I still remember the day I found the cyst on my baby's eyebrow. I was in the throws of new-motherhood and was a sleep deprived, hormone-crazed mess. It was a particularly tough day and I couldn't get Brooke to stop crying. She usually responded well to nursing so I didn't have too many all-out-scream fests with her as a young baby. Nothing was working this day though and her crying had already worn me down when I found it. There it was, right there on her eyebrow. A lump. Finding a lump is never a good thing. I panicked! How could I, her mother, have missed such a thing. She was almost a whole month old. I'd been with her 24 hours a day, every day. What kind of mother doesn't notice these types of things? How am I ever supposed to help her reach adulthood safely if I can be so neglectful as to miss a lump on her face? As you can see, it is easy to fall into this slippery slope way of thinking, especially as a new mom.
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| You kind of have to know what you are looking for in the "before" pictures. It is a small bump on the outside edge of her right eyebrow. |
So what did I do? The same thing most technology savvy mothers in the 21st century would do. I turned to the internet. Although this path often leads to a misdiagnosis and fear of imminent death, I was able to calm my fears and found that it was most likely a dermoid cyst. I found that they are painless and although they may grow over time that it wasn't going to balloon up and take over her precious face while she slept. I learned that surgery to remove it is elective and that it is recommended you wait until at least 6 months due to the anesthesia required. I felt peace after finding this information and knew that I didn't have anything immediate to worry about. I added it to my ever-growing list of things to ask the doctor and tried to relax until her next doctor visit a few days later.
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| 6 months |
As we monitored the cyst over the next few months it would go thru "growth spurts" and would occasionally cause concern but for the most part it was just there. We were referred to a specialist at about 6 months who recommended waiting until closer to a year. We picked a date for the surgery and I decided that "future Kirsten" could worry about the fact that her baby girl had to have surgery.
The night before the surgery Brooke was not allowed to eat or drink anything after mid-night. For a baby who still woke randomly at night this was a recipe for a disaster. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but she did wake up an hour early and despite our best rocking/bouncing/calming techniques we couldn't get her back asleep. We hit the road at 5:00 am and luckily she fell asleep in the car (one of only a handful of times that she has fallen asleep in the car). She stayed asleep as we checked in at the Surgical Center and woke up happy and in a good mood. First blessing of the day. She was playful with the nurses and warmed up quickly especially after they gave her a stuffed caterpillar to play with. She even let them hold her and went "exploring" with them without a single tear. Second blessing of the day. My little heart would not have handled her crying as they took her away very well.
A we waited patiently in the waiting room, I wondered how I remembered to bring a variety of possible food for Brooke but neglected to bring anything for us. And after about 2 hours they called us back. Her doctor reported things went well and discussed the post op care. By the time we made it back to see Brooke she was already awake. The nurse told us that she opened her eyes and immediately turned and grabbed her stuffed animal. I know the nurse was commenting on how the caterpillar must be Brooke's favorite comfort toy but the truth was she is just a go-getter like that. Post surgery- wake up and ready to play!
We held her a got some good cuddles in. She was still very groggy and out of it. They gave us some juice to see if she would drink it and she powered it down. Unfortunately it later came right back up. I guess she overestimated herself. We also tried a few bits of a graham cracker that they provided but that also came back up. Needless to say, she didn't even touch any of the food I brought for her. Aside from throwing up she appeared alert and happy (ish) and ready to go so they sent us home. After one more incident throwing up in the car she passed out and slept peacefully the whole way home.
Friday at home:
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| Apparently you only need one eye to walk. However, walking with one eye severely limits balance and direction. |
The next 24 hours consisted of her being a little out of it and not realizing she needed to slow down. She ran around the house like a crazy girl and I was constantly worried she'd fall and split open the stitches. The first day sleeping was hard because she couldn't lay her head on the one side. She would forget, turn her head, then scream out in pain. Broke my heart, but she learned quickly.
The patch came off, the swelling went down, the stitches fell out and slowly the bruising faded. It took a few days to get her appetite back fully and ended up throwing her sleep schedule off for over a week but all-in-all it was pretty painless. She healed so fast it was hard to believe! Now she has a little scar that is bigger than we expected but should continue to fade overtime. She handled her first surgery like the little champ that she is and I just pray and hope that it was the first and LAST for a long long time.
Saturday:
Sunday:
Monday:
One week later:
Today (approx 1 month post op):
I know you can't really see her eye in this picture. But this is what happens when I ask her if she wants to go for a ride? She marches herself over to the door and waits, rather impatiently, for me to be ready. This was on our way to the doctor today.
