Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Day I Became Nevus-Free

A Post by Brooklyn...

THE DAY I BECAME NEVUS-FREE
by Brooklyn Vance

I was born just about 19 1/2 months ago with a Congenital Melanocytic Nevus on my scalp & forehead. Mama & dada met Dr. Bauer who would remove my nevus, which I was fine with because, let's be real here, I simply didn't know what was going on. But somehow mama & dada knew I'd be a trooper through the whole process. I went through 2 rounds of tissue expansion before my entire nevus was removed. Today, the remaining nevus was taken off my scalp & forehead...leaving me nevus-free for the first time since I was 8-10 weeks gestation....that's a long time folks!! Here's today in pictures:
This is me at the hospital. I have 243cc's in my bubble, which is slightly over half a pound of weight! I'm trying to put my socks on in this picture. I can't really do it but it keeps me busy for a while.

Sissy was holding me a little too tight.

Sissy wearing my cape.

And here we are reading books. They had 3 books that sissy & I loved to read. And these little chairs were perfect for us. Mama & dada took us to the hospital in our pajamas cause they had to wake us both up & sissy wasn't dressed yet. Silly sissy.


I made dada read this book to me a lot!!!

The nurses gave sissy & me some stickers! I kind of liked them! ;o)

Mama just wanted to have a chat with me... Notice our matching bracelets (only mine is on my ankle). I kind of like having matching bracelets!

One last shot of my nevus.

Putting stickers on my bracelet.

Ok so the nice nurse lady came in & gave me a yummy medicine. It tasteed good but now I can't really keep my eyes open & mama & dada are laughing at me. I don't mind my cape being on now.


Here's mama & me right before they took me to surgery. Mama found a nice person to take our picture. I don't remember this picture because mama says I was on drugs. She said I could hardly even keep my head held up. When they took me back for surgery they let me take my paci AND they even let me take Lamby!!


This is sissy when I was in surgery. Mama & dada said she was a good girl while I was gone. I don't know if I believe that...


This is me as soon as mama came back & saw me. The nurses told her they had to give me some medicine to calm me down because as soon as I woke up from surgery I was thrashing around like crazy. They said I was pulling every cord I could pull, I was grabbing at my IV in my hand, I was crying my head off, & I just wasn't acting good, so they gave me medicine. Mama called them all liars cause I was sleeping so peacefully when she saw me! ;o)


They were smart this surgery & gave me small arm restraints instead of extra small. These ones are about twice the size as the other ones & I couldn't really move my arms too well. I did wake up occasionally & try to move them. One time I woke up & moved my arm & just kept it in the same position...that's when mama snapped this picture.


Once we got to a room (in record short time) I fell back asleep. This is how I slept for about an hour. I'd wake up, reposition myself, get comfy, then fall back asleep for 1/2 hr or so...then do it all over again. Thankfully there was an actual bed in our room so mama could lay in that & I could just lay on her. :o)


Dada & sissy came to see us at about 2pm. I was happy to see dada.


And I was happy to see my sis, too.


And of course I was happy to be her table...

We left the hospital the earliest we've ever left before...at 3:30pm. We came right to the hotel because I was still kind of fussy & cranky. Mama & sissy went to Target to get my pain medicine because I just wouldn't be the normal happy girl that I usually am. Mama gave me Tylenol which helped slightly, but it wasn't helping like usual. I didn't get one dose of any type of pain meds after Surgery #3 so after this surgery when I was acting like I was in pain mama & dada wanted to help me out by giving me something sightly stronger. Mama & sissy came home from Target without my medicine though...oops, mama left the prescription at home. She said she'd go back again after we ate dinner. So we sat down to eat & I was still cranky. Mama kept saying that she thinks they made a mistake by coming home with me so early. Then I saw it. I saw my new blankie that mama got me at WalMart on our way to Chicago. Mama felt bad that she totally forgot to bring even 1 blanket. She's been really sick so she wanted a blanket too. I got a cute little tiny blanket that is just perfect for me. I saw it sitting on our table in our room & I wanted it. "Bankie" was all I had to say to dada & he got it for me. That's what did it! I was a happy girl now! I started smiling, I stopped crying, I stopped being crabby, I even started walking around. The walking wasn't nearly as hard as it was after Surgery #2 when I walked around like a drunken sailor. It's just like riding a bike, you know?!


 Mama asked me where my bubble was... This picture is me reaching up for it...but I can't seem to find it.


Ok I'm a happy girl now!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts & prayers for me & my family for this surgery. I'm excited for the big reveal tomorrow at Dr. Bauer's office so I can see what I look like since I'm nevus-free now!!!

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