Hemangioma...still there at almost 2?

Anyone's elses child with a hemangioma still at the age of 2? I thought they go away or go down by now? One of Kenna's is still as big as it has always been...it might be a little bit deflated but not much. It has been dark grey in the center forever now. How long did yours take to go away once the grey in the middle started? I know it doesn't bother them, but hers is a big one right below her left nipple and it sticks out when she wears shirts and looks like a big nipple...people do stare at it. And now with warmer weather coming (okay hopefully coming soon) I just wonder if she will have to go through another summer of everyone staring at it like its a 3rd nipple...hate to sound vain about it....but its just in an akward place and I am anxious for it to go away on her..

Thanks for any help!

Jen

 

That stinks that it hasn't gone down much. How big is it? Morgan has 2. The one on her hip...about the size of a stretched out quarter is almost 100% completely gone. However, it never rose up as much as her other one did. Thank goodness b/c it's right where her diaper and pants sit. You have to really look to still find it on her. So, that one doesn't worry me.

The one on her shouder that was probably almost 2 inches in diameter has gone down considerably from about 9 months on. It reached it's
"peak" around 6 months.

Here are some pictures of it. I cant' believe how much it's gone down. In the "then" pictures, it was dark red and it was a hard mass. In the "now" picture, it's very squishy and you can move it around and it's lost a TON of the redness, most of it is just pink now. I cant' help but wonder if the loose skin that is squishy will go away though. I have no idea.

Have you asked your pedi about having your DD's removed? I think they can do a simple laser procedure. We haven't talked about it b/c it's not necessary. I know what you mean about stares though. Anytime Morgan wears a sleeveless shirt in the summer people were always asking us about it and it would scare the sitter's little boy. He got used to it though.

Here are some pics...

front view - 6 months
side view - 6 months
front view - 20 months

 

My brother had one on his leg and it was fairly large. I think he was 3 or 4 when it started deflating. Now you can't even tell anymore. I would give it a bit more time before looking at a surgical solution.

 

My daughter's is still there, on her bottom. I kind of remember hearing that it would be gone by the time she was five. If I were you, I'd consult with a pediatric dermatologist and see what they have to say.

Best,
Mia

 

One of my boys has a hemangioma on his cheek. It is still there at 7 1/2 years old. We did the laser treatments and that reduced its puffiness and redness a lot. The dermatologist says that now we just wait for it to continue to reduce naturally. You might want to ask for a referral to a pediatric dermatologist and see about laser treatments. The treatments don't remove the hemangioma, the laser light attacks the red blood cells and kills them and then the body clears them away. It does take quite a few treatments to see progress and the hemangioma looks worse for a few weeks after the treatment.

 

the ped seemed to think it was going down but I am not as convinced. In the two pics I attached, it seems to me its getting bigger. Because as she is growing, if it were getting smaller or not doing anything it would appear smaller on her body, but it seems bigger the bigger she gets. She had 5 total ones and most of the other ones are gone. There is one left on her hip but its shrunk a bunch. This one is very squishy...does that mean it will go away soon too.. I also wonder about the skin...where will all that skin go?
Becky - Wow...hers looks great now...I can't wait for Kenna's to go down like that.
Vicky - I heard the laser treatments are very painful. Also, a surgeon looked at it and told me not to let a derm touch that, only a surgeon should...hmmm...

Anyway...do you think it looks like its still growing?
Here at 9 mos
20 months old

 

Andrew has one (on his bottom!) and it has continued to grow and is still really red/pink looking. I ask about it every time we go to the pedi, but they're not worried about it b/c it's not near his eyes or ears or anything. It looks like he has a strawberry on his bottom!

 

Slaton has one on his back. Our pedi told us that if it was still there by the age of 5, we would look at having it removed. Slaton's hemangioma is in the involute stage and it looks much better than it did. I feel quite sure by the age of 5 it will be gone (or almost gone).

 

quote:
My daughter's is still there, on her bottom. I kind of remember hearing that it would be gone by the time she was five. If I were you, I'd consult with a pediatric dermatologist and see what they have to say.


ditto

sue

 

Ally had a really red, puffy one on her shoulder blade. I think it started going down and getting lighter at a little over 2 yrs old. Now, at almost 4 1/2 it's really light.

