Treatment before 6 months for PWS

[mikeb23ft]

I would go with Roy Geronemus in New York. Early treatment does make a difference, and he is a pioneer and expert. I'm not saying that other doctors are not as good, but you know what you're getting with him.

[dorota.pawlak@interia.pl]

Dear Lauren
Think twice about the treatment under GA, if you can go without it for as long as you can.
I have son who has facial birthmark. He's 17 months old now and I started the treatment when he was 4 months old without the GA, just with numbing cream.
He undergone 4 treatments without GA and become too strong and movable to do it like that. We switched into GA but only for 2 treatments and we decided to stop it now and wait till he is 4 years old. At younger age the treatment was really effective... his birthmark faded about 50% at that stage.
Don't over-worry about your girl having a birthmark. The laser treatment is really effective and it will help her. I have seen older kids at the hospital having very effective treatments too, despite their age.

At the time my son was born there was a new article published on the internet about general anesthesia in infants and link to learning disabilities. For that reason I put him through the trauma of 'life' surgeries.
I had spoken to the chief of anesthesiologists in my local hospital and he sad I should stop worry and do the treatments under GA, as the risks are not clear yet and we have no proven that learning disabilities in children will be caused by early exposure to GA... so that's why i decided to try GA at last.
Many months passed and I just now, before his third GA surgery I went onto the internet again and discovered that although we still have no answer there are more animal studies that prove the point that GA causes brain damage when administered during rapid brain grow (first 4 years of human life) and human study is being done now to find out clearly what's going on. But it is proven that GA causes brain damage to some extent at that point. As you can see this is very confusing, especially for a new parent. This is enough information for me to STOP right now GA treatments and not risk my son's brain health and future cognitive development for beauty.
Good luck with your decision and please make a good research before you decide and yes, try early and frequent treatments, possibly without GA for the next few months - before your daughter is too strong to be hold down.

[lauren7844]

Thank you everyone for their replies. We went to Irvine the end of April and saw Dr. Stuart Nelson and had Marlow's first treatment at 9 weeks. First of all, meeting Dr. Nelson was the first time that I had hope that successful treatment truly was possible. He very much put us at ease and I felt that my daughter was in good hands. She was asleep in my arms when the nurse took her back for the treatment and she was asleep when the nurse brought her back less than 10 minutes later!! Dr. Nelson said she flinched a little when he lasered under her eye and we did do the treatment without anesthesia. Her poor little cheek was as black as coal, I knew it would be, but didn't know it would be black instantly. I thought it would be more like a bruise and turn black over a day or so. Dr. Nelson assured me that the instant black color was actually a positive outcome and meant that she responded well to the laser. Her eye was a little swollen the next day, but she was my regular happy baby as if nothing ever happened. I was a little nervous about taking her out in public and at the airport, what people would say or think. But when people asked to see the baby I'd just explain her PWS and about the laser treatment. Everyone was very nice and positive about it. It took a couple of weeks for the bruised appearance to clear, but it looked better everyday and her PWS is noticeably lighter already. I'm very excited that it's so much lighter, but at the same time sad that she even has to go through this. I am grateful that we have the technology that's available now, it really is amazing we can treat birthmarks with lasers. We go again to Irvine on May 31st for her 2nd treatment. Dr. Nelson along with his nurses and staff were fantastic, professional, and knowledgeable and I'm very happy we chose to take Marlow to the Beckman Laser Institute. I will post some pictures of before and after pictures of Marlow as well.

[missy]

YAY! We do have a high regard for Dr. Nelson around these parts! I've never, ever heard of anyone that was less than thrilled.

Missy

[paul parker]

my daughter also have the same problem that why i am here to find doctor.please help us........