Shortly after Ivy was born, I don't recall how I found it, but I joined a facebook group called Nevus Outreach, Incorporated (NOI). From that moment, I knew we were not alone. In this group, I met literally hundreds of other moms and dads, grandparents, and friends who loved someone with a nevus. I felt like I found a second family. I posted my first entry to this page on March 10th and received 182 "likes" and 102 comments welcoming me, and offering me reassurance and support. It's become my go-to site for nevus related questions. From time to time I read upsetting posts, but that comes with the territory unfortunately. Nevi come in all shapes and sizes, literally, and each case is unique. Ivy is one of the lucky ones in our opinion. I read stories on this facebook page that bring me to tears. All in all, I'm grateful for a community where we can share resources.
Nevus removal is quite specialized. While there are many pediatric plastic surgeons around the country, those who routinely remove large nevi are a smaller community. Regarding removal, the name Dr. Bruce Bauer at NorthShore hospital in Northbrook, Illinois, was mentioned quite a bit on the NOI page. I can still remember reading about Dr. Bauer at the nevus.org website the first night after Ivy's birth. Even beyond NOI, we had been referred to him from other resources as well. One was a dear friend's father. I'll keep the name private, but this man's referral alone carried quite a bit of weight with Chris and I. Ivy's pediatric dermatologist, Dr. Neil Prose, at Duke University, also referred us to Dr. Bauer. I would say Dr. Bauer is arguably one of the best surgeons in the United States for removing large nevi. As a matter of fact, he is sought after from those traveling from other countries as well.
I sent Dr. Bauer an email on Wednesday March 18th. Ivy was twelve days old. Dr. Bauer wrote me back from Saigon on March 19th. It was a very long email and I could tell he had taken time to examine the pictures I had sent of Ivy, and had crafted a very personal response. He was kind, yet matter of fact. Every time I read his email, I tear up because when I first read it, I felt hopeful, and yet I knew my little girl was in for a long journey. He subsequently sent me a PowerPoint of facial nevi that he had removed. It was graphic and upsetting but the results I saw also gave me hope that Ivy could also have her facial nevus removed. He offered to meet with Chris, Ivy and me during his vacation in South Carolina to save us a trip to Chicago. "Who does this?" was all I could think. We agreed to touch base with him closer to May when his vacation would be started.
In the meantime, I had also been contacted by another friend who was good friends with Dr. Jeffrey Marcus at Duke University. Dr. Marcus was another name I was already familiar with because I had met nevus families who were working with him, however, I did not know my friend was friends with him. We were able to get an appointment with Dr. Marcus fairly quickly and felt like we had to do our due diligence and get a second opinion (or even a third or fourth!).
May rolled around and I reached out again to Dr. Bauer. Dr. Bauer offered Sunday May 17th and we jumped on it. Early that morning, Chris and I loaded up the van, and Miss Ivy and started on our journey to South Carolina to meet "the Wizard." http://www.nevus.org/gifted-hands_id818.html
Dr. Bauer answered the door. He introduced us to his wife Sally. When I look back on our encounter, this is what I remember most vividly. Sally approached me, and took a look at our sweet angel, and she looked me right in the eyes, and said in such a calming, reassuring voice, "oh, he can fix this." This wonderful couple welcomed us into their home while they were on vacation, and there we spent the next two hours asking questions and learning about how Dr. Bauer would go about removing her nevus with the use of tissue expansion. http://www.nevus.org/tissue-expansion-101_id814.html
We expressed our concerns with her nevus being so close to the eyelid and he validated our concerns. We talked about the process and the inevitable scarring. I expressed my fears and he listened patiently. I never felt like he was "salesy" as I had heard some surgeons described as. Like I said before, he was simply matter of fact. Could he do the job? Yes. Was it complex? Yes. Were there risks? Yes. Would she have scars? Of course. Was it possible that by the time she entered kindergarten, all her surgeries would be behind her? Yes, it was possible.
I was transparent with him and told him that we had an upcoming appointment with Dr. Marcus. Dr. Marcus had trained with Dr. Bauer during his time as a resident many many years ago. Dr. Bauer told us he didn't blame us at all for getting that consult. After all, Dr. Marcus was right here in North Carolina. After Chris and I felt like we had exhausted our questions for the morning and did not want to wear out our welcome, we left with the open ended agreement that we would be back in touch.
Later that week, on Thursday we had our appointment with Dr. Marcus. For the proximity alone, I so wanted to have that gut reaction that Dr. Marcus would be "our man." And I have to say that I felt after meeting him, completely confident that he could do the job too. And if Dr. Bauer did not exist, Dr. Marcus would be our choice without hesitation. But Dr. Bauer does exist, and he has spent his entire career spanning over 35 years perfecting his technique, even working with the company to help design the tissue expanders that he uses. He does hundreds of these surgeries. As a matter of fact, he has placed over 3000 tissue expanders, with at least two-thirds of those being on nevus patients.
So there you have it Ivy. If and when you read mom's blog, you will know that we looked for the BEST surgeon for you. We didn't take this decision lightly obviously. I knew when I met Dr. Bauer I was in the presence of a compassionate and highly skilled man. My mommy's intuition was telling me he was the one. I went on to speak with his scheduler Chrissy and had a brief email exchange with one of his nurses, Mim in the weeks that followed our meeting. Both Chrissy and Mim were reassuring and friendly, and told me that I could ask my questions a hundred times and they would answer them all one hundred times! My sweet girl, I do believe with all my heart that we are putting you in the hands of the man and the team who can take care of you.
