Why are you going with surgical excision?

This is really the big question for us.

The idea that our daughter has an increased chance of developing a malignant melanoma kills us, and we’d do anything to reduce that likelihood. Furthermore, we don’t want our daughter to have to go through life constantly dealing with the questions about her cheek. We know she’s the most beautiful little girl in the world, but even adults can be less than tactful when asking us about it. There’s a big difference between innocent, normal curiosity and asking a stranger, as one major grocery store employee once did, “what’s wrong with your face?”

When Anikka was born, we originally thought the mark on her cheek was some sort of trauma suffered during birth. A simple bruise, for instance, that would heal on its own over time. In fact, the nevus did appear to lighten significantly over the first couple months, as you can see in these two images. The first was taken moments after birth, while the second shows her cheek a couple of days later.

That didn’t last. We read everything we could find on the Internet and in the various medical journals, most of which said the same thing: let it be if you can, otherwise get ready for surgery. Unfortunately, Ani’s nevus became darker and darker and started growing a significant amount of hair, a symptom that’s very common with nevi but something we never considered. We knew we couldn’t let our little girl grow up like this.

In an attempt to avoid the scarring and possible facial deformation that could come with surgery, we spent the last year or so attempting treatments with various types of lasers. Though the occasional small patch would lighten a bit, the nevus as a whole didn’t appear to respond well. After approximately a half-dozen trips to California for treatment, it’s clear that surgical excision is our best option.