We have been watching and waiting for this surgery for quite some time. We have been patching Rayden's eye 4 hours a day for about two years now trying to strengthen his eye muscles. With this surgery, HOPEFULLY, he will no longer have to do patch therapy and his eyes will stop giving mixed visual signals to his brain.
We checked in at UNC around 7:30am. Dr. Sara Grace came out to say hi around 7:45 and give Rayden a little smiley face beside each eye. (Markings for surgery)
Around 8:30 they took us back to pre-op where we changed Rayden into some cute PJ's and spoke with nurses and anesthesiologists. Rayden has such a super social personality and just continued to talk to everyone. The only time he got upset was when the nurses had to put three different kinds of eye drops into his eyes. It took two nurses and both parents to hold him down. After that, Rayden was a little fearful and clingy. Although this is Rayden's 10th surgery, it was a very different experience for us; maybe because of his age. The nurses brought in some stickers and smelly rubs so he could decorate his gas mask hoping to alleviate his anxiety.
Around 9:30am they allowed me to get all dressed up and carry him
into the operating room. After some introductions Rayden and I sat in a little chair beside the bed. All the nurses and docs smelled Rayden's strawberry flavored gas mask before hooking it up to the machine. I held Rayden in my lap and he was asked to blow through the mask to blow up a green balloon. He did, but quickly got a taste of the medicine and didn't want the mask anymore. I had to forcefully hold it onto his face for about a minute, although it seemed like an eternity. As soon as he drifted off to sleep they took him out of my lap and laid him onto the table. Dr. Grace walked over and hugged me tightly. When I looked up she was crying too, saying "You did great, Mom. I couldn't have done that!" She walked me out to the waiting room and hugged me again reassuring me that she would take care of Rayden.
Michael, Nanny Linda, Nanny Jane and myself went to get some breakfast in the cafeteria just to kill some time. This surgery was expected to take 2 1/2 hours. When we returned to the waiting room we sat staring at his number on the board waiting for it to change colors. It took the entire 2 1/2 hours!! At 12:00 Rayden was finally in recovery. Dr. Grace came out to tell us that the surgery went very well. She stated that she took pictures of his optic nerves before surgery. They remained swollen as seen in the pictures she has taken several different times this year already. (See previous posts for more info.)
During the surgery she noticed that the muscles that pull the eye upward were very tight so she moved them back. She also moved the muscles that pull the eye outward. So two muscles on both eyes. (If you look at the photo of him in his stroller you will see his left eye is looking upward while his right eye is looking outward.) Dr. Grace stated that his eyes may be very sensitive to light so he will need to wear sunglasses. He may have bloody tears for a couple of days, and red eyes for two weeks. He has tiny dissolvable stitches on the white part of his eyes. He should only need tylenol and/or motrin, and some antibiotic ointment. We can not get water in eyes for the next two weeks either. Dr. Grace said this may not be a perfect solution, our goal is to improve eye wondering by 80%. I pray we do not have to do this again and that God's mighty hand makes it 100%!
When I went to see Rayden in the recovery room they had already taken the breathing tube out, thank God! He was crying out in pain so the nurse gave him fentanyl in his IV and some oral oxycodone. He continued to cry out every now and again but only for a minute or two tops, then off to sleep again. It was terrible watching tears of blood flow from his eyes down his cheeks. I felt so helpless. I prayed for God to take the pain away from my baby. He held my hand, gritted his teeth, and squeezed my finger the entire two hour drive home. I believe God heard my prayer because he continued to sleep the remainder of the evening and all night!
Saturday morning when he got up he was ready to eat and play, although he didn't really want to open his eyes much. We kept the house as dark as possible. He began getting some swelling later in the evening and I got concerned but it eventually went down as well. The white parts of his eyes remain blood shot, but at least he is no longer crying bloody tears. He will not allow us to put the ointment into his eyes so I pray he doesn't get an infection.
No comments:
Post a Comment