I'm not looking forward to your surgery. I'm not at all because I said I was going to be honest in what I wrote, and uncensored. But we forge ahead in your journey feeling more confident than ever. Daddy took this picture of you and me today. We looked pretty in our dresses. You especially:) All my love Ivy, xoxoxoxo mom
Nevus removal is quite specialized. While there are many pediatric plastic surgeons around the country, those who routinely remove large nevi are a smaller community. Regarding removal, the name Dr. Bruce Bauer at NorthShore hospital in Northbrook, Illinois, was mentioned quite a bit on the NOI page. I can still remember reading about Dr. Bauer at the nevus.org website the first night after Ivy's birth. Even beyond NOI, we had been referred to him from other resources as well. One was a dear friend's father. I'll keep the name private, but this man's referral alone carried quite a bit of weight with Chris and I. Ivy's pediatric dermatologist, Dr. Neil Prose, at Duke University, also referred us to Dr. Bauer. I would say Dr. Bauer is arguably one of the best surgeons in the United States for removing large nevi. As a matter of fact, he is sought after from those traveling from other countries as well.
I sent Dr. Bauer an email on Wednesday March 18th. Ivy was twelve days old. Dr. Bauer wrote me back from Saigon on March 19th. It was a very long email and I could tell he had taken time to examine the pictures I had sent of Ivy, and had crafted a very personal response. He was kind, yet matter of fact. Every time I read his email, I tear up because when I first read it, I felt hopeful, and yet I knew my little girl was in for a long journey. He subsequently sent me a PowerPoint of facial nevi that he had removed. It was graphic and upsetting but the results I saw also gave me hope that Ivy could also have her facial nevus removed. He offered to meet with Chris, Ivy and me during his vacation in South Carolina to save us a trip to Chicago. "Who does this?" was all I could think. We agreed to touch base with him closer to May when his vacation would be started.
In the meantime, I had also been contacted by another friend who was good friends with Dr. Jeffrey Marcus at Duke University. Dr. Marcus was another name I was already familiar with because I had met nevus families who were working with him, however, I did not know my friend was friends with him. We were able to get an appointment with Dr. Marcus fairly quickly and felt like we had to do our due diligence and get a second opinion (or even a third or fourth!).
May rolled around and I reached out again to Dr. Bauer. Dr. Bauer offered Sunday May 17th and we jumped on it. Early that morning, Chris and I loaded up the van, and Miss Ivy and started on our journey to South Carolina to meet "the Wizard." http://www.nevus.org/gifted-hands_id818.html
Dr. Bauer answered the door. He introduced us to his wife Sally. When I look back on our encounter, this is what I remember most vividly. Sally approached me, and took a look at our sweet angel, and she looked me right in the eyes, and said in such a calming, reassuring voice, "oh, he can fix this." This wonderful couple welcomed us into their home while they were on vacation, and there we spent the next two hours asking questions and learning about how Dr. Bauer would go about removing her nevus with the use of tissue expansion. http://www.nevus.org/tissue-expansion-101_id814.html
We expressed our concerns with her nevus being so close to the eyelid and he validated our concerns. We talked about the process and the inevitable scarring. I expressed my fears and he listened patiently. I never felt like he was "salesy" as I had heard some surgeons described as. Like I said before, he was simply matter of fact. Could he do the job? Yes. Was it complex? Yes. Were there risks? Yes. Would she have scars? Of course. Was it possible that by the time she entered kindergarten, all her surgeries would be behind her? Yes, it was possible.
I was transparent with him and told him that we had an upcoming appointment with Dr. Marcus. Dr. Marcus had trained with Dr. Bauer during his time as a resident many many years ago. Dr. Bauer told us he didn't blame us at all for getting that consult. After all, Dr. Marcus was right here in North Carolina. After Chris and I felt like we had exhausted our questions for the morning and did not want to wear out our welcome, we left with the open ended agreement that we would be back in touch.
Later that week, on Thursday we had our appointment with Dr. Marcus. For the proximity alone, I so wanted to have that gut reaction that Dr. Marcus would be "our man." And I have to say that I felt after meeting him, completely confident that he could do the job too. And if Dr. Bauer did not exist, Dr. Marcus would be our choice without hesitation. But Dr. Bauer does exist, and he has spent his entire career spanning over 35 years perfecting his technique, even working with the company to help design the tissue expanders that he uses. He does hundreds of these surgeries. As a matter of fact, he has placed over 3000 tissue expanders, with at least two-thirds of those being on nevus patients.
So there you have it Ivy. If and when you read mom's blog, you will know that we looked for the BEST surgeon for you. We didn't take this decision lightly obviously. I knew when I met Dr. Bauer I was in the presence of a compassionate and highly skilled man. My mommy's intuition was telling me he was the one. I went on to speak with his scheduler Chrissy and had a brief email exchange with one of his nurses, Mim in the weeks that followed our meeting. Both Chrissy and Mim were reassuring and friendly, and told me that I could ask my questions a hundred times and they would answer them all one hundred times! My sweet girl, I do believe with all my heart that we are putting you in the hands of the man and the team who can take care of you.
I'm not looking forward to your surgery. I'm not at all because I said I was going to be honest in what I wrote, and uncensored. But we forge ahead in your journey feeling more confident than ever. Daddy took this picture of you and me today. We looked pretty in our dresses. You especially:) All my love Ivy, xoxoxoxo mom