‘Please take good care of our baby sister’: Help for Addison’s hemangioma

Most parents dress their baby girls in headbands for fun. But for Addison Quandt, these accessories, adorned with bows and flowers, weren’t a frivolous fashion statement. Instead, they helped hold in place the gauze that covered a large hemangioma on the back of her neck. “People always said what a fashionable baby she was,” says her mom, Dianne. “If they only knew.” Addison was born with four hemangiomas, common benign vascular tumors that typically appear as red birthmarks within a week or two of birth. In many cases, they don’t cause problems and clear up without treatment. But not only weren’t Addison’s hemangiomas going away — the one on her neck was growing at an alarming pace. “It bled a lot,” says Dianne. “And because of where it was located, it was causing her a lot of pain.” When she was three months old, Addison’s pediatrician referred Dianne and her husband, Dennis, to Dr. Denise Adams, co-director of the Vascular Anomalies Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. A high degree of care For the next few months, the Quandts kept in close contact with Dr. Adams, who monitored the hemangioma and advised them to keep it moisturized. She also prescribed medications aimed at slowing the growth of blood vessels in the tumor. “We’ve never met a doctor like Dr. Adams before,” says Dianne, who recalls speaking with her on the phone late at night and even during her vacation. “The degree of care she had for Addison made us feel like she was...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Dr. Belinda Dickie Dr. Denise Adams Dr. Marilyn Liang hemangioma Vascular Anomalies Center Source Type: news