the lump part two

We went to CHOP this morning to have the lump looked at. Baby Doodle smiled at every single person he could lay his eyes on and charmed the hell out of the nurse and receptionist. He sure knows how to work a room.

Okay, on to the lump, it is nothing serious. The doctor has seen many such lumps on babies and toddlers. It is a mass of artery and/or vein cells that will likely get absorbed into baby Doodle's body and go away on its own. It might get bigger before it gets smaller. We have another appointment at the end of October to have it looked at again. If it doesn't go away by the time he's one year old we might have to have it removed. But his one year birthday is a long way off. The doctor said that the chances that it is anything serious are close to zero, that includes cancer. He said that lumps of this nature usually come in three varieties. They can (1) appear at birth, get bigger, then peter out and go away; (2) appear shortly after birth, get bigger, then go away; or (3) appear later around one or two years and not go away. We have variety number two. There is a chance that none of the varieties goes away and the lump needs to be removed, but we're hoping for the more common scenario.

We are relieved to say the least. I feel like celebrating. Maybe drinking a glass of wine and eating some fine cheese from Trader Joe's. It is only 10:00 in the morning. Maybe I'll wait until lunch time.