Let Go & Let God

When we were faced with Hailey's capillary hemangioma I prayed more than I had ever prayed in my life. It was so scary and I had never felt so helpless. Even though you're never in control, letting go is really hard when it's your baby. My faith was strengthened in an unimaginable way during this time. The doctors and nurses at Scottish Rite are absolutely wonderful, we are extremely lucky to have such a wonderful children's hospital so close by!

Hailey had three treatments/surgeries to reduce the size of her hemangioma. She was such a trooper through them, she ate and slept just like normal through everything. I was really worried about how she would do not being able to have a bottle the mornings before each treatment, that didn't even bother her!

Hailey's last checkup with her plastic surgeon, Dr Burstein, was in February. Dr. Burstein gave us the great news that he wouldn't need to see Hailey again for two years! This is great since we were going every 3-6 months. He did however say that he wanted her to see a pediatric ophthalmologist to have her vision checked. While he didn't believe that any damage had been done he wanted to make sure that her vision had not been affected. The hemangioma was quite large and was pressing against her eye, this was also the reason that they were so aggressive with her treatment. Unless hemangiomas are in the mouth, nose or eye area they are usually left alone.

Today we went to the pediatric ophthalmologist. Dr. Weeks told us that there appeared to be no difference between her left and right eyes, which was great news! Since she's a little young to tell us what she sees, she'll need to go back in a year to have her vision checked again. Chances are if she's anything like her mom she'll be blind as a bat, I'm just relieved to know that its not now and not from the hemangioma!

We tried not to take too many pictures of Hailey's eye during this time, I really didn't want to remember it. There was never a trip to the store that someone didn't ask what happened to her eye. Here are a few pictures that we do have. It's so sad when I look back at what my baby had to go through, but it also reminds me of how great God is and how thankful I am for my beautiful baby girl!

The first picture was taken July 18, 2006. This was around the time that we first noticed Hailey's eye.

The second picture was taken August 24, 2006, about one month before Hailey's first treatment. She also got her first tooth this week!

The third picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day 2006, one week after Hailey's third (and last) treatment.

Thankfully special glasses will not be needed!