Matthew's Ultrasound

I took Matthew to BC Children's Hospital today for his ultrasound on the lump I found in his right thigh.  It was POURING rain.  So crazy.  I don't like driving in Vancouver, especially in my beast of a vehicle (the Tahoe), but at least I'm 100% comfortable driving to BC Children's because I passed it every time I drove to Genesis Fertility Clinic.

We surprisingly got a great parking spot (I was nervous about that, because I know there is a lot of construction happening there right now) and I managed to find 'Patient Registration' and the 'Radiology' departments without getting too lost :).  As soon as we got checked in, Matthew made four separate trips to the bathroom.  Maybe he was nervous?  Maybe he just has Jon's bowels?  Poor kid.

Anyways, Matthew did fantastic during the ultrasound, not that I was worried at all.  He's so shy/quiet/obedient when it comes to appointments that he just sits there and obeys.  He enjoyed watching Dora while they did the ultrasound.

The ultrasound technician was shocked at how small the lump is (it feels like it's about 0.5 cm in diameter?) and asked how I even noticed in the first place.  I have no idea how I noticed.  Maybe I was just massaging his thigh?  Anyways, it was very obvious on the ultrasound, which I was relieved for, because I didn't want to just be imaging things.  What's nice about being at BC Children's is that when the ultrasound technician was done taking the pictures she needed, the doctor took a look at them right away and then came right away to give the results.

The lump on Matthew's thigh is a lipoma.  It's a growth of fatty tissue, and for those wondering, it's non-cancerous.  It's rarely found in children, so it's strange that Matthew has it, but at least it's not harmful at all.  The doctor wants to keep an eye on it, so I'm sure we'll be visiting the hospital on a regular basis.  We'll have an appointment with our family doctor to discuss.

As I was explaining everything to my Mom when I got home (she had been babysitting Kayla and Nathan while we were at the appointment), she reminded me that she had noticed a lump on the top of Matthew's right hand.  I took a look, and sure enough, it's another lipoma.  This one is bigger, and is much more obvious.  Matthew's such a thin child that everything shows up on him...I think if he had a thicker build the one on his hand wouldn't even be obvious.

So at least we had a good diagnosis.  I wasn't too worried...everything is out of my hands and is in God's control anyways...but still, it's nice to not have to worry about it.  I'll still do some googling tonight, to see what the internet has to say about lipoma in children (I've only spent 30 seconds reading about it because we were busy with costumes and pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating today!).