Where do I begin?
So much has gone on around here the past few days, it's hard to know how to summarize it all without writing a novel. I'll start where I left off on a recent post; with some additional questions I have regarding Adam's situation:
1. Will Adam always need bi-focals? How will we know when his eyes are done developing and he just needs "regular" glasses to help him see close up?
I haven't had a chance to ask this question yet, so I still don't know the answer.
2. I've heard that an adult who is a friend of my aunt has IOLs and that sometimes they catch the sunlight or a bright light in a room and flash at people. Will that occur with Adam's IOLs?
Yes, we already see this happening when we take Adam's patch off to administer drops - you can clearly see the IOL in his eye (this is partly because his eye will remain dilated for the next few days, so you can probably see the IOL more clearly when the pupil is this large) and light definitely glints off of it. He is definitely going to be the talk of his class for having "those cool eyes".
3. Will Adam's eyes look a different color after the surgery?
No, it doesn't appear his iris color looks different.
4. What tips does Dr. B. have for keeping a patch on Adam's eye for two whole weeks? I worry that he will lay in bed at night and peel the sucker off!
Dr. B. literally said, "Good luck" and basically said it was up to us to do whatever we needed to to keep the patch on. He did tell us to ask for arm braces though (the braces strap on from his mid-biceps to mid-forearms and prevent him from bending his elbows so he can't get his hands up by his eyes), which have been helpful (we only use them when he's napping or sleeping at night, just in case). But really only for our own peace of mind. Adam has been absolutely PERFECT about keeping his patch on since his anesthesia has worn off (right when he was coming out of it, he was very upset and combative, which is totally normal and expected, and he was rubbing at the patch). He actually seems to feel more comfortable with it on. When we take it off to put drops in his eye, he's asked us to hurry and put the patch back on. Also, this morning the tape on the top part of the patch peeled off and his patch flopped down, dangling by the bottom tape and he immediately said, "Uh-oh! My patch!!" and pointed at it.
5. How will we bathe Adam/wash his hair while the patch is on?
We've given Adam baths two nights in a row now and washed him from his neck down. He hasn't had his hair washed since Tuesday night. The nurse at the hospital said we could take a shower since it was ok for a little water to get in his eye for a little bit but I didn't confirm that with Dr. B. and his hair looks fine so we're holding out for now.
6. What tips does Dr. B. have for encouraging children Adam's age to wear their glasses? And to not destroy them?
I didn't ask this yet because Adam will not have glasses until both of his eyes have been operated on so we don't need to worry about this part yet. Hopefully he will be just as awesome about his glasses as he has been about his eye patch.
7. When/how will we decide the date for Adam's surgery on his left eye?
Dr. B. said we will not operate on Adam's left eye until absolutely necessary. For right now, his left eye is seeing ok. His right eye can now see distance but not see close up so until his left eye needs surgery, Adam will use that eye to see close up and his right eye to see far away (natural bifocals!).
8. How often should we expect to be seeing Dr. B. for follow ups after both surgeries are complete?
We saw Dr. B. the morning after Adam's surgery (Friday), and will see him again next Wednesday. Then I think we see him again in another two weeks and probably monthly after that (unless we end up needing to schedule surgery on his left eye sooner than later).
9. Will we wait until both surgeries are complete and Adam's eyes are completely healed before having him fitted with glasses? Or will he need glasses as soon as his right eye is healed (to wear while his left eye is patched, since as I understand he will be "far-sighted" with the new IOL)?
As discussed above, Adam won't need glasses until both eyes have been operated on.
So, to go back to the beginning (i.e., the day of surgery), Adam started out like this:
He was super patient waiting the two hours at the hospital until his surgery began. The great nurse we had recognized his interest in buttons and let him keep the hospital thermometer and play with it for about a half hour. He played "nurse" with Stu and I and took our temperatures over and over and over and each time, would exclaim, "Here youw numbews!!" (Here are your numbers!!)
The anesthesiologist came to consult with us before the surgery and while she was explaining what would happen, my ears perked up when she said, "First, we'll give him an oral medicine called Versed to keep him calm for when he's put under. This will make him loopy and silly and will make him more tired when he's waking up from the anesthesia." Since Adam has had two minor surgeries on his eyes in the last six months, to "unclog" his narrow tear ducts, and I've been with him both times and seen how calm he was about being put to sleep, I really felt that he did not need the Versed. I asked if that was necessary and she admitted it was our choice and that the only possible repercussion for not using it was that Adam would remember being wheeled to the OR and the act of being put under and may be fearful to have it done in the future. We chose not to give the Versed and Adam did just fine. He did cry this time, as they put the mask over his mouth and nose but I held his hands down and talked to him and he was asleep in about 20 seconds. If he becomes fearful for the next surgery, we may opt for the Versed then but Stu and I figured why dope up his system with extra stuff if unnecessary.
