Birthmarks on CNN.com

A friend of ours, Jacob Hogg, just forwarded us a link to an article posted yesterday on CNN.com about vascular birthmarks and the use of lasers to treat them. If you’ve had a chance to look elsewhere throughout this site, you already know that Anikka’s birthmark is a different type, but a lot of the information given in the article sounded all too familiar. If you have the time, take a look:

Mom, son work to change views of birthmarks

The article talks about a family whose son was born with a sizable port wine stain (a little larger than Ani’s congenital nevus) and who, in an effort to help change perceptions about them, wrote a children’s book on the subject. According to the sidebar on that site, a portion of the proceeds from sales of “Buddy Booby’s Birthmark” go to the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation (http://www.birthmark.org). (Shameless plug: if you purchase it through our link, Anikka also earns a commission toward her own surgery…)

The article discusses some of the very subjects we mention here, too. Things like the uncertain results you can expect from laser treatments, or the “what’s wrong with her face?” questions we’ve heard so many times from people old enough to know better. I hope their book sells well and makes a difference.

Also, in the side bar of that article, there’s an almost hidden link to a Q&A with Dr. Milton Waner that’s worth the time. Again, some of it hits pretty close to home and might sound very familiar to this site’s regular visitors:

CNN: Are some treatments done for cosmetic reasons?

Waner: This is not just a cosmetic issue. I think every child has the right to look normal. There are psychosocial implications. There are all sorts of implications that a child’s formative years are affected by the presence of a birthmark which will clearly distinguish that child from other children.

Doc shares birthmark basics – http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/04/02/hm.birthmark.qa/index.html