Results

What a day. We made the trek to Rochester in horrible weather for Madelyn's CT scan this morning. The roads were terrible. But we made it there safe.

When we got there, many different "departments" talked to us regarding Madelyn's procedure. Finally at 1:00, we went into the procedure room.

Thye put her under anesthesia, which was really tough. I held her while they put the "mask" over her face to put her to sleep. Then they made me leave, which was also extremely difficult. I wanted to stay, but they wouldn't let me, which looking back was probably a good thing.

After they left, they put a breathing tube in. They debated on whether or not to put one in, but I asked them to do it. It's an extra precautionary, and since I wasn't in there, I just felt more at peace, knowing it was there if they needed it. (which they didn't)

Next they put an iv in.... but it took 5 tries. She has so many little marks on her arms. Poor Maddie.

Next they did the CT scan. Then they injected iodine into her and did another scan.

Finally after being in the waiting room for close to an hour, we were told she was in recovery. I was not prepared for what she looked like when I saw her for the first time. She was groggy, had tubes/cords all over, and was flat out mad. Apparantly it's quite normal for small kids to be upset as they're coming out of anesthesia... and she was no exception. She was ticked! After feeding her (at this point, she hadn't had anything to eat for 7 hours) and letting her rest on me, she was back to her normal self. Whew!

The Nurse Practioner and Ped ENT that she saw yesterday were actually performing surgery at St Mary's today, so we were able to speak with them while Madelyn was in recovery. They had already gotten to see the CT Scan results and consult with the radiologist. They were all in agreement that Madelyn's "lump" is a swollen blood vessel. This is just about a best case scenerio for us. We are meeting with a couple doctors next Thursday at Mayo again to go over a few things. A swollen blood vessel is something that you leave alone. Fixing it would cause madelyn to lose a lot of blood. So we can either a) leave it. This type of thing normally peaks it's growth when the child is 3-7 months (Madelyn is 7 months) and then slowly goes down over the next couple years or we can b) put her under general anesthesia and have them pump sterroids into the blood vessel which would cause it to go down more quickly. We'll learn more about both options at our meetings next Thursday, but at this point I feel that I can't justify putting her under general anesthesia for a cosmetic reason.

So... that's where we are! We are very confident that these doctor's know what they are talking about. Mayo Clinic is "the best of the best", and we're so fortunate to have it in our back yard. The doctor again reassured us today that she really thinks this is what it is... and that it's not serious. I'll definately keep everyone updated as we learn more information and when we decide for sure where to go from here. I'm just thankful that our Madelyn is ok. From all the tests and bloodwork that she's had this week, we know that she's good and healthy. And for that, we couldn't be more thankful.

I know many of you are curious as to what her face looks like, so here are a couple pictures. The one up top was taken 2 days ago, and the 2 following were taken tonight. It's definately more noticable depending on the angle you're looking at her, but she's my daughter, and I still think she's absolutely beautiful! :)