Adam's surgery went just fine and his eye went from this (gray lense with dense cataract)....to....this (nice red/orange retina seen through the nice, clear Intra Ocular Lense (IOL))....WARNING: Gory photo ahead.
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And Adam looked like this, sleeping that night:
Right after the surgery, Adam had a gauze pad taped over the eye and then his patch liberally taped on top of that. The next morning, we went to Dr. B.'s office and saw his associate Dr. G. since he was out of the office for his children's cross-country ski meet. Deanna came with me and Dr. G. took off the patch, Adam's gauze pad, and tested his vision. It didn't seem like he could see much through that eye but Dr. G. said that was normal. She instructed me that Adam needs to have one dilated drop daily for the next week, four antibiotic drops throughout the day, and six steroid drops throughout the day. The steroid drops will slowly be weaned over the next approximately one month and now I don't recall how long the antibiotic drops continue. But we've got our next follow-up next Wednesday so I'll find out more then.
We finally got home that evening at about 4:00 after leaving the house that morning at 7:00 a.m. and Adam was already doing very well. He ate a good dinner and even had dessert. The little dearheart, with his huge eyepatch on and red popsicle drooled all down his chin so that he looked like he'd bled all over his face, turned to Max during supper and asked, "So....how was your day?" in a completely sincere and interested tone of voice. At bedtime, he fell right to sleep. I brought him to bed with Stu and me and Adam slept like a lamb and Stu and I barely slept. Two days later, Adam is back to his normal self:
Dr. G. assured me that as long as his patch is on, Adam's eye is safe. She put two little strips of tape on the patch but it makes me feel better to slather it with tape, as you see above. Notice that the patch has little holes in it? Adam can see through the patch so hopefully he's using that eye and getting used to being able to see through it again. I am becoming more and more confident that he's going to be just fine. I started out absolutely panicked that he was going to bang his eye or rub at it and end up smooshing his eye contents out and losing his eye (an actual possibility). But Adam has been EXTREMELY good about leaving his patch alone. He has never once tried to remove it and doesn't put his hands near it at all. He screams and pitches a huge fit each time we need to administer drops but tries admirably to "blink, blink, blink" to wash the drops into his eye after we've dropped them onto his lash area. Stu and I crack up because his eyes open about 3 millimeters and his eyeballs are rolled up so we can only see the whites and his mouth opens and closes in sync with his eyes, making him look like a gasping fish.
The other quite notable event that has gone on this week has been the removal of one of our family members. Suffice it to say, without going into details, that it was a very hard decision to make that took a lot of time and thoughtful consideration to come to but Stu and I determined that we needed to find Rags a new home. We'd adopted Rags from a rescue organization in Faribault, MN and when I called they immediately agreed to take him back and find a new home for him. Just before bringing Rags back to Faribault (the day after Adam's surgery), Rags decided to develop an infection on his private parts as well as diarrhea. This ended up being fortuitous as I used it as part of my half-truth story for the kids so they would be less traumatized about his departure. I felt sad and guilty about dropping Rags off but I was the most upset about having to explain to Ryann where Rags had gone. I dropped Rags off, put away his food bowls and kennel, all before the kids got home from daycare on Friday. I waited and waited for someone to notice that he was gone and was sick to my stomach with anxiousness about telling them. What ended up happening actually made me feel better and even laugh about the situation. NO ONE NOTICED THAT THE DOG WAS EVEN GONE FOR HOURS. Adam and Ryann even noticed the indent in the carpet where Rags' kennel used to be and their conversation went like this:
Adam: "What's that?"
Ryann: "I dunno"
Adam: "It's a pool! Let's swim!"
Ryann: "Oh, good imagination Adam. That's funny. Mom, look how Adam's using his imagination."
Finally, when Ryann got into bed that night, she glanced over to where Rags' kennel used to be next to her bed and asked, "Whydja move Rags' kennel?"....."Where is Rags?" There was no way on this green earth that I was going to tell her right then as she was laying her little head down on the pillow so I answered, "We'll talk about it in the morning." and she just said, "Oh, ok" and laid down and went to sleep.
