Exam Results & Next Steps

I'll admit, not my most creative or well-conceived blog title but it gets the point across :)

Last week Hazel had an exam under anesthesia to check her overall eye health and to specifically look at the fluid in the back of her right eye that is clouding her vision.  We were nervous about how the pre-op portion would go as well as the result of the exam -- but God went ahead and did that thing that only He can do and gave a situation with our biggest worry the biggest sense of calm. 

Hazel is 4 years old now and she is far past the stage where she forgets things, for better or worse she has a steel-trap of a mind for experiences and knows what it means to get in the car in her PJs vs going to the same building for an appointment.  So when we got to the surgery center before the sun breached the horizon there were some tears and whimpering but she never lost control.  After a few dozen trips to the surgery center we know some tricks to make things easier....like weighing her at home before we arrive so she doesn't have to stand on the scale...and bringing the latest and greatest assortment of toys helps her mind stay occupied.  Hazel chose to bring her Lego structure which alternated between being called a "church" or a "school".

Hazel and Mom before her exam

The exam itself went really well and Dr Spencer (Retina specialty) was able to get a good look at both eyes...plus we got a bonus visit from Dr Dao, who is Hazel's Ophthalmologist.  We were anticipating that the fluid in her eye would not resolve itself based on her history -- which it did and it didn't at the same time.  There was a mix of things in the back of the eye: blood, fluid and a membrane.  The blood and vitreous fluid actually did resolve on it's own, but what we couldn't see from an in-office exam on eye sonogram was the membrane that is hanging out near her retina in the back of the eye.

The Good News:  This is a good root cause for what is blocking her vision and is easily resolved through a surgery.

The Bad News:  Usually we can do this surgery on the same day, but due to her sties and the higher risk of infection we have to schedule this in 2-3 weeks.

No dates have been established yet but we will be back in the surgery center before the end of the year and the procedure shouldn't be terribly invasive or painful.  Honestly, the hardest part of doing these is the added trip to the center, the coordination of schedules, the follow up visit the next morning....all necessary evils but when you've done it two-dozen times it adds up. 

Stay tuned, I will post again when we have the surgery date scheduled!