Kelsey's Mystery Diagnosis--One Year Later

Kelsey is our middle child for sure--a little too adventurous for her own good, a sassy attitude, and the cuteness to get away with most of it. (At least, that's what I've heard about middle children. With Jake and I both growing up in two kid families, we don't exactly have experience with a middle sibling.) So leave it to her to end up with a medical anomaly.

For those of you not aware of this situation, and because I have a sleeping baby on my chest, I'll just add a link to the note I wrote on facebook last year about discovering her Atypical Mycobacterium lesion...

http://www.facebook.com/notes/heather-polk-gummo/kelseys-mystery-diagnosis-solved/10150293374829473

Post-surgery, she recovered quickly and much to our dismay, the anesthesia didn't even keep her tired for the rest of the day! The spot was covered for a couple days, and then we had to treat it with antibiotic ointment and a Zithromax regimen.

She's had periodic visits with the doctor that confirmed the diagnosis and performed the surgery. I think she'll continue to see him (or another ENT) for a while. There's a chance they could have to go in and scrape again, but it seems unlikely as long as it continues to heal the way it does. That includes, um, oozing, shall we say? Not that we see it ooze--it's not gross by any means. Some days she wakes up and you can see the scar exactly how it was surgically cut, and other days, it looks like there's a skin scab on top of it.

Prior to removal, Kelsey never cared if we touched it. Now, she flinches and squeals, "Don't touch it!" I'm not sure if it causes her pain, or it's just the awareness that something happened in that area on her face. If you ask her how she got it, she replies, "I ate dirt." If that keeps her dirty hands out of her mouth, then so be it! But so many kids eat dirt or play in stagnant water, and as far as we know, no other cases were reported in State College. Why and how Kelsey ended up with the infection? We'll probably never really know the answer. All that matters to us is that a diagnosis was made in the nick of time before things got ugly.

What I took away from this experience is that it is really handy to have a nurse in the family! All joking aside, I learned that it really does not hurt to have a second opinion and to ask questions. While my dad's discovery in the classroom seemed to piece the puzzles together, I had to take that bold step of making a phone call to the dentist/oral surgeon's office and giving them the information that I believed to be true of Kelsey's lump. Even though they brushed it aside, I was thankful that her pediatrician listened and got the ball rolling. Sure, he didn't figure it out the first time, but then again, it was basically a non-colored lump that was in the jawline. Those type of lesions generally appear on the neck, which added another curve.

(Funny thing: the day we were at Geisinger and Kelsey was in the OR, Jake, my mom and I ate lunch in the cafe, and Jake pointed out that the dentist who saw her was in there. The prideful side of me just wanted to say, "Ha! I was right, you were wrong! Nyah Nyah!")

Now it's already been a year since, and we have much to be thankful for since it hasn't affected her health in the least. She's our spunky silly girl, a doting big sister, and will likely keep us on our toes for years to come (and her medical paperwork file the thickest in our filing cabinet)!