round 1

After calling and driving and persisting we got into the pediatric radiology specialist (supposedly "the best in the country"). She took one look at Cali and said, "Yep, she needs sclerotherapy. We can do it tomorrow."

So at 6 this morning Cali and I headed to Dallas Children's where she had her first round of therapy. She had to go under general anesthesia, get an IV and breathing tube; then they drained her lymphangioma [again] and re-injected it with doxycyclin, an antibiotic that's supposed to scar her lymph channels and shrink the thing down.

Post-op Cali is very uncomfortable and sad ... But after a couple of weeks her face should shrink down. We hope that she bounces back quickly.

We will follow up with the specialist in 2 weeks, then most likely do the whole procedure over and over again until it's gone. Even after it shrinks Cali may need cosmetic facial surgery to repair stretched skin, but that wouldn't be for a few years. Luckily she's still "growing into her skin."

Here are some pics pre-procedure. We hope she feels cheery again soon.