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General Resources

The Facial Surgery Center   www.FacialSurgeryCenter.com

Hemangioma International Treatment Center   www.BirthmarkTreatment.com

Port Wine Stains   www.birthmarks.com

Sturge Weber Foundation  http://www.sturge-weber.com/

National Organization of Vascular Anomalies   www.novanews.org

Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital   www.musckids.com

Vascular Birthmark Foundation   www.birthmark.org 

Health & Science Internet Radio  www.healthylife.net

Parenting Message Board on Vascular Birthmarks   http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppbirthmarks

Internet radio show Health & Science: The Next Generation with Stuart W. Titus, PhD
www.healthylife.net

Children's Book, The Color of Us, Author Karen Katz   Through the eyes of a little girl who begins to see her familiar world in a new way, this book celebrates the differences and similarities that connect all people  www.barnesandnoble.com

Children's Book, Gianna's Wild Strawberry, Author & Mother, Dana Roberson Guerra  This is a true story and full of how one family copes   www.enter.net/~happymail

Children's Book, Buddy Boobys Birthmark      www.buddyboobysbirthmark.com/

Children's Book, Painted Keepsakes: A Book about Birthmarks, Author Blithe Payne  The straightforward book started with a little girl pointing an unassuming finger at another girl's face, and asking, "What's that mark on you?"  www.barnesandnoble.com

Book for parents, Annie Stories, Author Doris Brett  ANNIE STORIES are special. They're not happily-ever-after fairy tales of make believe; they're stories that deal with the real-life emotions of common childhood anxieties and difficult situations, such as starting hospitalization. http://www.amazon.com/ 

Sesame Street website Every parent hears the words "I want to be like everyone else!" - whether the issue is a birthmark or anything that might make a child feel different from his/her peers. This website has some tips for helping parents.  Sesame Workshop - "I Want to Be Like Everyone Else!

I’m Like You, You’re Like Me-A Child’s Book About Understanding and Celebrating Each Other, Author Cindy Gainer "Simple words and lush illustrations draw children into this gentle story of discovery, acceptance, and affirmation." http://www.freespirit.com/catalog/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=38

Kids' Health for Kids website http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/birthmark.html

MSN.COM Vascular Birthmark Support Group http://groups.msn.com/vascularbirthmarksupport

Excerpts from "Psychosocial Impact of Vascular Birthmarks"

Authors Pamela M. Crawford, MD, R. Gregory Lande, DO and Bonnie J. Ramsey, MD   Facial Plastic Surgery Clinics of North America - Vascular Birthmarks of the Head and Neck, Volume 9, Number 4, November 2001

"The presence of vascular birthmarks may stir many passions in the new parent. The emotions are sometimes traceable to irrational beliefs when parents silently blame themselves for their child’s misfortune. Most parents are relieved when the physician absolves their guilt by providing a medical cause for vascular birthmarks. In other cases, anxiety, anger, and blame are unrelenting and like a whirlpool, threaten to drag the entire family down. One factor that may contribute to the downward spiral are competing, nonmedical explanations, for the presence of birthmarks."

"Predicting a child’s reaction to medical treatment, including surgery, requires a consideration of the child’s age, presence of psychiatric pathology, the child’s experience with prior illness or injury, parent’s contributions, and the degree of presurgical preparation.”

“Children up to two years old will tolerate surgery if they perceive that their caretaker is calm, accepting and nurturing.” Life between the ages of  3 and 6 is when “the child learns control but may develop shame and doubt if not handled well…continues to become more assertive but may be too forceful, leading to guilt feelings.” Age 6 to 12 in school is when “children must deal with demands or risk a sense of inferiority”.

These “important milestones of development help set timelines for intervention-preferably before age 3 years (when a sense of self develops) and definitely by age 5 to 6 years (school age).”

The authors state that some studies indicate that "unattractive children are disadvantaged in society, the facially disfigured even more so..."

 

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