January 1st 2013 I noticed a large mass on Alexis' inner thigh. It was red, tender and noticeably larger than her other leg. I was a little worried, masses are never a good thing from what I hear. I got her into the doctor the next day. They were not overly concerned, they took a swab and put her on antibiotics. The doctor thought it might be a staph infection. We started the antibiotics and gave her lots of baths to help dissolve the fluid back into her body. This seemed to help the infection, however her left leg was still larger than her right. There was something there besides the infection. In March we took her back to the doctor. They said yes, the infection was gone but there was still something. They ordered an MRI and ultrasound. These proved to not be very helpful. They saw nothing on either, which actually was a good thing I guess. They felt good that it was not a cancer. They said if it was a cancer they would most likely be able to see something. However, there was still no answer as to what was going on. So they referred us to a specialist in Spokane. We got a few answers in Spokane, she didn't think it was cancer either, a very good thing and huge relief to hear it twice. She wanted to do another MRI in July to take measurements. She wanted to know if it was growing. So that was the plan. However, at the end of April I noticed it getting larger again. I took her back to Spokane and of course could not get in with the same doctor, but one of her partners. He was a little more aggressive about it. He said, "I can't answer your questions because I don't know what it is. Masses or lumps in children are never good, lets take it out, biopsy it and be done with it."
OK, I think for the most part I felt the same way. Surgery was scheduled for May 29th.
Hard to compare size- this is her leg before, red and much larger than the other.
Very relaxed before surgery. While I was not this relaxed, I did feel peace and a calm that I know came through the spirit of the Holy Ghost. I know with the prayers and faith of our family and friends, I felt a great calm and much comfort throughout the day. I did not want to show my fear and emotions to Alexis, I did not want her to feel my anxiety especially when they took her away. I am so thankful for the power of prayer. I know my Heavenly Father hears our prayers. I know he knows me, and I know He knew what Alexis and I needed at that time.
She was in surgery for just over an hour- during which I had breakfast with my cousin. He is a nurse and was able to have a break, it was great to have the distraction of a visit. I was there when she woke up. And she was mad! The nurse and I were able to get her dressed before she woke up. I knew if she saw her leg she would pull on the drain. After she pulled out her IV the nurse believed I was right. She saw no hurry in getting her dressed before she woke up. Mom always knows. After being in recovery for about 2 hours, we were able to go home. Alexis was on some good meds, the doctor said she should just sleep in the car- for the most part she did. She was pretty out of it that first day. We both took a long nap when we got home. Grandpa Whitemarsh came to stay with the boys. He was a huge help with the boys. Alexis' recovery was more than I expected, it was so great to have him here for a few days to help with the boys.
This was next day.
The doctor had to put a drain in to drain the excess fluids. He said the mass he removed was quite large for her little leg, it created a hole where fluid would just accumulate without the drain. For the most part Alexis left the drain alone. As long as it was wrapped up and she had pants on, she did good. When I changed her or showered her, she pulled on it a little bit. Overall she did much better than I thought, especially after her performance in recovery.
We had to go to Spokane for weekly checks. The doctor wanted to check the progress and the drain. After getting home from our first weeks visit, I was changing Alexis and I noticed the tube had a hole so the drain was not suctioning out the fluid. I called the doctor's office, the nurse told me to do what I could. So I stuffed the tube in and duct taped it. Duct tape really does fix anything, well... maybe not so much. While the tape held the tube in and suctioned some, it was not pulling everything out. By our next visit to Spokane her leg was so infected and so tender she would not even walk on it. She had a high fever and was in so much pain. Her second check was not as quick as the first. We were in the hospital for about 4 hours, doing tests making sure the infection was not spreading. Jakob was with me and he was not happy. While I am not a believer in vaccines and rushing to get meds for any little thing, I am grateful for antibiotics. After the first day of antibiotics she was feeling better and was walking again. The drain came out June 18th, Alexis and I were happy to go to Spokane for this appointment. We were happy to see it go. The biopsy results came back as a lymphangioma (sp?). Basically a pocket of benign cysts that were prone to infection. So while it was not life threatening, it needed to be done or it would just continue to get infected. He did say he was not able to get it 100%, but he thinks he got enough not to cause any more problems in the future.
The site was infected and puss and fluid had built up around the site, not able to drain. So our next visit he opened the site again and drained the puss. And she was mad at him! It got to the point at our visits, when the doctor would walk in the room, she would start screaming at him to "go away" and "stop". She did not like him.
This is what it looked like after he opened it again (the next day). Some tissue was blocking it so it would not drain like it needed to. So the solution??? Ice Blocking of course. We went ice blocking the day after he opened it, I think all the walking up the hill she did forced the tissue out.
This was a few days after ice blocking. Finally on the mend. The scar will always be there, but it looks better every day.
This post was mostly for me, I wanted to remember the feelings and procedures we went through. I am way behind on my scrap booking, so I thought the blog was the next best thing to record this huge event at this time in our lives. Even now as I record this almost 2 months later, I can't imagine going through anything bigger. So very grateful we have completed this journey.
