When Cora was born she had a small birthmark under her right eye. The doctors told us in the hospital that this was a salmon patch and that it would go away. Later I took her to her pediatrician who was unsure if this birthmark was a salmon patch or a port wine stain birthmark. We decided that we would watch it and see.
After moving to Utah I decided I would take her to Primary Childrens Hospital and have her birthmark evaluated. I took her in when she was seven months old. The pediatric dermatologist determined that her birthmark was indeed a port wine stain. She explained the treatment and complications that are associated with a port wine birthmark. This was extremely overwhelming to hear.
Over the last couple of months we have had a lot of tests and procedures done. The first thing to do was get her eye (very close to her birthmark) evaluated for glaucoma. We took her to the pediatric ophthalmologist up at Primarys. Good news.....no sign of glaucoma to this point. Cora will have her eyes evaluated every three months to make sure their is no development of glaucoma in her right eye. The second thing we did was have her first laser treatment on her birth mark. She will continue to have these laser treatments done every three months. She had her second treatment yesterday. She is such a trooper.
The most overwhelming part of having a portwine stain birthmark is the risk of sturge-weber syndrome. This syndrome is when you have this vascular birthmark on or throughout the brain. This can lead to seizures, mental retardation, etc. etc. Cora had an MRI about a month ago to check for sturge-weber syndrome. Her MRI was clear. This was such an incredible blessing. I had made myself literally sick with worry about this.
Cora will continue to get laser treatments and have her eyes checked.......but so far so good.
