Post Op Update

We got a slight break this morning and didn't have to be at the surgery center until 6:30 am which is an hour later than the previous three surgeries.  Guess you've gotta enjoy the little things....  

Hazel had an uninterrupted night of sleep last night and was in pretty good spirits by the time we made it to the waiting room.  It was still dark outside when we arrived and the building was basically empty, but early surgery times are always better than any time later in the day.  Hazel stayed in good spirits up until about 7:30 in the pre-op room when her hunger started to outweigh any toys or funny faces that Aubree and I could offer.  All the nurses who have check Hazel in for previous surgeries always like to come by and say hello or see how much she has grown.  When Dr Smith arrived in our pre-op room Hazel was making lots of noises and getting anxious, but she LOVES Dr Smith and got a big smile once they were face to face.  Overall, this was a pretty uneventful day as far as surgeries go.  Everything went according to plan and there were not any "on the fly decisions" that needed to be made by Dr Smith or by us.  Both of Hazel's tubes have been inserted into her eyes and are fully functional.  It will be really interesting to see what her eye pressure is like when Aubree takes her in for her check up tomorrow morning.

Hazel is in good spirits and is essentially acting like nothing happened;  Aubree needed to be at work today so today I stayed home so that one of us will be with Hazel all day.  We have been playing, laughing, watched team USA vs. Germany in the World Cup, had some pureed sweet potato, had a bottle and right now she is taking a nap.  And as a bonus, Aubree works close enough that she was able to come home at lunch and see everyone for an hour or so.  

From this point, we don't have any planned eye surgeries for the immediate future...so we are in the monitoring phase for her eyes to see how she progresses.  We did get her fitted for tiny sunglasses and tiny glasses last week since she is very nearsighted, she will probably start wearing them in the next few weeks but who knows how long it will take for her to get used to them.  

I will keep everyone updated on some of the other issues that are on our plate for Hazel, including her excess head fluid, the ear fluid which is affecting her hearing and if anything happens with her minor heart condition.  The list of things we haven't addressed yet seems daunting when you list them all together, but they seem so secondary compared to her eye problems and finding out about her chromosome deletion.  We're really just trying to take this one step at a time and enjoying Hazel while she is still a baby.

I can't even tell you how encouraging it is to have people praying for Hazel so constantly and consistently.  It is tough to quantify the impact that prayer can have on a situation.  It's just impossible to know how things would be different if no prayers or fewer prayers had been said for our daughter.  Prayer is about faith and humility and turning things over to the Lord...not just for yourself, but for those around you.  Thank you to everyone who has been so faithful to God in this time and lifted Hazel up to Him in prayer.