Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Austin's pathology report

We had the follow up appointment today to hear about the biopsy report on Austin's bump. Its technical / medical name is a "pyogenic granuloma." In layman's terms, it's a giant cell (microscopically speaking) growth that tends to occur in pregnant women because these seem to be fueled by hormones. Completely harmless and not likely to recur ... basically it was a fluke that he had this in the first place. The doctor said that an inflammation (caused by plaque or bacteria) could have spurred this. Unless he develops any infection or other complication post-surgery, this should all be behind him now.
So, the news is all good. :D
And, for your viewing pleasure, this is Austin's bump 3 days before the surgery (it was bigger than this the day before he had it removed):






Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Austin's progress

So, I took a peek inside Austin's mouth yesterday (nearly a week after the surgery) and saw very little--in a good way. The area where he had the bump removed is healing very nicely ... coming along a lot faster than I expected. His swelling is gone and he never did develop any bruising. He has had some soreness the last few days though and I'm not really sure why. He says that his teeth are hurting in that area. We've given him some Tylenol to help with that and he says it takes the edge off. Hopefully, any tenderness will dissipate and he'll be completely back to pre-bump status soon. Our follow-up appointment (with news and information from the biopsy) is scheduled for the 12th.