Update: March 22, 2009

On October 16th, Xadrian had surgery on his birthmark. After removing it, they could not tell us what it was. The tumor did not fit with any birthmark categoration they could come up with, and so they sent it off to boggle someone's mind. The tumor was mostly composed of expanding fatty tissue cells that had surrounded the nerve on the jaw, leading to the right side of his mouth. It was also encroaching in on a gland that is below the ear.

Surgery went well. 80% of the tumor mass was removed, only leaving 20% behind around the nerve. That part was not removed for fear of damaging the nerve, which would inhibit movement of his mouth for the rest of his life. It was removed away from the gland, which was good. Pressure like that on glands and such can cause problems with their functions.

Obviously, they haven't decided what to call the birthmark tumor, because we haven't heard anything. I'm not expecting to hear anything, either. Doctors and hospitals are just like that... you can't really expect any more from them... they're always so busy...

On another note... we still have an outstanding bill from the hospital that insurance would not pay for. Therefore, I am still taking commissions. Something new to look at is Baby Paranthi Sculptures. Pictures will be posted, soon. To look at progress pictures and such, please go to *seliname

I appreciate all of the kind and thoughtful words from everyone.
Thank you...

~Selina

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Welcome~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, my name is Selina, and I welcome you to my Fundraising DevPage... This DeviantArt Page has been constructed and will be used for the purpose of raising money to help treat and remove a hazardous birthmark from my child's jaw...

Artwork will be done in commission form to raise money... as well as posters being printed and signed by the artist to also go towards the bills being made to help him...

Go here for Commission Info: [link]

Update: September 21, 2008

We went to our appointment on August 25th and sat in the hospital for 4 hours talking to specialists for Sclerotherapy, the head and neck surgeon, the surgeon's nurses... and so forth... Eventually, the surgeon ordered an ultrasound of the birthmark with the supervision of the Sclerotherapy specialist because the MRI was not very clear. We found out that there is not a mass of blood vessels inside of the birthmark... it is mostly a mass of thick fatty tissue with bloodvessels running through it of course and then with the blemmish on top of it all. The Sclerotherapy would not work for therapy unless there were large blood vessels that he could work with to shrink... but there were none...

He was worried about a gland that the birthmark mass was encroaching on which is also a pressure point in the body. After this, we left the hospital. I waited for a couple weeks with no calls from the hospital so I called them last week. I finally got a call back on Thursday and found out that the head and neck surgeon wants to remove to birthmark as a preventative measure because of that gland and because the mass is not shrinking but growing.

There are risks with any surgery because the body is so delicate... and especially with children because they are so small... For one, the anesthesiology involved with small children has a chance of putting the child to sleep perminently... For two, with any surgery, the patient has the chance of infection entering the blood stream directly which can be fatal... or bleeding to death... and then, thirdly, in my son's case, they could cut too deeply and hit the nerve that runs to the right side of his mouth... which would mean he would never smile again, and he would have problems eating for the rest of his life...

I hope everything goes well... The surgery is scheduled for October 16th.

Update: June 20, 2008

We have an appointment with the head and neck surgeon on August 25th for an evaluation on his birthmark so she can see what is going on and speak with us about options with surgery...

Update: May 27, 2008

I decided to start a different journal to inform everyone of what is going on... we have been having difficulties with our insurance provider... They don't want to cover their part of anything for the Children's Hospital, and yet, the hospital they want us to go to will not treat my son because of his age...

As of last week, May 21, we had the MRI, which had to be resceduled twice because of the insurance company... The results show what the Dermatologist at the Children's Hospital had said, which is that my son's birthmark is a Vasular Malformation... I am only waiting on a phone-call this week to find out if they can do anything about our insurance agency and when we should meet with the surgeon for a consultation about the proceedure... from there, we can find out more information about it and know what to expect, next...

Go here to read more about vascular malformations: [link] [link] [link] Doc said that Vascular Malformations are even less common than the normal Hemangiomas, and they're more serious, because unlike a hemangioma, vascular malformations will recruit other bloodvessels to be a part of it and continue spreading and getting bigger throughout the child's lifetime. There's nothing that will stop it other than surgery to remove the bloodvessels with the strange behavior... He didn't have much more to tell us other than that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Welcome~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, my name is Selina, and I welcome you to my Fundraising DevPage... Also here assisting me is a very sweet artist that we will call Taurken... ^^ This DeviantArt Page has been constructed and will be used for the purpose of raising money to help treat and remove a hazardous birthmark from my child's jaw...

