Getting Back on Track

Well, if you missed my last post than you might not know that Hazel made another trip to the surgery center on Wednesday (1/4) to do an evaluation under anesthesia.  This was a follow up to her cornea surgery in late November, but was a week ahead of schedule due to some complications.

We knew going into the day that the main components of her eyes were still in really good shape...including the back of her eye which is hard to evaluate, even under anesthesia.  What we didn't know was the source of the fluid in her right eye.  Lucky for us, we have good surgeons who have dedicated their personal and professional lives to helping kids like our daughter.  It's hard to express how lucky we are to live where we live in terms of medical know-how.

As it turns out, the source of the fluid that was clouding her vision came from a blood clot.  They can't say with 100% certainty why there is a clot to begin with, but the best guess at the time of the exam is that it could be from the re-positioning of her glaucoma tube or the patching needed during her November cornea transplant.  At the end of the day, finding the source would just be an answer to a question...but it doesn't really matter long term.  Dr Bowman and Smith agreed that the best course of action was to make a small incision behind the cornea and remove a "sheet" of the blood from the upper half of the eye to immediately increase her field of vision.  The remaining portion is likely coming from the source of the blood...which needs to heal and resolve itself.  Your eye could do this part naturally over time, but they also added a slow-release steroid to expedite the process.

Thanks to everyone who is praying for Hazel so constantly and consistently.  I know people were praying specifically for her transition waking up from anesthesia and this time it went a lot better...so thank you for being there for Hazel.

The reality here is that none of these evaluations and surgeries to help Hazel's ailments are fun or happy or bright.  They're just not.  But this outcome is one of the better ones that would could have hoped for -- there are a lot of unknowns for Hazel and finding a problem that has a solution has to be taken as an optimistic sign.  One other bit of good news is that her stitches from the cornea surgery were able to come out ahead of schedule, which eliminates a need for another EUA next month.

Overall, I think I'm just anxious to get things back on track for Hazel.  She is going to have multiple EUAs each year and every doctor wants her to check in every few months.  It's a lot to do and a lot for a three year old to handle...physically and emotionally.  But my hope is that she can put together some good months, followed by some check-ups that have positive news so she can just be a kid.

Until next time...

Nothing [Worth Having] Comes Easy

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.