A one-year-old girl, who was born with a blood-filled tumor on her forehead that “got bigger and bigger” as she grew, had a THREE-HOUR operation to remove a benign tumor.
- Ashley McKnight of Oro Medonte, Ontario shared her daughter Chloe’s story with Good Morning America this week.
- Chloe was born 15 months ago with a small scratch on her head.
- She was less than two months old when she was diagnosed with a hemangioma, a benign tumor made up of blood vessels that collect under the skin.
- While hemangiomas usually resolve on their own, Chloe continued to grow.
- McKnight traveled to New York with Chloe in January to have the tumor removed by Dr. Gregory Levitin, who said the tumor was “unusually large”.
- The three-hour operation was successful and Chloe became even more active as the tumor was removed with minimal scarring.
A one-year-old girl who had a tumor made up of blood vessels that was getting bigger and bigger had a benign tumor removed from her forehead during a three-hour operation.
Ashley McKnight of Oro Medonte, Ontario shared her daughter Chloe’s story with Good Morning America, saying the little one was born 15 months ago with what appeared to be a small scratch on her head.
The newborn was less than two months old when she was diagnosed with a hemangioma, a benign tumor made up of blood vessels that collect under the skin. While they usually go away on their own, Chloe continues to grow.
“It didn’t feel like he was backing up at all and he just gradually got bigger and bigger,” McKnight told the publication. “At first it was just very flat and red, and then it started to grow in height.”
One-year-old Chloe McKnight had a tumor made up of blood vessels removed during a three-hour operation on her forehead.
Chloe’s mom, Ashley McKnight, told Good Morning America that the baby was born 15 months ago with what appeared to be a small scratch on her head.
The mother-of-three explained that she had to take extended maternity leave to look after Chloe as a precaution.
“Basically, it’s a tumor of the blood vessels that will bleed if she bumps into it,” she said. “It’s always been in our head, just so she never hits him or anything like that.”
McKnight, who has two sons aged three and five, said their family treated Chloe’s tumor like it was just part of her, but the little girl will draw attention to the tumor when they leave their home.
As Chloe got older, she and her husband began looking for surgeons who could remove the growing tumor with minimal scarring.
She was diagnosed with a hemangioma, a benign tumor made up of blood vessels that collect under the skin. While hemangiomas usually resolve on their own, Chloe continued to grow.
McKnight traveled to New York with Chloe in January to have the tumor removed by Dr. Gregory Levitin, who said the tumor was “unusually large”.
They learned about Dr. Gregory Levitin, director of vascular birthmarks and malformations at the New York Eye and Ear Hospital at Mount Sinai in New York, through a Facebook group for parents of children with hemangiomas.
In January, McKnight traveled to New York with Chloe for surgery.
Dr. Levitin explained to GMA that Chloe’s tumor was “unusually large” and more difficult to remove because it was located on her forehead, where “there’s not much extra tissue to borrow.”
‘[The tumor] fell and touched the forehead muscle, so it was important to keep the muscle and let it keep facial expressions, ”he said.
“We wanted the scar to be as short as possible, so finding ways to manipulate the tissue to get the shortest possible scar was just as important,” Dr. Levitin told GMA.
The operation was a success and Chloe became even more active and continued to recover.
“We wanted to get the shortest scar possible, so finding ways to manipulate the tissue to get the shortest scar possible was just as important.”
The three-hour operation was a success and Chloe became even more active as she continued to recover.
Dr. Levitin explained that children usually have more energy after hemangiomas are removed because the tumors “recycle a lot of blood and nutrients” in the body.
McKnight shared that her daughter actually had a harder time with teething pain than with surgery, saying it made her “realize how resilient babies are.”