Artwork will be done in commission form to raise money... as well as posters being printed and signed by the artists to also go towards the bills being made to help him...

Go here for Commission Info: [link]

~~~~Update- March 19, 2008~~~~
Well, they called, today, and it's going to be just a little longer for the MRI and the visit with the Surgeon than was expected. Instead of being a couple of weeks, it's going to be a couple of months. May 19th, from what she told me. I'll know for sure when they send me the letter telling me for certain... ~Selina

~~~~Update- March 17, 2008~~~~
We visited the Children's Hospital Dermatologist this afternoon, and he's concerned that the hemangioma on Xadrian's jaw may not be a hemangioma at all. Through a few simple tests he did while we were there, he thinks it's a Vasular Malformation. Go here to read more about it: [link] [link] [link] Doc said that Vascular Malformations are even less common than the normal Hemangiomas, and they're more serious, because unlike a hemangioma, vascular malformations will recruit other bloodvessels to be a part of it and continue spreading and getting bigger throughout the child's lifetime. There's nothing that will stop it other than surgery to remove the bloodvessels with the strange behavior... He didn't have much more to tell us other than that. He's scheduling an MRI for this next week or the week after and will call us with the appointment date. On that same day, he's going to have us meet with another specialist... A Head and Neck Surgeon, and that doctor is supposed to look at the MRI, be able to tell exactly what it is, and tell us what our options are, from there....

I hope things start going better... and I hope I'll be able to make some money to help pay for these bills... Our insurance has a $250 deductible... and then, after that, the co-pay for insurance is 80/20... They pay 80%, and we pay 20%... but when you've got these crazy visits, $500 worth of Well-Child checkups (which our insurance won't pay) to get updated on shots and get a Referral to actually GO to the Children's Hospital, and then seeing a wonderfully expensive MRI, stay in the hospital, and surgery for this rare birthmark in the future... helpless is pretty-much how I feel, right now...

Well, thank you for reading... and for stopping by... ~Selina

~~~~Update- Feb. 11, 2008~~~~
The receptionist at the doctor's office that made our appointment called this morning to appologize and tell me that Xadrian's appointment is not next year but in a month's time, on March 17th... This is wonderful news! I hope things will go well... Thanks for your help and support... ~Sellina

