There was a growth just above Rebecca's chest that has bothered us for quite a long time. We first noticed it a week after she was born, just as she was undergoing home phototherapy. Then, it was just a small lump, more like an extra flap of skin near her right collar bone. We consulted the paediatrician and he said there was nothing to worry about, since he thought most probably, she was born with it.
The thing is, we don't think so since we have never noticed it when she was born, and the paediatrician would have told us about it if she had, wouldn't he? If he could actually notice some tiny scratches on her foot and inform me about it, he couldn't have missed the lump.
Anyway, the lump grew and grew, till about 1.2cm across over a period of 2 weeks, and we could actually see tiny blood vessels stretched across the surface. Rather scary. So we brought Rebecca to our GP for a second opinion and he set an appointment for us with a paediatric surgeon at KK, while instructing us not to touch or do anything to the growth.
But the next morning, the growth burst spontaneously. Yellow, sticky pus kept pouring out of it, so we rushed back to the GP. This time, we went to NUH Children A&E (since we didn't exactly have fond memories of the Children A&E Dept at KK).
The doctors there were all very nice. They checked Rebecca thoroughly, all the time asking questions about her growth, milk intake and output, etc. Then when the young doctor pressed on the growth, all that oozed out was blood, and Rebecca cried in pain.
The doctors' diagnosis was the growth was due to bacterial infection through an insect bite or scratch. Much like a pimple, when the growth breaks, pus followed by blood would flow out. So happily, Rebecca was discharged with 2 different oral antibiotics that she had to take every four and six-hours respectively. Effectively, this means round the clock work for the parents lah, since we have to monitor her temperature, activity level, whether she's feeding and passing urine normally, and if she develops rashes as well.
We have a followup coming Thursday; we pray everything will turn out okay.
Oh yeah! BTW, Rebecca has put on 1.5kg since she was discharged from the hospital. She is now 4.4kg...hahaha
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