Granuloma, Be Gone!

If you've ever gotten up close and personal with Freddie Bear's belly button, you may have assumed that he swallowed Rudolph. Since his umbilical cord fell off, he's had what looks like a red-nose glowing from the hole of his belly. 

But it's not Rudolph. 

Instead, it's an "umbilical granuloma," which sounds so much more scary than it actually is. What it is is a little pocket that didn't seal completely when the umbilical cord was clamped off. It's totally benign; he can't even feel it. I, however, feel great frustration every time he gets little blots of blood on each outfit he wears, thanks to the persistent ooze of this little thing. 

It doesn't hurt Freddie at all. If we hadn't done anything about it, skin would've eventually grown over it, but Dr. O'Donnell, our beloved pediatrician who reminds me VERY much of Andrew McCarthy, recommended we do something, because, as he got bigger, Freddie would pick at it and make it even messier.

Dr. O. tried three times - at Freddie's two, four, and six month check-ups - to get rid of it with a silver nitrate stick; it's never worked. At the six month appointment, Dr. O. said it has a super thick stump, which is why the silver nitrate wouldn't work. We left his office with directions to call in for a referral to a surgeon if it hadn't fallen off in two weeks.

It hadn't.

So, on Tuesday, we were sent to a surgeon. 

That, like the name of the granuloma, also sounds so much more scary that it actually was. We went to a beautiful facility - Mission Children's Hospital Outpatient Center in Asheville - and saw a doctor who's name I don't remember, which is fine, because I don't think he told it to us in the sixty-seven seconds he spent with us. As a nurse and I held Freddie down, the surgeon tied a knot around the granuloma. He was hoping it'd starve its blood supply and cause it to dry up and fall off. 

That's exactly what happened. Today, when I changed Freddie's diaper after his morning nap, there it was, a tiny little raisin, laying on his fleshy belly. 

Speaking of which, Freddie's belly keeps getting less and less "fleshy." He's gone from being 66th percentile for weight at his six month check up in July to being 50th percentile (and 55th for height) at the appointment earlier this week. At least, HE'S slimming down, which is more than I can say for myself. 

Anyway, I am so glad to have this - finally! - taken care of, and I'm so grateful that God heard my prayer that it'd be resolved without surgery (which was the next step, had the surgical knot not worked).