~~~~Update- Feb. 8, 2008~~~~
The Dermatologist is unwilling to treat the birthmark and feels that it would be best to send Xadrian to the hemangioma specialist at the Children's Hospital in Little Rock... That will be a year wait, unless there is a cancelation that we can slip into... The doctor explained that cavernous hemangiomas are like trees... what we can see of the top of them at skin level is like the leaves, or smaller bloodvessels... but as you go deeper, they branch down into larger branches and finally into trunks or large bloodvessels. There's no telling where those trunks are, so it would be best for the Children's Hospital to do special x-rays to see. He also said that the tumor mass isn't sucking up blood platelets like some do, or it would be growing in size as it collected them... so that is some good news. However, he would still like to see what can be done to remove it, so next, we'll be off to the Arkansas Children's Hospital... I'll be sure to keep you all updated... Thanks for your help and support... ~Selina

~~~~Update- Jan. 23, 2008~~~~
The Pediatrician has sent us to a Dermatologist on February 8th... From here, we'll see what Doc has to say about treatment and cost of such... Thanks for your support... ~Selina

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Welcome~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, my name is Selina, and I welcome you to my Fundraising DevPage... Also here assisting me is a very sweet artist that we will call Taurken... ^^ This DeviantArt Page has been constructed and will be used for the purpose of raising money to help treat and remove a potentially hazardous birthmark from my child's jaw... [link]

Artwork will be done in commission form to raise money... as well as posters being printed and signed by the artists to also go towards the bills being made to help him... Information can be found, here: [link]

Just to help to understand the seriousness of these types of birthmarks, here are a few links to look at regarding cavernous hemangiomas... [link] [link] [link]

Some of the information that I found to be disturbing and informative is as followed...

Aside from disfigurement and possible problems caused by sheer size of the birthmark, the tortuous blood vessel channels within the hemangioma cause the formation of platelet clots. These clots can consume platelets so rapidly that the bone marrow cannot keep up with production, and bleeding may develop elsewhere in the body because of severe reduction in the level of platelets in circulation. (Which will keep the blood from clotting properly)

Hemangiomas. Hemangiomas are classified as superficial when they appear on the surface of the skin ("strawberry marks") and cavernous when found deeper below the skin's surface. They can be slightly raised and bright red and sometimes aren't visible until a few days or weeks after a baby is born. Cavernous, deep hemangiomas may be bluish because they involve blood vessels in deeper layers of the skin. Hemangiomas grow rapidly during the first 6 months or so of life, but usually shrink back and disappear by the time a child is 5 to 9 years old. Some, particularly larger ones, may leave a scar as they regress that can be corrected by minor plastic surgery. Most are on the head or neck, although they can be anywhere on the body, and can cause complications if their location interferes with sight, feeding, breathing, or other body functions.

Xadrian is already four years old, and this birthmark is showing no signs of shrinking or regressing, as doctors put it... So if you can commission us, that would be so helpful... Our DeviantArt Pages are as follows... please take a look to see what we're capable of...
~Selina and ~Taurken
Other Commissioners: and

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Fighters of Cancer and Tumors- The Taurken List ^^

has started a Fight Cancer and Tumors picture and the following people have participated thus far:

[link] [link] [link]

Be sure to check it out and show your support! [link]

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Fighters of Cancer and Tumors- The Selina List ^^

started a Fight Cancer and Tumors picture and the following people have participated thus far:

[link] [link] [link] [link] [link]

Be sure to check it out and show your support! [link]

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Hello, this is the commission journal... Payments and donations are accepted through PayPal... and the prices are as follows... Feel free to browse the gallery and inquire about anything...

*Posters* *every one without watermarks and personally signed*
~Drinking Dragon- [link]
~StarGazer, the Tiger- [link]
~After The Rain Roses- [link]
~Roses- The Colour of Loving Me- [link]
~Paintball Kitty- [link]
~Blacklight Kitty- [link]
~My Shelter Dragon- [link]
~In The Tube Wave- [link]
~You'll Be Loved- [link]

~~~35 lb. paper, 16x20 inches = $19
~~~46 lb. paper, 16x20 inches = $25
~~~Photo Gloss paper, 16x20 inches = $35
These sizes are approximate, since the art files are of different sizes... some may extend beyond these size specifications... If you desire any other pieces to be offered, please let me know... We will see what can be done... S&H info, below... If you want to discuss different sizes for posters, I'm willing to do that, as well...

*Traditional Media*
~Pencil outline drawing: $7.00 (Ex. [link])
~w/Background: add $2.00 (Ex. [link])
~Pencil drawing with shading: $10.00 (Ex. [link])
~w/Background: add $3.00 (Ex. [link])
~Colored pencil drawing with shading: $14.00 (Ex. [link])
~w/Background: add $4.00 (Ex. *pretend it's colored pencil* [link])
~Pen outline drawing: $9.00 (Ex. [link])
~w/Background: add $3.00
~Pen outline drawing with shading: $13.00 (Ex. [link])
~w/Background: add $5.00
~~Additional Characters: (1) Add $2, (2) Add $4, (3 or more) Add $6...

*Digital Media*
~Digital Character, simple coloring: $12.00 (Ex. [link])
~w/simple background: add $3.00 (Ex. [link])
~Digital Character, complex: $20.00 (Ex. [link])
~w/complex Background: add $8.00 (Ex. [link] and [link])

Prices are guaged by the time that it takes to complete a piece... and we do require detailed descriptions of what you are wanting... as well as a reference pic, if it is your pseudo, or of that nature... If what you are requesting is not of a character nature but is of a portrait or plant or animal... then we can negotiate prices depending on what you are wanting...

And as a side-note, we do not do untasteful nudity... and with my tasteful nudity, I will not draw nipples... no males, either...

Shipping and Handling will be figured on your address... I will need time to weigh package and figure it before exact postage can be added into your finished price...

Please note us or e-mail us for discussions about commissions... tiger_ki10@yahoo.com
This e-mail is also used for PayPal for payment and donations...

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