This morning, I waited and waited and waited for someone to ask about Rags. Nothing....until about 2:30 this afternoon, when Ryann must have finally remembered our conversation from the night before. Our whole family was in the living room together and this conversation went like this:
Ryann: "So, why'd you move Rags' kennel...and where is he?"
Me: "Well, I took him to the veterinarian to have his sick tummy checked on and the vet told me that Rags is getting sick from eating Rosko's poopy (poor Rags really was a poop-eater). The vet said that in order for Rags' tummy to stop being sick and for him to feel better, he needs to go live with someone who doesn't have any other dogs. So they said they were going to keep him and find him a really good home.
Ryann: bursts into tears and says "But I love him so, so much and miss him so, so much!"
Me: (in my head) "Really? Then why did you not even notice he was gone for nearly 24 hours"
Ryann: "Can we get a new puppy?!"
Me: (in my head) "See. More evidence that you don't really love him all that much if he's so easily replaced" (out loud) "No, honey, we have Rosko and we don't need another dog right now"
Max: "But couldn't we take Rags back where we got him and get our money back and get a new dog?"
Me and Stu: (laughing) "No buddy, that's not how it works."
Max: "But that's how it works at Walmart!"
Me: "Well, we didn't get Rags at Walmart, honey"
Me: (to Ryann because she's still crying) "It's ok honey. I know we'll feel sad for a while but we don't want Rags to have a sick tummy and the mushy poopies, right? You've had that before and know that it's no fun, remember?"
Ryann, tears drying quickly, nods in agreement and the conversation is over, crisis is past, and the issue seems closed.
1. Will Adam always need bi-focals? How will we know when his eyes are done developing and he just needs "regular" glasses to help him see close up?
I haven't had a chance to ask this question yet, so I still don't know the answer.
2. I've heard that an adult who is a friend of my aunt has IOLs and that sometimes they catch the sunlight or a bright light in a room and flash at people. Will that occur with Adam's IOLs?
Yes, we already see this happening when we take Adam's patch off to administer drops - you can clearly see the IOL in his eye (this is partly because his eye will remain dilated for the next few days, so you can probably see the IOL more clearly when the pupil is this large) and light definitely glints off of it. He is definitely going to be the talk of his class for having "those cool eyes".
3. Will Adam's eyes look a different color after the surgery?
No, it doesn't appear his iris color looks different.
4. What tips does Dr. B. have for keeping a patch on Adam's eye for two whole weeks? I worry that he will lay in bed at night and peel the sucker off!
Dr. B. literally said, "Good luck" and basically said it was up to us to do whatever we needed to to keep the patch on. He did tell us to ask for arm braces though (the braces strap on from his mid-biceps to mid-forearms and prevent him from bending his elbows so he can't get his hands up by his eyes), which have been helpful (we only use them when he's napping or sleeping at night, just in case). But really only for our own peace of mind. Adam has been absolutely PERFECT about keeping his patch on since his anesthesia has worn off (right when he was coming out of it, he was very upset and combative, which is totally normal and expected, and he was rubbing at the patch). He actually seems to feel more comfortable with it on. When we take it off to put drops in his eye, he's asked us to hurry and put the patch back on. Also, this morning the tape on the top part of the patch peeled off and his patch flopped down, dangling by the bottom tape and he immediately said, "Uh-oh! My patch!!" and pointed at it.
5. How will we bathe Adam/wash his hair while the patch is on?
We've given Adam baths two nights in a row now and washed him from his neck down. He hasn't had his hair washed since Tuesday night. The nurse at the hospital said we could take a shower since it was ok for a little water to get in his eye for a little bit but I didn't confirm that with Dr. B. and his hair looks fine so we're holding out for now.
6. What tips does Dr. B. have for encouraging children Adam's age to wear their glasses? And to not destroy them?
I didn't ask this yet because Adam will not have glasses until both of his eyes have been operated on so we don't need to worry about this part yet. Hopefully he will be just as awesome about his glasses as he has been about his eye patch.
7. When/how will we decide the date for Adam's surgery on his left eye?
Dr. B. said we will not operate on Adam's left eye until absolutely necessary. For right now, his left eye is seeing ok. His right eye can now see distance but not see close up so until his left eye needs surgery, Adam will use that eye to see close up and his right eye to see far away (natural bifocals!).
8. How often should we expect to be seeing Dr. B. for follow ups after both surgeries are complete?
We saw Dr. B. the morning after Adam's surgery (Friday), and will see him again next Wednesday. Then I think we see him again in another two weeks and probably monthly after that (unless we end up needing to schedule surgery on his left eye sooner than later).
