Yesterday afternoon, I received a phone call from Noel's dermatologist's office informing us that our new insurance covers pulsed-dye laser treatment of his birthmark. Mercy is smart enough to realize that removal of a port-wine stain from the face, especially one near the eyes, is not a cosmetic procedure. Why couldn't GHP get that?
While this is certainly good news, I'm feeling a little conflicted, mainly because I don't love the idea of putting Noel under general anesthesia 6-8 times. Maybe I'm also so used to his appearance now that I don't want to change it. I mean, could he be any cuter? But I know that treating the birthmark is in his best interest, obviously for Noel's self-esteem but also to prevent it from worsening. Doing so sooner rather than later means less disruption for him (imagine him going to school with bruising after a treatment) and a greater chance that he won't remember much of the experience or the birthmark. I just saw some before-and-after photos of kids who have undergone laser treatment for port-wine stains, most of them far worse than Noel's, and the results are amazing. Of course now I can't find the web page to share!
So I think we're probably going to go ahead with the treatment but wait until the first of next year. Even though it's covered, we'll still have a deductible and 10% copayments for each treatment, so we have to set up our health spending account accordingly.
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That's great that it is finally covered. I barely see you guys anymore, but when I do, I don't even notice it anymore. I had a good friend in elementary school that had one right between her eyes. It was very big. Over summer break in high school she had treatments done on it and when she came back to school you cound't even tell there had been anything there. That was 10 years ago and I'm sure treatments are even better now!
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