Here's a couple pics:

at 1 1/2 years old http://stasiak.org/0804/allynekkidsink.JPG

at 3 1/2 years old (you can barely see it next to her ponytail) http://stasiak.org/0806/jackallytreasurechest.JPG

 

My friend's daughter had a facial one (just forward of the temple area). Hers was silver dollar size and very noticeable but they let it resolve and I believe it was gone around age 5 or 6. They were able to hide it pretty well by growing her hair long to help minimize the stares.

I don't think I'd do anything about it at such a young age if it's not bothering her.

 

Shelby has had 3. Two on her heel, which are 100% gone & 1 on her elbow, which is still there, not large almost flat. She was seen by a pediatric surgeon when she was 3 months old & he said all hemangiomas should be u/s just to see how deep they are & then watched if they are not deep or obstructing veins. Could you see a surgeon rather that the pedi? I would if you can. I am taking Shelby to a plastic surgeon to see abokut having hers removed because like you said, people like to stare at it & someday she will feel funny because of it. I figure if I do it before she has a chance to be hurt by it it will save her some heartache down the road. Good luck with it.

 

The memories that came back as I looked at many of the pictures.

My daughter has one just under her left nipple also. We were told it would go away by the time she was 2. Then it changed to age 5. All this by the Pedi.

We were already seeing a plastic sergeon and I ended up asking him when we should do something about it. He said to let it take its own course and allow the decission to be made by her when she is older (late teens early 20s) to have it sergically removed or not. We agreed especially since it was not in a dangerous place. She is now 8 years old and it is just a flat loose skinned circle. She says it is ticklish and she has been known to pull at the extra skin.

I have a feeling it will just tighten up as her chest develops.

Here are a few pictures of it looked like when she was an infant and what it looks like now

 

When my son had his laser treatments, we put a numbing cream on the hemangioma about three hours before the procedure. The dermatologist told me it feels like a rubber band snapping against your skin. It didn't seem to bother my son at all. Regarding the issue of laser treatments versus surgical treatment, I remember being told at the time we were making the decision that the dermatologist would say laser treatment was best and the surgeon would say surgery was best, so if you get to that point, I'd say talk to both and then get some input from your pediatrician. On the issue of what it will look like eventually, at least for my son, the dermatologist said that the spot would be flat, but that it would have some texture to it, like grapefruit skin.

 

Grace has 2 one is on her side and the other is under her eye. It was HUGE her eye would only open half way. She was on steroids from 8wks to 9months. It looks great now, it is very grey and flat. The ped derm and plastic surgeon said they could do laser surgery and it will be gone or we can wait she said a max of 2yrs and it will be gone. We decided to wait, I will actually be kind of sad to see it gone because it is Grace. I attached 2 pictures (sorry I am at work and dont have many choices of pictures) Jonathan had 3 of them too 2 on the top of his head which they are gone and one in his armpit which is almost gone too. I hope the pic works I have to do 2 seperate replies for the pics.
This one is her at 5 months

 

This is her at 2yrs.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me

 

Thanks for all the help. I guess I am just being vain for her about it which is ridiculous really. I will give it more time. I thought I remembered hearing they are usually gone by 18mos so thats why I was stressing.

Cheryl - That is amazing...Kenna's is in the exact same spot. She plays with hers all the time and laughs too...wonder why? Hers is very mushy...so I am wondering if hers will look a lot like your daughters when older.

Thanks so much for sharing your pics...some people have never seen them before and can really stare and I guess once your child has one they don't seem to bother you as much. I think I was more bothered by it bc people ask me over and over if its a 3rd nipple...

 

My Lauren has one on her tummy still. We called it the big dog tick. It's a little bigger than a nickel. It's deflated now and the red has changed to white and pink. We went to get it checked out at AR Children's Hospital which is the leading hemangioma center. They fly kids in from all over the world to have the ones on the face and around the eyes removed. It was heartbreaking to see the kids there in the waiting room. I felt very bad that we were there getting the tiny one on Lauren's stomach looked at compared to the kids in the waiting room. The doctor took one look and said that it would not go down anymore or go away. She would have to have it cut off. Lasers would not work on any that is raised from what he told me. He said to wait until it starts to bother her when she's older. It's funny to see both Lauren and Laney play with it in the bathtub. Laney will touch it and then look to see if she has one.