9. Will we wait until both surgeries are complete and Adam's eyes are completely healed before having him fitted with glasses? Or will he need glasses as soon as his right eye is healed (to wear while his left eye is patched, since as I understand he will be "far-sighted" with the new IOL)?
As discussed above, Adam won't need glasses until both eyes have been operated on.
So, to go back to the beginning (i.e., the day of surgery), Adam started out like this:
Adam's surgery went just fine and his eye went from this (gray lense with dense cataract)....to....this (nice red/orange retina seen through the nice, clear Intra Ocular Lense (IOL))....WARNING: Gory photo ahead.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We finally got home that evening at about 4:00 after leaving the house that morning at 7:00 a.m. and Adam was already doing very well. He ate a good dinner and even had dessert. The little dearheart, with his huge eyepatch on and red popsicle drooled all down his chin so that he looked like he'd bled all over his face, turned to Max during supper and asked, "So....how was your day?" in a completely sincere and interested tone of voice. At bedtime, he fell right to sleep. I brought him to bed with Stu and me and Adam slept like a lamb and Stu and I barely slept. Two days later, Adam is back to his normal self:
The other quite notable event that has gone on this week has been the removal of one of our family members. Suffice it to say, without going into details, that it was a very hard decision to make that took a lot of time and thoughtful consideration to come to but Stu and I determined that we needed to find Rags a new home. We'd adopted Rags from a rescue organization in Faribault, MN and when I called they immediately agreed to take him back and find a new home for him. Just before bringing Rags back to Faribault (the day after Adam's surgery), Rags decided to develop an infection on his private parts as well as diarrhea. This ended up being fortuitous as I used it as part of my half-truth story for the kids so they would be less traumatized about his departure. I felt sad and guilty about dropping Rags off but I was the most upset about having to explain to Ryann where Rags had gone. I dropped Rags off, put away his food bowls and kennel, all before the kids got home from daycare on Friday. I waited and waited for someone to notice that he was gone and was sick to my stomach with anxiousness about telling them. What ended up happening actually made me feel better and even laugh about the situation. NO ONE NOTICED THAT THE DOG WAS EVEN GONE FOR HOURS. Adam and Ryann even noticed the indent in the carpet where Rags' kennel used to be and their conversation went like this:
Adam: "What's that?"
Ryann: "I dunno"
Adam: "It's a pool! Let's swim!"
Ryann: "Oh, good imagination Adam. That's funny. Mom, look how Adam's using his imagination."
Finally, when Ryann got into bed that night, she glanced over to where Rags' kennel used to be next to her bed and asked, "Whydja move Rags' kennel?"....."Where is Rags?" There was no way on this green earth that I was going to tell her right then as she was laying her little head down on the pillow so I answered, "We'll talk about it in the morning." and she just said, "Oh, ok" and laid down and went to sleep.
This morning, I waited and waited and waited for someone to ask about Rags. Nothing....until about 2:30 this afternoon, when Ryann must have finally remembered our conversation from the night before. Our whole family was in the living room together and this conversation went like this:
Ryann: "So, why'd you move Rags' kennel...and where is he?"
Me: "Well, I took him to the veterinarian to have his sick tummy checked on and the vet told me that Rags is getting sick from eating Rosko's poopy (poor Rags really was a poop-eater). The vet said that in order for Rags' tummy to stop being sick and for him to feel better, he needs to go live with someone who doesn't have any other dogs. So they said they were going to keep him and find him a really good home.
Ryann: bursts into tears and says "But I love him so, so much and miss him so, so much!"
Me: (in my head) "Really? Then why did you not even notice he was gone for nearly 24 hours"
Ryann: "Can we get a new puppy?!"
Me: (in my head) "See. More evidence that you don't really love him all that much if he's so easily replaced" (out loud) "No, honey, we have Rosko and we don't need another dog right now"
Max: "But couldn't we take Rags back where we got him and get our money back and get a new dog?"
Me and Stu: (laughing) "No buddy, that's not how it works."
Max: "But that's how it works at Walmart!"
Me: "Well, we didn't get Rags at Walmart, honey"
Me: (to Ryann because she's still crying) "It's ok honey. I know we'll feel sad for a while but we don't want Rags to have a sick tummy and the mushy poopies, right? You've had that before and know that it's no fun, remember?"
Ryann, tears drying quickly, nods in agreement and the conversation is over, crisis is past, and the issue seems closed.
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