Another Day, Another Surgery

We are back at home this afternoon after going to the surgery center this morning for Hazel's appointment.  The day started early with a 4:30 am alarm clock, followed by the snooze button until Aubree and I willed ourselves out of bed at 4:45 am.  By 5:25 am we were walking out the door and into the freezing darkness with coffee in hand.

 

Two of Hazel's doctors were involved in today's exam under anesthesia (EUA)...Dr. Bowman (Cornea Specialist) and Dr. Smith (Glaucoma Specialist).  Both doctors got a good look at her eyes during the EUA and came to a few conclusions....

 

1.  Dr. Bowman feels really good about the clarity and condition of Hazel's cornea transplants.  And as a bonus, he felt that Hazel's eyes had healed quickly and effectively enough to remove ALL the sutures from her eyes today.  The original plan was to take out 16 sutures and they ended up taking out all 24.

 

2.  Neither Bowman or Smith was pleased to see Hazel's high eye pressure...which was 33 today.  As a reminder, 10-20 is the preferred range for eye pressure and Hazel usually ends up being anywhere from the high teens to the mid-20s.  It should be noted, however, that the morning is the time of day when pressures in the eye are at their highest. 

 

After Dr. Bowman had completed the removal of the sutures it was time for Dr. Smith to tag in and proceed with a procedure to relieve pressure from Hazel's eye for the long term...called a trabeculotomy.  Feel free to click the link if you want to read exactly what the procedure involves.  The main thing you need to know is that this procedure is the best method for fighting against glaucoma...which is the biggest threat to her vision at this time.  All in all the procedure went really well and Hazel is sleeping the day away with a patch over her right eye. 

 

We will go back and do another EUA and trabeculotomy on the left eye in the later part of March.  Hazel is back at home now and feeling pretty tired, we are anticipating a tough week as she tries to get back to 100%.  Thank you to everyone for your prayers, messages and text over the last day.  It was not in our original plan to do this procedure today, but we are just happy everything went well.