Port Wine Stain

I've been putting off this post because it's a difficult one. As a parent you want your child to be perfect and in your eyes they are, but you want them to be perfect in the eyes of the world as well. Being a teacher, I think my biggest worry is getting bullied. We had Cooper's birthmark on his face checked by a pediatric dermatologist last Friday. Unfortunately, the news wasn't great. It's a port wine stain (3 in 1000 kids have them). This means the mark will grow as he grows. It will likely get darker and thicker. Sometimes bumps can form on it that bleed and have to be removed. The biggest thing is it is often associated with a bad vessel(s) in the brain. This can often cause seizures. Good news is that it's not causing him any issues right now and may never cause him any. We can have laser treatment done (which the doctor highly recommended, but he has to be put to sleep) which can lessen the color as he grows and shrinks the swollen vessels that cause it. Sometimes the treatment gets it all and sometimes it doesn't so years from now he could need treatment again. It's extremely important that we get the part right by his eye done or it can cause issues with his eye sight. The bad news... insurance likely won't cover it. There are so many things that could be much worse than this and because of that, I am doing ok. A friend reminded me that Cooper knew what his life was going to be like and still chose to be here. What a wonderful, comforting thought. My brother had the idea that we could teach him to say "You should see the other guy" when people ask about it. How cute would that be coming from a little kid!? Chris is handling it well. He thinks we should do what we can to get the treatment and I'm a worry wort thinking of everything possible that could go wrong. Chris called me "Debby Downer." I'm trying to be positive and reminding myself that I, as his mother, can teach him to embrace it and embrace being different and others being different. I love my boy and I'm grateful for all he is teaching me.