The Beginning Of The End – part 1

It is almost 5 years to the day that Eva was rushed to Sick Kids hospital via emergency ambulance. She was in need of an urgent transfusion because her hemangioma was so severely ulcerated and she had bled out profusely. It was her third bleed. We didn’t come home for 6 days.

Prior to that bleed we had been dealing with the ulcers for several months. We became wound care specialists. Learning the proper way to irrigate the wound and re-dress it. We had daily home care nursing and a weekly medical supply delivery to our home.
Her neck had a dressing on it for 8 months:
Under that dressing was a persistent wound. I have offered a photo of it here. Please note it is graphic and may bother some. But that was my gorgeous girl’s life for her first year.

She became a patient at Sick Kids when she was 6 weeks old because of the location on her neck. It ulcerated when she was 4 months old and didn’t heal until she was 12 months old.
While it was ulcerated we were seen twice a week.
After the ulcers were healed we were followed monthly, then every six weeks, then every six months then annually.
She has been involved with dermatology, ENT, plastics, cardiology and dentistry at Sick Kids.

Five years ago I never thought we’d turn a corner with those damn ulcers. For that time, our life revolved around her care.
Five years ago seems like a lifetime ago.

Today we woke up before the crack of dawn and headed to Sick Kids for what will be the first stage of the end of her hemangioma.
For some strange reason I am mixed about it.
It has been a part of her for her entire life.
We took one last photo of it last night before going to bed.
It will be another long road, but won’t look like this again.