When a port wine stain reaches up to the eye, some unique complications can result from the hypergrowth of blood vessels.

Because the blood vessels grow with the child, they continue growing ever bigger as the child grows. When the port wine stain crosses over the eye, this can lead to increasing pressure, or glaucoma. (I’ve met some port wine stain peers who have had glaucoma since childhood!)

Addy has been regularly checked for glaucoma since she was tiny, and the good news we got from her most recent ophthalmology appointment… is that she is glaucoma-free! Her eyes are working fabulously, and there is no additional pressure detected. This makes mom VERY happy. If she’s glaucoma-free now, then she’s probably in the clear. (She’ll still get checked throughout adulthood, but it’s much less of a concern as her growth slows down.)

Glaucoma hasn’t been the only concern, of course. Those big blood vessels in overdrive can cause other things, too — some of which are actually kind of funny.

In Addy’s case, when she was little, the overgrowth of blood vessels inside the port wine stain effectively close off her tear-drain-duct on the right side, causing regular overwatering of the right eye (when her normal ‘tears’ keeping her eye moist had nowhere to go). She looked like she was always crying, but only out of one eye!

To treat this, her ophthalmologist simply inserted of a drainage tube down below her right eye. They simply did this during a routine laser surgery, since Addy would already be under anesthesia. It helped to re-open the drain, and the excess tears on the right side were resolved. Easy, done.

Complications from her port wine stain will always be a concern, but as Addy gets older, our concerns shrink further. As her growth slows down, her Port Wine Stain slows down its growth, too.

(Of course, all bets are off at pregnancy, when growth goes into hyperdrive again! I know one woman who got zapped every month during her pregnancy because her Port Wine Stain started growing again like crazy.)

I expected the teen years to bring more concerns, not fewer — but as far as Addy’s face goes, it’s been nice to breathe a sigh of relief and see some of these worries settle themselves out. Her teeth (pushed to the side with all that extra blood flow and early growth on the right side) have been straightened with braces. Her right eye’s tear drain is fixed and draining normally, no longer overwatering. And her ophthalmologist says that we can pretty much not worry about glaucoma, since she’s in the clear there already.

So to all the parents out there of port-wine-stained littles, I can tell you that one by one, your worries will settle, and the menu of possible complications you might have to deal with — which seems overwhelming now — will shrink as your little one grows. There will be LESS to worry about, not more, as you reach new milestones and check these things off your list.

Your little one will be just fine.