Back in the Saddle

Hi everyone.  Feels like a long time since I've gotten on here to write...mainly because it's been half a year.  As recently as last week I thought that I needed to write some updates on Hazel and our growing family just so everyone can keep up -- but unfortunately, more health issues are the driving force behind this update.  I'm going to start with medical and end with a family update...time sensitive things get priority.

Team effort at a recent eye exam

As a reminder, Hazel lost a battle in January when the retina in her right eye detached and we were not able to reattach it long-term.  The right eye has always struggled and fought our efforts to fix and strengthen it...so ultimately, making that eye healthy just wasn't in the cards.  Hazel has relied on her left eye for most of her life, but losing vision in the right eye just made it official. 

Wednesday afternoon we noticed that Hazel's right eye started losing pressure, was leaking lots of clear fluid and looked washed out.  We were able to get her looked at early this morning (Thursday) and a build-up behind her cornea caused a protrusion...which was the culprit.  Even though this eye is not functional, we can't have an exposed hole like this...so Friday morning we will be back at the surgery center to do a cornea transplant.  This will be her 6th cornea transplant...with 5 of those happening in this eye.

Probably goes without saying that this was a swift punch to the gut.  We already lost vision in the eye and now it's still haunting us from beyond the grave...it's just demoralizing.  Hazel is almost 5 and she understands where we are going before we even leave the house with context clues.  Today was just an exam and her nerves overtook her for the better part of an hour because she thought it was a surgery.  I have no idea what to expect tomorrow when it's the real deal and not a dress rehearsal.

Need prayers for calm nerves, focus from the medical teams (Doctors, nurses, anesthesia) and that she wakes up from the surgery smoothly.  

Before Wednesday, everything in our house was running smoothly...or as well as can be expected with 3 kids under 5 years old.  Hazel and Sawyer both love being big sisters for their new brother (Barrett), who is now 3 months old.  Updated picture of the little crazies is below for everyone.  

Hazel and Barrett

Sawyer First Day of School