CMN (congenital melanoma nevus) is a lifelong condition where Keziah will always need to have all her "freckles" checked on a regular basis. The reason for this is because she has a slight higher chance of getting melanoma than you or I. Our dermatologist reminded us again that just because a lot of her nevus has been removed, that does not lower her risk.
So off to Sick Kids we went last Thursday afternoon. It had been quite some time since we've driven that way - so long that I took the wrong exit! This resulted in a "scenic" route, adding 20 minutes to our drive time. The blessing in this is the fact that I can no longer do this drive in my sleep! There was a time a few years ago that I could do that due to how often we were making that drive, every week!
We arrived 1 minute before our 1:30 appointment, which didn't leave a whole lot of time to craft....but enough time to make this:
Once in the room, Keziah had to change into the hospital garments. My, has she ever grown! Here is the first time she ever donned a hospital garment! Just 2.5 years old here....a few minutes before they took her for her very first surgery of expander placement....ack, my heart!!
She has now upgraded to the "grown-up" kind....but with lots of room to grow yet.
Passing the time away while waiting for our derm...
A close-up of her scars - pretty red here. The redness still comes and goes - sometimes really red, other times a pale pink. The derm said we could tackle this with laser eventually, which would help the pigmentation of her scars.
Keziah had come up with a list of 6 or 7 questions she had for the derm - and the assistant did an amazing job answering them.
We went into this appointment with some concern over one of her satellites (freckles). Throughout the summer, this mole would swell up, scab over, and fall off. This repeated a number of times. But with great relief, we found out at this appointment it was nothing to be concerned about - the mole looked healthy. The reason for the swelling/scabbing etc is probably due to the placement: it is on her inner thigh, and so it rubs against material and her other leg. We praise God for this news!
In fact, we praise God for the positive news that ALL her freckles, moles, nevus and satellites look healthy!!
So we left with a skip to our step (after another appointment was booked)....until we hit the road, where what should take 10 minutes took 60 minutes, thanks to traffic! And that was just to get to the highway - we had to get home yet! Thankfully after more than 2 hours of driving, we arrived safely home.
Keziah is now 9. This girl has gone through a lot...
She continues the journey of acceptance that her face looks different than most, and for the most part is okay with it. She still states often she is so thankful we made the decision for her when she was young. That is very relieving to us as the weight of that decision was huge!
There are no surgeries in her near future - not until she is a teenager. Then we can do a bit of scar revision, and she can decide what she wants to do with her eyebrow, and the nevus on her scalp yet....if anything.
So onward we go, enjoying this beautiful girl God has gifted to us!
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