Monday, January 30, 2012
A year and a half post-op, and an invitation to you...
Two pictures of our darling daughter a year and a half post-op. You can see in the first picture that her scar is visible if the light is right, but sometimes you can't see it at all (second picture).
We haven't had any more problems with the pilomatricoma and I probably won't post news about my daughter (unless something reappears!) But this blog gets a ton of hits so I suspect there isn't much else out there for parents of children with a pilomatricoma facing removal surgery. Please share your pilomatricoma story in the comments section so visitors can learn from you and we can enrich our small community!
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ReplyDeleteHi Kelly, I am glad that I found your blog through Google. I would like to thank you for sharing your story here. My daughter also has pilomatricoma on her face, I have been debating whether to remove it surgically for the past 3 years, since I am concerned about the scar after the surgery. Her pediatrician suggested to have it removed before she goes to kindergarten, so I finally picked up the phone and scheduled the surgery for next week. But I was constantly questioning myself whether it was the correct decision. Now after seeing your lovely daughter's pictures, I am convinced that a surgical removal is the way to go. Thank you for clearing up the doubts in my mind.
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DeleteSo glad this gave you some peace! My best advice is to find the very best pediatric plastic surgeon you can find. Our younger daughter had surgery for a different condition on her neck (yes we grow them weird around here!) and had an ENT surgeon close the incision, not a plastic surgeon. While it's fine, it's not nearly as invisible as the plastics guy did.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was just diagnosed yesterday with pilomatricoma on her shoulder. I noticed the small bb size bumped on her shoulder a few months ago but a couple of nurse friends told me it was a cyst and not to worry about it. Last week, however, it became red and inflamed so I took her to the pediatrician. Luckily, the pediatrician is at our local CMN hospital so a dermatologist was right there to diagnose it. She assured me that the swelling would subside but that if it flared up again, it would need to come out. How long did your initial flare up last? My daughter is 11.
ReplyDeleteHer initial flare up (spurring the hospital stay) lasted several weeks, until finally I took her in and they admitted her for IV antibiotics. I would wait until the flare up is over and schedule a removal, it will not go away on its own and is at risk of cellulitis if you leave it and it keeps getting infected. Good luck!
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ReplyDeletemy 7 month old daughter was diagnosed with this today. The dermatologist recommended that she not get the surgery to remove it because she is so young. do you agree? do you think i should seek a pediatric dermatologists opinion?
ReplyDeleteMy 5 year old son his this on his face and we have decided to have it surgically removed. We noticed it when he was 3 and have met with a pediatric dermatologist when we first discovered it. We decided to put off surgery in hopes that it may go away. Now that he is getting ready to begin kindergarten we have decided to get it removed. I met with a plastic surgeon (not pediatric plastic surgeon as there are none in Maine) and now am scared for the procedure. We have decided to travel to Boston Children's Hospital and get a 2nd opinion from a pediatric plastic surgeon. The Dr. I spoke with this week told me that my son would have SUBSTANTIAL scaring and there is a possibility that it is cancerous since it has grown. Also he told me that there is a chance that is may affect my son's ability to smile and puff out his cheeks since it is located near a facial nerve. He informed me that he would have to wear a head wrap for at least 2 days while it heals. I am looking forward to finding a good pediatrics plastic surgeon and hopefully get this removed soon.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is 13 months and today her pediatric dermatologist told us that what's on her cheek may be pilomatricoma. This has been on her cheek since 6 months ago and now it is brown and pea sized. We have consultation scheduled with pediatric plastic surgeon on the 20th of this month.
DeleteLiz - how big is your son's lump? How did his dermatologist diagnose it? I hope you have safe travel and keep us posted on 2nd opinion.
All this time we thought it was a cyst so the warm compressor might just do the trick until today. She did not get any x-rays or ultrasound done for our dermatologist to say that it might be pilomatricoma..