What it is not is sometimes better than what it could have been...

Just a quick note concerning Elliettes MRI for her nose bump: the doctor was NOT able to tell us exactly what it is, but he was able to tell us what is is not. It is not a nasal dermoid cyst, and there is no intracranial connection, which means no worry of brain tissue involved. All we really got out of the whole ordeal was that it is just skin and blood vessels and that removal won't be a problem. We're still waiting to hear from the ENT office to schedule a consult on whether we should go ahead with having it removed.

MRI

At about eight months old, Elliette started to develop a small red spot on the bottom of her left nostril, and slowly grew into a medium sized bump. We've seen a handful of doctors, and have gotten a handful of diagnoses. First, we saw a plastic surgeon who said that it was a hemangioma, and that it would go away on its own as she got older. The only reason he could think of to have it removed was if it grew large enough to interfere with breathing through her nose. The second diagnosis we got was from her pediatrician, who said he thought it was a pyogenic granuloma. That one made the most sense to us, since we found a few pictures that looked a lot like what she had going on. But, a few weeks ago, it started breaking open and bleeding, so we went to an ear, nose and throat Dr. who said it was a nasal dermoid cyst. Those can have an intracranial connection, possibly containing brain tissue, making removal very difficult and risky. Needless to say, we DID NOT like that diagnosis at all. So yesterday we took her to the childrens hospital in Hartford for an MRI to rule out the intracranial connection.

 

Since she wouldn't be able to keep still during the procedure, she had to go under anesthesia. She did remarkably well, and came out of it in very high spirits. We should hear from the ENT by Friday to discuss what he sees.

 

 

 

 

This is my brother Daniel's new puppy, Angel. She's a Pit bull mix, but he's unsure what the other breed/breeds are. You can't really see the Pit characteristics in the pictures, but in person it really shows.

 

Nothing broken, but still not working as it should

I went and got my foot checked out today at the walk in clinic here in town. The Dr. said there probably wasn't anything broken since I had almost full range of motion, but he sent me to a satellite office to have an x-ray done just to be sure. We just spoke a few minutes ago on the telephone and he said there was no indication of a break or fracture, but there was an area of opacity (white spot) on the part of my foot where the pain is located. So I'm being set up for a CAT scan sometime in the next few days to have a better look. My x-ray tech wife, however, thinks the spot may be an indication of avascular necrosis. That would mean that I had had a small fracture or dislocation that disrupted the blood vessels that supply blood to that part of the bone, and without the blood supply the bone will die, and eventually collapse. Awesome. So if that option isn't brought up by the Dr., I might mention it and request an MRI, which would make for a better diagnosis.