One Year Later...

It's been about year since Lauren had her first laser treatment. I guess this will be the first of several chapters of our Birthmark Journey with Lauren. I will stick to calling her birthmark a PWS for Port Wine Stain.

Lauren's first laser surgery for her PWS was on January 25th, 2008. It was postponed several times due to her having RSV. Time has really flown by. She has had 4 surgeries total in 2008 and each has gone very well. Our doctor tells us that Lauren has a mild PWS and that her stain is very light in comparison with others she has seen.

Here is Lauren at one day old (top) and 3 weeks old (bottom): You can see she has the PWS on both sides of her face but they are different shapes.

Lauren at 5 months old. Just hours before her first laser surgery. You can see that the PWS is much lighter in this photo even before any procedure had ever been done. We don't really know why it faded that much on it's own or if it would have faded even more without surgery. We do know that the doctors have recommended that we go forward with the laser treatment in order to keep the color light and avoid future complications with the stain.

Most people think that PWS is simply a cosmetic issue. This is simply not true. If left untreated the PWS can get darker and thicker and cause the skin to bulge and blister.

This is Lauren after her first laser treatment. She has always been such a trooper. She is fighting mad coming out of anesthesia, but mostly we think it's because she's got all this stuff hooked up to her and she is HUNGRY. Once we are out of recovery she is back to her happy self.

It does look painful, but we have never had to give her anything for pain. She never even seems to notice that she has these little laser dots on her face.

Here is Lauren today: In these pictures you can still somewhat see the laser dots in certain areas. On one side of her face, where the PWS extends further down her cheek, the stain is darker. It has always been this way. This side is responding more slowly to the treatment. Lauren's complexion is so fair that it takes a long time to see the results from the laser. But we are FINALLY seeing results from it. I am really hoping and praying that by the time she is in pre-school the laser treatments will be only for "maintenance" purposes.

Well that's it. Our next procedure is scheduled for March 20th. We always try to have them on a Friday so that she has a few days at home in case of any swelling. Please pray that our insurance will continue to cover her surgeries. So far they have covered in full, but this last time they "hesitated". They ended up paying for it, but I have to wonder if they will deny it in the future and call it "cosmetic".

But really... with or without the birthmark there is NO denying that is BEAUTIFUL. Don't you agree? :)