A few days ago Ouest woke up with a raw sore on her nose right smack dab where her hemangioma is/was. The next day it was even bigger, and again the next. It was concentrated on her hemangioma and we began to freak out. Hemangiomas can ulcerate, causing excruciating pain for kids, but aren’t supposed to do so by this stage—this is something that you’d maybe expect in year one. We started firing off e-mails and phone calls to her treating doctor back in Minnesota and discussing plans for a rush trip back there to see him. More googling of ulcerated hemangiomas brought on fears that we haven’t experienced in two years since Ouest’s last treatment and the end of the growth stage of her hemangioma.

At some point it occurred to Ali that this scabby pus filled ugliness on her nose looked an awful lot like the scabby pus filled ugliness Lowe had growing above his eye a few months back—Impetigo.

Anyway, we got hold of an English speaking dermatologist here and took her in today. She confirmed it was indeed impetigo, put her on antibiotics, and said she should be good as new in just a couple of days.

Thank freaking goodness.