Patience for the Patient

Operation Goodbye Hemangioma: Day 63

Patience is a virtue, a fruit of the spirit, etc. Whatever you choose to call it, it often is a great test, one that we are certainly straining to pass and one that C continues to pass with flying colors. 

Today is day 63 of C's treatment of propranalol for her hemangioma and I am finding it difficult to see much of a change. At her last appointment (which was a couple weeks ago), the doctors basically told me the same thing as before: that it hasn't increased in size, which is good, and that the graying in the center means the medicine is working. While that is seemingly good news, it is the same good news we received over a month ago. To add to our less than exciting day, it took them no less that ten times to get a read of her blood pressure. Apparently, they don't make cuffs that are the right size for C since she has outgrown the infant cuff and is too small for the child size. By the end of the appointment, C was exhausted to tears (and so was Mommy).

On a positive note, we were able to increase her dosage to 0.6 mL for two weeks and then increased to 0.8 mL yesterday with no side effects. The last time we tried the 0.8 mL dose, she was too small and the drastic drop in blood pressure was more than her tiny body could handle. Hopefully, this increased dosage will also mean an increase in results. I am optimistic.

One of the residents (who happened to be a college classmate of mine - small world) mentioned that there is a topical treatment that may reduce the redness. Dr. Theos wants to make sure that C is doing well on the 0.8 mL dosage before adding any other treatment, but may talk to us about that addition at our next appointment at the end of this month. I am willing to try anything that is non-invasive, non-surgical. The thought of any surgery on my tiny little girl makes me nauseated.

So, we will wait. We will wait until our next appointment to see how things have progressed. We will wait to add additional treatments to the mix. We will wait until this bump shrinks to nothing. We will wait. I'm working on this patience thing...

Waiting patiently with my perfect little patient...