Wednesday 11/30/16
I hate being here, no offense to the surgery center, but sitting in this waiting room anxiously passing the time, trying to escape via music or Instagram or texting or whatever...we've just been here too many times. I've lost count of how many times Hazel has been in this scenario. We used to keep her tiny gas masks at our house, thinking it would be a neat memento and reminder of all she has endured...but after you get past 15 or 20 masks they just become sad reminders instead. I think in lots of ways we have just learned to look to Hazel's future and not fret about the past. Sitting here as the sun rises, surrounded by people waiting for their elderly patients to be done with their surgery while we wait for our frequent-visitor toddler...today is just tough.
Alright, I said three years ago this blog is 98% Hazel and 2% for Aubree and I...think I've used up my talking space.
This morning is Hazel's fourth cornea transplant, she's had one in her left eye and this is the third in the right. We have 1 or 2 tricks up our sleeve for keeping her calm before going back to the O.R. and honestly, she did better today than most days. The nurses now call her medical bands "bracelets" and we draw little stars on them, Hazel voluntarily let's us do her pre-op eye drops, the new anesthesiologist brought her a puppy toy with a tiny pink crate. I also owe a special shout out to "Christmas Monkey" (Curious George) and Daniel Tiger on the iPad. This is a method that has been refined over time :) This time around, they had Aubree walk back with her to the O.R. to help the transition of using the gas mask and getting her to sleep. The staff said it made a difference and this time was better...but if this is better it makes me really sad about how poorly she usually reacts before going under. Maybe it's just a blessing that we haven't had to experience her raw emotions and her reaction when the procedure begins. Not sure I would of handled that situation with as much grace as my wife. At the end of the day, these are necessary surgeries and no 3 year old would be excited to willingly participate.
About 90 minutes after going back, we got a recap from Dr Bowman and Dr Smith. It was a two-part procedure...her glaucoma tubes needed to be re-positioned since they were slowly moving out of place and getting clogged in the process. A scary number that we anticipated today is her eye pressure was up to 40...if it wasn't surgery day this would be a horrifying situation...but with her tubes cleared up we expect that number to drop by more than half. Anywhere in the low to mid teens is ideal, but 25+ is when the warning alarms start sounding. The new cornea also went on without any issues with the exception of one or two blood vessels that will make her eye more red than normal for a few weeks. It looks bad but the blood doesn't make it any more painful. I suddenly feel like I'm being too robotic about this....THE SURGERY WAS A GREAT SUCCESS!!! One of the tubes that needed to be re-positioned was causing irritation and pain for Hazel...which means this surgery will be a serious improvement on her quality of life.
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| Exhausted and asleep after the procedure |
The only hard part this time around is that Hazel had a really, really rough time coming out of anesthesia. The longer she is under the harder it is for her to normalize, but this was something else. She was focused on ripping off her eye patch and refused to be distracted or reasoned with...she is a year older now than her last surgery and the recognition skills of a three year old seem much further along. We spent about an hour playing defense and keeping her hands out of her face until she finally went to sleep with the aide of some additional meds and what Dr Bowman deemed the "Civil War bandage treatment" for her head. It was physically and emotionally draining...Aubree and I were both stressed at the situation and each other. Tears were shed by patient and parent, toddler punches were thrown, but we made it through to the other side.
At this stage we're just trying to be diligent with her recovery plan and eye drops. Once the sutures are removed in January our prayers will be aimed at the future and that transplant 3 is more successful than cornea 1 or 2. I don't know if we can keep up the pace of one cornea transplant in her right eye per year. It's just too much for her. It's too much for us... we just want this one to last for a few years.
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| Back on her bike by the afternoon |
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| Anxious to hold little sister at the house |
After three years of posting I am as grateful now as I was in 2013 that so many people pray for Hazel and for us. Praying for situations that are difficult can make you question why things happen in the first place but I can tell you from my experiences that Hazel's story has produced more positives and reasons to praise God than anything else. Life is just tough...but it doesn't have to feel that way if you surround yourself with supportive people and realize that there are some things that are far beyond the control of any one person.
Until next time...
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| Warrior Hazel at her post-op visit the next morning |
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