Our Brave Little Patient

Yesterday morning was a bit of a rough morning for Mitch and I as we had to take Caleb to the Montgomery Surgery Center for eye surgery. When he was about 20 months old, we started noticing that his eyes, especially the left, wandered out to the side when he was tired. We started taking him to Dr. Colleen Christian, a pediatric eye-doctor, in April 2007 and she was hopeful that the wandering would clear up over the next year. As of November 2007, the wandering was still happening but didn't seem as frequent and at that doctor appointment, we were all thinking that nothing would need to be done. Over the winter, however, we noticed that the wandering started to increase and was much more frequent throughout the days and not just when he was tired. Our February 2008 doctor visit confirmed that in fact his condition, called exotopic strabismus, was getting worse and something would most likely need to be done....but there was still a glimmer of hope that it would just go away on its own. By the end of April, it was obvious to both us and Dr. Christian that the wandering had worsened even more, so she strongly suggested that we schedule eye muscle surgery for Caleb before the summer was over. We really like Dr. Christian a lot and trust her opinion, but even she herself thought getting a 2nd opinion would be a good idea and help us feel more confident about our decision. So off we went to CHOP to have a pediatric doctor there evaluate the situation, and the CHOP doctor agreed with Dr. Christian that surgery would need to be done to fix the problem and that it should be done soon as the left eye was starting to wander and stay out to the side longer and not come back to the middle like it used to. Both doctors also agreed that patching or glasses would not do anything to help his eyes....so we prayed about it and decided that surgery was the way to go. Dr. Christian assured us that the surgery is fairly routine and would actually only take 15 minutes for the procedure to be done. Being a pediatric doctor, she also had some great tricks up her sleeve to help the kids feel more relaxed. She said when we first got to the surgery center Caleb would be given a nose drop of something like Valium to ease the sadness of leaving us, and then he would be told to help blow up a big green balloon which is when they would give him gas to put him out totally. He would then be given a breathing tube and IV for pain medication and fluids but he would not be awake for that part. So the few days prior to surgery we started practicing "surgery" with Caleb's Big Bear so it would help him know what to expect. We went through the whole thing from entering the surgery center to getting a nose drop to going back with Blanket and blowing up the balloon and finally waking up and going home with mommy and daddy. Big Bear did so well in his surgeries that we decided he should come along with Caleb on his surgery day. So on the big day, we woke Caleb up at 6:20AM, carried him out to the car in his jammies along with Big Bear and Blanket, waved goodbye to Aunt Lori who was so graciously watching Noah at our house, and off we went. We got to the surgery center at 7 and by 7:30ish we were taken back to the pre-op room and Caleb was given his nose drop. The nose drop was pretty gross apparently which we had not prepared Big Bear or Caleb for, but it took effect in a couple minutes and then we were all having a great time. Caleb got so relaxed and giggly and it was really pretty funny to talk to him because his speech was all slurred and he couldn't get words out right. Around 8:45, after what felt like a long wait, Caleb's time was up. The nose drop had started to wear off but he was definitely still very relaxed, and although he looked pretty nervous, we put him on the bed with Big Bear and Blanket and they wheeled him away with no tears! I couldn't believe it...he was so brave!! It was so hard to see him leave us and be completely out of our control but I made it until I got to the bathroom....then I lost it...although I managed to pull myself together fairly quickly so that was also somewhat impressive. We were told it would be about 45 minutes until we could see him so we sat down and did just that...waited...and prayed! About 1/2 later, 9:30ish, we heard screams from inside the recovery room but thought no way was it Caleb because it sounded like a little infant crying. However a few minutes later, a nurse came out and asked if we could come back because it was indeed Caleb crying and 3 nurses weren't able to control him. Usually the parents aren't allowed back until the kids are more awake, but they thought in this situation the mommy and daddy could help and for that I am so grateful we were able to help comfort him. Even with me holding him he was still pretty wild for a good 45 minutes. Finally he was able to calm down and drink some soda and eat a little bit of a cookie which was good enough for them to take the IV needle out of his hand. Once the IV was out, he was pretty calm and we were able to leave the surgery center around 10:30. Once we were in the car and home he really started acting like himself, which was a obviously a huge relief to us! I think he also enjoyed being pampered with soda, Veggie Tales fruit snacks, a special Elmo movie rented just for him and BOTH of his blankets (we have 2 of the same one but one is usually kept safe for when the other is dirty) downstairs (Blanket is usually only allowed upstairs)! The corner of his eyes were really red and he was very tired, but he was so sweet and calm and we were so proud of him! Even all the nurses said for as crazy as he was coming out of surgery, he was a fantastic patient and they were all surprised how quickly he was able totally turn his emotions around. We took Caleb back this morning to Dr. Christian for a post-op appointment and she said his eyes look like they're worth a million dollars....we soaked those words up like gold! I really don't think Caleb has many memories at all of what happened yesterday and for that I am also so thankful! I have no doubts that the success of the surgery and Caleb's boldness was attributed mostly by all the prayers from so many of you!! Thank you!!! Caleb was also great going back to the doctor this morning and was more chipper than us I think! His only concern was that Dr. Christian didn't have farm animals to go with the barn in the kid's waiting room...which he let her know was a problem:) Now we are just praying that in a few months we don't start noticing the same thing with Noah...

Daddy and Caleb reading Curious George...usually Curious George isn't funny but today it is!

Mommy holding the 2 precious patients:)

Our little champ soon after we got home...looks great doesn't he?! I couldn't believe how good his eyes looked!

Caleb, Daddy and Noah watching Elmo go to the doctor...