What Is It?

For several weeks now (at least 6) Lane has had this strange line on his nose. At first it was a very faint red line and I thought that he had scratched himself with his long finger nails or something but then it started to bump up...so my next thought was that he just had some baby acne and it was just odd that it happened to just be on his nose and in a straight line. After several comments from strangers and friends alike such as "ah, poor baby what happened to his nose?" or "oh he got a scratch on his face didn't he?" we tried some hydro-cortisone cream with no luck of clearing it up. So we went to the doctor for it and we were prescribed a topical cream to put on it. We did that twice a day for a week and still saw no improvement really.  We went to the doctor last Monday for his six month well check (found out he still had an ear infection by the way) and they said he would need to be referred to a pediatric dermatologist and they thought his symptoms were that of Morphea.  Look it up-it's scary stuff. I looked it up and looked at pictures and I have been freaking out about it ever since because it is such a horrible disease to have and I couldn't imagine my sweet baby Lane having something so horrible.  We went to Dr. Conlon's today (we were lucky enough to get a cancellation appointment and get in ASAP) and I was extremely relieved to hear that he does not think it's Morphea. However, he really doesn't know what it is. He took pictures of it and made me sign release forms so he can share the pictures with his colleagues to try to come up with a definite diagnosis.  He thinks it's either Linchen Striatus (which that's what I am hoping for at this point) or Linear epidermal nevus. We go back in six weeks...but until then we just wait.

It's crazy to have such a healthy and perfect looking baby one day and then next you are worried sick that they will grow up with a deformity which could hinder the possibility of a healthy and positive self esteem. Of course you love your child no matter what they look like but it breaks your heart to think of his future. A future that is sure to come with teasing from other kids and strange looks and stares from people he meets. I know we are blessed to have him just the way he is-just while waiting in the doctors office today I saw so many little ones with far worse skin problems than Lane's so we are extremely fortunate.

It just bugs me that we still don't know for certain what it is. I want to know the answer to that question because until we do we will never know what we can do to treat it or help him. I will keep you posted with any news that may develop on this topic.