laser treatment 1

Two days after we got home from Cancun, Porter went under for his very first laser treatment on his port wine stain. To say that was a scary experience is an understatement. It was terrifying. I held my sweet baby boy in my arms while one of the seven doctors in the room put a mask over his sweet little face. In a matter of seconds I watched his whole body go limp and then collapse like he was lifeless. Not a fan of ever having to watch that again. It was awful. I had been told that after each treatment his face would bruise and that there would be some swelling, but I guess I didn't fully understand the magnitude.

I really didn't want to post pictures because I think it is heartbreaking and looks a little scary, but since this is a 5-10 step process I want to document the progress. It so hard to tell in pictures, especially cell phone ones, but this will have to do.

A little background..... a port wine stain is essentially blood vessels that are very close to the surface. The laser treatments laser off the blood vessels (kill them) so that the redness goes away. Because the blood vessels are under the skin, this doesn't actually hurt him, and the bruising is not painful. However, the swelling was very uncomfortable and he had a difficult time opening up his one eye, that was very bothersome. The bruising and swelling lasted for about 3 weeks before it was all clear. 

The doctors say it will take anywhere from 5-10 treatments to completely remove the port wine stain. This means we have to go through this procedure a minimum of four more times. The next laser treatment is scheduled for March 7th, not looking forward to doing this again!