Vascular Lesion Clinic

Gavin's birthmark has been called many different things. It's gone from a Port Wine Stain to Hemangioma to Geographic Mixed Malformation to Vascular Lesion. The MRI clarified everything and we finally know that it is a Vascular Lesion (which is a broad term used to describe all of the above). Dr. Haggstrom wanted Gavin to come up to Riley yesterday and be a part of the Vascular Lesion Clinic. We were told that 5 different specialty doctors (pediatric dermatologist, radiologist, plastic surgeon, ear nose throat, hematology oncologist) would look at his MRI and make a decision about his future. They said the appointment would last an hour or so. Brian and I were nervous/anxious/scared/overwhelmed, but we knew it was the best thing for Gavin. My mom kept Macie for us. We made it to Indy in 3 hours despite the rain. When we got to Riley, it was a little difficult to find exactly where we were supposed to go because of construction. When we finally found it and parked in the garage, we ate lunch. I packed a lunch to save a little bit of money. After eating and a quick diaper change, we went to check in even though we were an hour early. We figured Gavin needed to stretch his legs. They said they would call us back in a few minutes, but I figured it would be a while. Gavin found an activity table to walk around so he was happy. Sure enough, a few minutes later they called us back. They weighed Gavin and he is up to 25 pounds 2 ounces. Growing boy! We were put in a small exam room. The nurse told us the radiologist couldn't be there because there was a death in the family, but that he would look at the MRI results and follow up with us if there was anything he thought needed to be done. Brian and I are bummed because we thought he would be the most important doctor outside of our dermatologist. At first, the nurse explained that doctors would be coming in and out, but 8 doctors showed up at one time! I have to admit this was a bit overwhelming! We did get good results though. Basically, there are a lot of things that could go wrong in his leg in the future (blood clots, one leg could be longer than the other, throbbing, pain, the veins could grow larger) but for now we just have to wait and see. Dr. Haggstrom wants to see him in six months. Hopefully, he will be walking by then so we will know more. Brian and I were a little in shock. That's it?? Dr. H did say that she was expecting the results of the MRI to be worse. All I can say it is a complete blessing! After we asked a few questions, we were good to go. Crazily enough, we were back in our car and headed home before our actual appointment time. We made it home in three hours and picked up Macie a little after 4. We had planned to eat out, but instead ran by Hardees and picked up some turkey burgers. They were pretty good. Since we were home so early, we had movie night. It was nice to end the evening hanging out as a family.

Eating lunch in the car