Nope, no pictures today either

This week is kicking my butt.  I will try to do better with the pictures.

Today I took both girls to the dermatologist.  Arlington has this little mark on her lip and Finley had a questionable mole on her back. 

Arlington's lip thing is a little hemangioma.  It will have to be removed by laser.  Since it is a cosmetic fix, it isn't covered by insurance.  We are looking into what it cost.  It is very, very small right now.  Arlington would like to have it removed, so we will probably do it over the summer.  It doesn't hurt her, and she doesn't even seem that bothered by it (unless we bring it up), so we will wait awhile.  It is a bit smaller than it was a few months ago, so maybe it will continue to shrink on its own.  We will wait a bit and see.

Finley's had a complete body mole check.  Arlington has more freckles and not many moles.  Finley is covered in moles.  She had 4 on her head.  She had 2 Cafe au lait spots.  She has a stork bite on the back of her head.  She is definitely a Pletcher.  A few months ago, this raised, round mole looking thing showed up right on her back, along her pants line.  It started out small, and I thought it was a pimple.  But it did grow over about a month, and then stayed at that size.  It was red/brown.  Because it was along her waist where her pants are, it seemed to be bothering her, so we had it looked at.

Turns out that the thing needed to be removed.  The dermatologist was concerned about it.   They don't think it is melanoma, but something called a Spitz Nevi.  They show up in children.  They are harmless, but can lead to melanoma if they aren't removed.  Sometimes they regrow/reoccur, but not often.   But no matter what - that thing had to come off.

We were not prepared for that today.  The Spitz Nevi is about the size of a nail head, but they took about a dime size chunk out of her back.  And it ran deep.  It ended up not bleeding much, so it didn't need a stitch, but man!  I didn't see that coming, and Finley was not pleased.  They gave her 4 shots of lidocane in the area before they took it off, but she still felt it.  I don't think they gave the lidocane long enough to work.  It was over in less than 2 minutes. 

I promised her I would take her where ever she wanted for dinner, and she chose McDonalds.  Of course.  She was in a little pain tonight before bed.  We have to keep it dry for 24 hours, and then continue to put this cream on it and keep it covered until it heals.  They don't want a scab to form.  So tonight, I had to rebandage it - we have to do it twice a day for awhile.  It looks pretty good.  I feel bad for her.  Just another thing.

Finley also started counseling sessions today.  It was suggested to us at our last district that she should probably talk with someone about what is going on with her vision.  And someone who can give her coping mechanisms, more confidence, advocacy skills, etc.  We tried through the school, but they felt she was "fine" and couldn't do much for her.  So we started outside counseling today, and they felt that she did need it.  We are going to go once a week for awhile, and then probably every other week after that.  It will mostly be play therapy for Finley and role playing.  I will just be waiting in the waiting room most of the time.  Today the counselor and I talked about our concerns and she came up with some goals.  I am glad we are doing it.  I want Finley to be proud of who she is.  And she needs to be reassured.  A lot.

Tomorrow, Mat is going into Arlington's class to talk for their Math and Science week.  He has a little presentation he is doing and a fun activity.  They are going to get a kick out of it.  Arlington is excited to have him come in and talk to the class.