Update on Veronica: Her Second Surgery with Little Baby Face Foundation
October 3, 2023
Bjorn’s Journey with Hemifacial Microsomia & Microtia
December 4, 2023

An Update on Elena’s Hairy Nevus Treatment

Hairy Nevus

 

We really love getting updates and photos of all the children we’ve helped at the Little Baby Face Foundation, and we hope you love reading their updates as much as we do! Today, we’re sharing Elena’s incredible journey with you.
 

We really love getting updates and photos of all the children we’ve helped at the Little Baby Face Foundation, and we hope you love reading their updates as much as we do! Today, we’re sharing Elena’s incredible journey with you.
 
We will rewind a little bit for those who haven’t been following along with Elena’s case. Elena was born with a large hairy nevus covering her forehead and scalp that required surgical removal because it was at risk of becoming cancerous. She came to us for her first surgery in November 2022, and now, a year later the change is already quite incredible.

To recap Elena’s treatment plan, which you can read more in detail about here, Elena required multiple surgeries to remove the hairy nevus because of its size and location. The skin on the scalp is taut, and there would not be enough skin to close the gap. Therefore, her first surgery removed most of the hairy nevus followed by a recovery period. Her second surgery in January 2023 was a skin expansion, where a balloon was inserted under the surface of her scalp and inserted weekly with a saline solution in order to gradually stretch the skin over a period of 5 weeks. Her third surgery was to remove the skin expander.

As of right now, Elena still has a portion of her hairy nevus left. It’s not very noticeable, and it is still benign, but we are planning to remove the entirety of the hairy nevus because of the cancer risk it poses. Elena’s brow on the side of her remaining hairy nevus was also slightly asymmetrical after her surgeries, but now it appears barely noticeable. We will likely leave it alone for the moment and see if it ends up fixing itself as Elena heals.



Elena’s case is a good example of how timing is everything when it comes to treating children with facial birth deformities. Unfortunately, in so many cases at the Little Baby Face Foundation, there isn’t a possibility of a one-and-done surgery. Sometimes, the condition requires several steps in a treatment plan. Other times, we need to simply give the child time to grow, which was the case for Achilles and his microtia surgery, for example. It takes a great deal of patience for the children and their families.

The silver lining is that we really get to build a relationship with the children and their families over time. We stay in contact regularly with them to check in and ask for news. Most of the children really enjoy visiting us in New York City. That bit of excitement along with their familiarity with our team can often help ease the pre-op jitters just a little. We really enjoy seeing them grow and thrive as their treatment progresses.

We’ll keep you posted as Elena’s treatment proceeds here and social media using the hashtag #ElenaLBFF.

 
We will rewind a little bit for those who haven’t been following along with Elena’s case. Elena was born with a large hairy nevus covering her forehead and scalp that required surgical removal because it was at risk of becoming cancerous. She came to us for her first surgery in November 2022, and now, a year later the change is already quite incredible.

To recap Elena’s treatment plan, which you can read more in detail about here, Elena required multiple surgeries to remove the hairy nevus because of its size and location. The skin on the scalp is taut, and there would not be enough skin to close the gap. Therefore, her first surgery removed most of the hairy nevus followed by a recovery period. Her second surgery in January 2023 was a skin expansion, where a balloon was inserted under the surface of her scalp and inserted weekly with a saline solution in order to gradually stretch the skin over a period of 5 weeks. Her third surgery was to remove the skin expander.

As of right now, Elena still has a portion of her hairy nevus left. It’s not very noticeable, and it is still benign, but we are planning to remove the entirety of the hairy nevus because of the cancer risk it poses. Elena’s brow on the side of her remaining hairy nevus was also slightly asymmetrical after her surgeries, but now it appears barely noticeable. We will likely leave it alone for the moment and see if it ends up fixing itself as Elena heals.



Elena’s case is a good example of how timing is everything when it comes to treating children with facial birth deformities. Unfortunately, in so many cases at the Little Baby Face Foundation, there isn’t a possibility of a one-and-done surgery. Sometimes, the condition requires several steps in a treatment plan. Other times, we need to simply give the child time to grow, which was the case for Achilles and his microtia surgery, for example. It takes a great deal of patience for the children and their families.

The silver lining is that we really get to build a relationship with the children and their families over time. We stay in contact regularly with them to check in and ask for news. Most of the children really enjoy visiting us in New York City. That bit of excitement along with their familiarity with our team can often help ease the pre-op jitters just a little. We really enjoy seeing them grow and thrive as their treatment progresses.

We’ll keep you posted as Elena’s treatment proceeds here and social media using the hashtag #ElenaLBFF.

 
We will rewind a little bit for those who haven’t been following along with Elena’s case. Elena was born with a large hairy nevus covering her forehead and scalp that required surgical removal because it was at risk of becoming cancerous. She came to us for her first surgery in November 2022, and now, a year later the change is already quite incredible.

To recap Elena’s treatment plan, which you can read more in detail about here, Elena required multiple surgeries to remove the hairy nevus because of its size and location. The skin on the scalp is taut, and there would not be enough skin to close the gap. Therefore, her first surgery removed most of the hairy nevus followed by a recovery period. Her second surgery in January 2023 was a skin expansion, where a balloon was inserted under the surface of her scalp and inserted weekly with a saline solution in order to gradually stretch the skin over a period of 5 weeks. Her third surgery was to remove the skin expander.

As of right now, Elena still has a portion of her hairy nevus left. It’s not very noticeable, and it is still benign, but we are planning to remove the entirety of the hairy nevus because of the cancer risk it poses. Elena’s brow on the side of her remaining hairy nevus was also slightly asymmetrical after her surgeries, but now it appears barely noticeable. We will likely leave it alone for the moment and see if it ends up fixing itself as Elena heals.



Elena’s case is a good example of how timing is everything when it comes to treating children with facial birth deformities. Unfortunately, in so many cases at the Little Baby Face Foundation, there isn’t a possibility of a one-and-done surgery. Sometimes, the condition requires several steps in a treatment plan. Other times, we need to simply give the child time to grow, which was the case for Achilles and his microtia surgery, for example. It takes a great deal of patience for the children and their families.

The silver lining is that we really get to build a relationship with the children and their families over time. We stay in contact regularly with them to check in and ask for news. Most of the children really enjoy visiting us in New York City. That bit of excitement along with their familiarity with our team can often help ease the pre-op jitters just a little. We really enjoy seeing them grow and thrive as their treatment progresses.

We’ll keep you posted as Elena’s treatment proceeds here and social media using the hashtag #ElenaLBFF.

 
If your child was born with Hairy Nevus and you’re looking for help, please contact us using the form below.


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    If your child was born with Hairy Nevus and you’re looking for help, please contact us using the form below.


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