Hello and a Happy New Year to you and your family. I have a quick update that I wanted to post about Hazel since she is going back in tomorrow for an exam under anesthesia...
Hazel has been doing pretty well overall since her cornea transplant on November 30, if you remember from my post-op blog post she was back in action and riding her tricycle the afternoon of her surgery. Since that time, our focus has been on keeping up with eye drops and refilling prescriptions -- all things that we are used to doing. One thing we know needs to be done to strengthen her right eye is to put a patch on her strong eye for 1-3 hours each day. Typically, Hazel can still function and play and find toys around the house without much trouble while she is patched; she doesn't like it but most days a small cup of popcorn or some fruit snacks will win her over as a reward. Last week Aubree patched Hazel's eye for the first time since the cornea transplant and Hazel was calm and cooperative...until she missed a doorway and ran into her bedroom wall. We didn't know what to make of it and Aubree held her hand as we walked into the living room...I stood silently by the fireplace as Aubree walked her to within an arm's length and asked her to find Daddy. Her head swiveled around, scanning the room for me but it was pretty obvious that nothing was happening. We brought her favorite books over and asked who she saw on the pages...she guessed a few of her favorite characters but they were only guesses.
The next day we spent a few hours driving through the metroplex and visiting a few of Hazel's doctors and getting consultations. After a visual examination of the eye and a BP scan (Sonogram of your eye), we discovered that she had a fluid in her eye that was clouding her vision. They don't know if it is a membrane or scar tissue from the previous surgery yet -- but that's why we are taking her back to the surgery center tomorrow to find out. There was no structural damage to the cornea, her retina or the vitreous cavity in her eye -- all important players in her eye health.
I feel better today knowing that her eye is still healthy and that the (likely) problem here is just removing that fluid...but for that 24-36 hour period, it was hard not to imagine worst case scenarios and let your mind wander to places it's better not to go. Nothing worth having comes easy, and for a curious 3-year old who loves life and exploring new things there's not many things more important than her eyesight. We'll keep doing everything we can to take care of her along the way. :)
Updates coming after the EUA tomorrow, we'll be there bright and early at 5:30 am.
No comments:
Post a Comment