioned the bump again.  It really was a small bump, and people just didn't notice it unless it was pointed out.  This doctor did the same thing.  Spend a few minutes feeling the bump, and agreed that it was a cyst.  She did mention, though, taking Vivian to a dermatologist in a few months to have it looked at.  Nothing to worry about at the moment, let her get a little older, and then take her in.  Again, we weren't worried.  Cysts go away.  They generally aren't problematic.  It was in a place that would be covered by her hair down the road.  

At her two month check, we we referred to the dermatologist, only because it can take forever to get in to see one.  I found out that the scheduling office opens up the calendar on June 1 for the rest of the year.  So on June 1, I spent HOURS (not even exaggerating a little) calling and on hold waiting to make an appointment.  I had been given a tip not to leave a message because they won't call back for days, and by then you will be waiting months for your appointment.  So I kept calling, and calling, and calling because they automatically kicked you to voicemail after 20 minutes on hold.  So that was a fun morning, but I did make my appointment for July. 

July rolled around and we met with the dermatologist.  I was really just treating the appointment as something I had to do, no big deal.  We would learn, again, that it was a cyst, and we would wait and see what it did as she grew.  To Steve and I, it was already less noticeable because as Vivian was growing, the cyst was not.  So in came the dermatologist and he was nice as could be.  While we were chatting I mentioned that she also had a "strawberry" birthmark on her chest (we were after all at the dermatologist...might as well take full advantage).  He checked it out...and let me know that it generally would break up on it's own over many years (I knew that!).  The location concerned him, though, so he was going to prescribe a topical gel to help get rid of it faster.  Huh.  Unexpected, but no big deal.

Then he moved on to her forehead.  He felt around, and said, that it was, in fact, a cyst.  It was a type of cyst called a dermoid.  It was relatively common, and develops in babies generally around the eyes and nose, but also often along the plates of the skull.  Got it!  And then he zinged me with...if left alone it will eventually wear through the skull bone.  Say what?  That hard thing that protects her brain?  It would need to be removed, and the general practice is to have it done by age two, but he wanted us to see the plastic surgeon right away and recommended having it done by six months.

So I left with my head spinning a little.  She had a strawberry birthmark that had to go, and a cyst that REALLY had to go.  Totally not the appointment I had been expecting.  I had a list of phone numbers and recommended pediatric plastic surgeons that Steve and I were going to have to look through.  This no big deal, let's wait and see situation had suddenly turned into a little bit of a bigger deal than we anticipated.

To be continued... :)