Apr 1, 2009 3:15 pm US/Eastern
Hospital Removes Girl's Spreading Birthmark
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Alicia Lokshin, now 17-months old, was born with a common birthmark known as a hemangioma.
WBZ
One in about every 10 children is born with a vascular birthmark, which is made up of tiny blood vessels.
About 40,000 of them are so significant they require kids to see a specialist. The most severe birthmarks can cause deformity, breathing problems, eating issues, blindness, and in extreme cases even death.
Alicia Lokshin, now 17-months old, was born with a common birthmark known as a hemangioma.
Dr. Aaron Fay, a surgeon from
Mass. Eye and Ear, explains, "It starts out shortly after birth as something small but because not all doctors are aware of how to treat them, sometimes they grow very big."
Doctors in Canada put Alicia on medication but said they wanted to wait until she was 6 before they performed surgery, but Alicia's tumor grew bigger, and started interfering with her vision. "It was an obstacle for her left eye," explains Alica's mom, Natasha.
Alicia's dad lost his job due to the recession. The Lokshins were trying to sell their house to pay for an operation to fix her birthmark, but they contacted the
Vascular Birthmarks Foundation which helped arrange for the financially-strapped family to have Alicia's surgery performed at Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston.
"Everything is fixed. She may see now, it's amazing for me," said Natasha. "I don't know to express my gratitude to all those people."
Dr. Martin Mihm who helped create the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation in 1995 explains, "You're giving a child a whole new life, that's the most satisfying thing."
Dr. Fay says, "When we intervene and overnight they're back to normal, you can't even describe. It's great feeling to participate."
The surgeon, Dr. Fay, and an anesthesiologist from Mass Eye donated their services for free, and a local businessman named Ray Tye donated the money to pay for the operation.
Dr. Mihm is also the director of Mass. General Vascular Anomalies Clinic, which holds clinics several times a year. The next clinic is April 18 at 8:30 a.m. Patients need to register first. They can do so by calling the Hemangioma and Vascular Malformation Clinic at Mass General at 617-726-9479.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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