It's not pretty that's for sure!
Of all the qualities Em could inherit from her mommy, she seems to have landed on all the bad ones. One particularly nasty one would be the presence of keloids. Best way to sum this up is, it's an allergic reaction to scar tissue. I'm told that only between 2 and 5% (not positive on the exact percentage) of caucasians actually get keloids. Well this elaborates more on that fabulous luck I reiterated in this post.
Now that doesn't quite paint you a picture, but maybe this will. The worst one I had was from a surgery scar on my arm. Long story of dislocating my elbow so bad at the age of 11 from a failed attempt at a back flip on a trampoline that chipped and shattered my bone, making it impossible for the doctor to pop back into place without cutting me open and using screws, pins and other such metals. Now this scar was probably more susceptible to a keloid because it had to be re-opened a couple of times, you know, to remove pins and do more repairs on said damage. So, it's really no wonder that I had a keloid so bad that it was mandatory to get treatment. Treatment that I still to this day would probably rather go through labor than have to endure again. But we'll head back to that.
Let me finish painting the picture of what exactly a keloid looks like. Because I use to tell the little kids in my neighborhood that I had swallowed a worm and that's where it had ended up. Because that's exactly what it looked like, a big, fat, purple worm, 3 dimensional! And the kids believed me, that's why they'd always ask if they could see my "worm".
Keloids are scars that are a lot darker, a lot more raised up and wider, and sometimes (in my case especially) very sensitive and a lot more painful! So much so, that just the act of brushing my arm against my soft shirt could cause searing pain ripping through my arm and causing me to burst into tears. My scar is just on the inside of my right elbow. It is not nearly as sensitive to this day, due to the treatments that were undoubtedly necessary because of that.
The treatment, the one that I'd rather go through labor than do again..... well what it is- a serious of protein injections every 3 months until you get results. Well protein is thick, so the needle is thick, and I swear they jam that humongous needle into the most tender and sensitive thing I can possibly imagine over 30 times. And that is why you are strapped down tight so you are not able to move. Could be considered torture for sure! But they worked I guess. Because after 1 year of a serious of treatments when I was 12 and 13, it is now flush with the skin and much lighter, but unfortunately still quite wide.
I knew immediately when I saw Emarie's scar one morning. And I literally feared that she would have to go through what I did.
I will show you:
Maybe you don't see it, so I'll show you what it looked like 5 weeks ago:
And yes that's the same exact scar.
I can also show you the one on her left leg which isn't nearly as bad:
Now you see the BIG difference.
I wish I could show you what mine looked like back then, but for some reason there is not a single picture that exists of many of my injuries from my youth. Most likely I wouldn't allow for ones to be taken, but quite possibly it just wasn't thought to be documented in the non existent bloggispheric, facebooking, emailing and internet dependent world that is here and now ;) So I hope Em appreciates it for what it is one day!
Now the good news. Because I knew immediately and acted as fast as I could to get her in to the doctor, we're hopeful that she might not need the protein injections! We're trying a really heavy-duty ointment to be massaged in twice a day for 5 minutes first, and if this doesn't work, there is some sort of taping method they'll try next. More like saran-wrap over the area for 48 hours or so.
Now keep your fingers crossed, because if those two things don't work, then my baby will have to go through that awful pain :( And I'm a little worried as of tonight, because the dang thing seems to be getting worse.
It really couldn't be any less fair that the two people that get these are she and I. What with my horrible, unlucky accident proneness, and her constant need for surgeries. *Sigh* but what can we do, but smile and go with it?! So we're unlucky *shoulder shrug* hell, we will always be unique!
Now that doesn't quite paint you a picture, but maybe this will. The worst one I had was from a surgery scar on my arm. Long story of dislocating my elbow so bad at the age of 11 from a failed attempt at a back flip on a trampoline that chipped and shattered my bone, making it impossible for the doctor to pop back into place without cutting me open and using screws, pins and other such metals. Now this scar was probably more susceptible to a keloid because it had to be re-opened a couple of times, you know, to remove pins and do more repairs on said damage. So, it's really no wonder that I had a keloid so bad that it was mandatory to get treatment. Treatment that I still to this day would probably rather go through labor than have to endure again. But we'll head back to that.
Let me finish painting the picture of what exactly a keloid looks like. Because I use to tell the little kids in my neighborhood that I had swallowed a worm and that's where it had ended up. Because that's exactly what it looked like, a big, fat, purple worm, 3 dimensional! And the kids believed me, that's why they'd always ask if they could see my "worm".
Keloids are scars that are a lot darker, a lot more raised up and wider, and sometimes (in my case especially) very sensitive and a lot more painful! So much so, that just the act of brushing my arm against my soft shirt could cause searing pain ripping through my arm and causing me to burst into tears. My scar is just on the inside of my right elbow. It is not nearly as sensitive to this day, due to the treatments that were undoubtedly necessary because of that.
The treatment, the one that I'd rather go through labor than do again..... well what it is- a serious of protein injections every 3 months until you get results. Well protein is thick, so the needle is thick, and I swear they jam that humongous needle into the most tender and sensitive thing I can possibly imagine over 30 times. And that is why you are strapped down tight so you are not able to move. Could be considered torture for sure! But they worked I guess. Because after 1 year of a serious of treatments when I was 12 and 13, it is now flush with the skin and much lighter, but unfortunately still quite wide.
I knew immediately when I saw Emarie's scar one morning. And I literally feared that she would have to go through what I did.
I will show you:
Maybe you don't see it, so I'll show you what it looked like 5 weeks ago:
I can also show you the one on her left leg which isn't nearly as bad:
Now you see the BIG difference.
I wish I could show you what mine looked like back then, but for some reason there is not a single picture that exists of many of my injuries from my youth. Most likely I wouldn't allow for ones to be taken, but quite possibly it just wasn't thought to be documented in the non existent bloggispheric, facebooking, emailing and internet dependent world that is here and now ;) So I hope Em appreciates it for what it is one day!
Now the good news. Because I knew immediately and acted as fast as I could to get her in to the doctor, we're hopeful that she might not need the protein injections! We're trying a really heavy-duty ointment to be massaged in twice a day for 5 minutes first, and if this doesn't work, there is some sort of taping method they'll try next. More like saran-wrap over the area for 48 hours or so.
Now keep your fingers crossed, because if those two things don't work, then my baby will have to go through that awful pain :( And I'm a little worried as of tonight, because the dang thing seems to be getting worse.
It really couldn't be any less fair that the two people that get these are she and I. What with my horrible, unlucky accident proneness, and her constant need for surgeries. *Sigh* but what can we do, but smile and go with it?! So we're unlucky *shoulder shrug* hell, we will always be unique!
2 comments:
I am hoping for the best! Ahhh, I hope it works!
Oh my goodness. I hope it heals. I can't imagine her having to go through all that!! :(
Post a Comment