Post by allisong87 on Feb 9, 2017 16:13:16 GMT -5
DS2 finally came home from the NICU Monday night after being there for almost 3 weeks. Throughout his stay they were keeping a close eye on his umbilical cord as it was healing very slowly. He had a large cord at birth and they thought maybe it was just taking its time to heal. He had his first pediatrician appointment yesterday and his doctor said overall he looks great but she was concerned about the cord as it is unusual. She made an appointment for us at our children's hospital for an ultrasound on the cord and to meet with a pediatric surgeon.
After an extremely long morning at the hospital this morning it was determined that it looks as though his umbilical cord didn't die off like it should have and still has blood flow going to an artery. They also did a CT scan to figure out where it's going to which we do not have results of yet. He will probably be having surgery next week to "obliterate" the blood flow to the arteries and remove the cord stump. I am such a mess over it all.
Just hoping for some positive vibes to send his way.
Update as of 2/11 -
So we received a call from the pediatric surgeon with results from N's CT scan. She said what they originally thought was going on is not so. He has something called an umbilical cord hemangioma. From the sounds of it there are blood vessels in N's abdomen that are still feeding the umbilical cord, which is why it hasn't died off yet. They are referring us to a dermatologist to see if they can do a conservative approach and use medication to treat it rather than surgery. This all depends on if he is a candidate for it. For now they gave us an appointment with the "vascular malformations" clinic but it isn't until the end of February. They are hoping they can get us in to the dermatologist much quicker. From what I've read online (and I need to stop because it freaks me out) it is extremely rare to have a hemangioma of the umbilical cord.
After an extremely long morning at the hospital this morning it was determined that it looks as though his umbilical cord didn't die off like it should have and still has blood flow going to an artery. They also did a CT scan to figure out where it's going to which we do not have results of yet. He will probably be having surgery next week to "obliterate" the blood flow to the arteries and remove the cord stump. I am such a mess over it all.
Just hoping for some positive vibes to send his way.
Update as of 2/11 -
So we received a call from the pediatric surgeon with results from N's CT scan. She said what they originally thought was going on is not so. He has something called an umbilical cord hemangioma. From the sounds of it there are blood vessels in N's abdomen that are still feeding the umbilical cord, which is why it hasn't died off yet. They are referring us to a dermatologist to see if they can do a conservative approach and use medication to treat it rather than surgery. This all depends on if he is a candidate for it. For now they gave us an appointment with the "vascular malformations" clinic but it isn't until the end of February. They are hoping they can get us in to the dermatologist much quicker. From what I've read online (and I need to stop because it freaks me out) it is extremely rare to have a hemangioma of the umbilical cord.
