Bump on the Lip

A couple of months ago, K developed this bump on her lip that just wouldn't go away. At first, we thought it was an ulcer developing (or what our American counterparts would call a canker sore). But like I said, it just wouldn't go away. Finally had a doctor friend check it out and he said it was a polyp. It can be due to lip biting or an injury to the lip. I'm glad for his advice coz' I didn't know where to go to get this treated. He said either visit the dentist or ENT. He recommended the government hospital coz' it would be cheaper. But luckily the dentist around my area here took care of it for a reasonable price. The minor surgery came up to RM50 (and another RM10 for antibiotics and pain killer).

We didn't cut it out during the first visit. K had two loose front teeth and the dentist suspected that to be the stimulant. So poor K bravely extracted the two teeth. Here she is sportingly posing her toothless grin for me. I commented that she looked like a vampire and that was a mistake.
TIP: Don't make funny remarks about how your kid looks. They can be quite sensitive about their appearance.
We waited for one week to see if the polyp would fade away. Unfortunately, it didn't and so back to the dentist we went.
This is how it looked like right after the minor surgery. She was given an injection to numb the area. Dentist cut it out and then sew it up. K was alright before we left for the clinic. She was actually quite eager to finally get rid of that thing. Once she got to "the chair", she had cold feet. I had to do a bit of coaxing. The promise of a day off from school the next day did the trick.

As the anesthesia wore off, it started to get painful for K. Here she is all curled up wishing for the pain to go away. DH gave her a blessing for the sick and then I hugged her to sleep. Thank goodness she slept through the night. Next morning, she was alright. No more pain. Talked a lot and made lots of noise. Meaning she was back to her usual self. Actually, she talked so much, her stitches came loose. She was having noodles for lunch and I guess it ended up as one of the noodles. Yikes! Since it didn't bleed and the wound remained closed, I just left it be.

Well, if you ever see this bump on your child's lip (or even your own), you know what it is and what to do.