Sweet Success!

Despite my best effort to worry some calamity into being, this day went perfectly! (Yes, I realize I am not supposed to worry but I did!) Everything went as planned and Children’s Hospital is an amazing institution. They were on time, professional yet caring and extremely organized. Will did a great job! My biggest fear was that he would be so hungry that he would cry from the time he woke up until surgery. Thankfully, he woke up at 5:30 am and could still have Pedialite. Once we were at the hospital, he was fussy but fell asleep until we had to weigh him. He was way too nosy to even remember he was hungry and I am so thankful! He didn’t cry when the NP checked him out or when the Child Life Specialist took him to pick out a doctor’s hat for Libby or when the nurse took him to surgery.

I can’t say the same of his mommy! I actually held it together until Dr. Locastro’s nurse came to take Will back for surgery. They were running about 15 minutes early so I was surprised when she said it was time for him to go. Honestly, I’d watched other parents walk by teary-eyed after saying goodbye to their kids and thought, “It’s outpatient surgery. They’re not leaving forever.” And then I bawled as the nurse walked away with Will. I think Andrew was surprised that I was so emotional because I’d been fine up until the very moment she said, “It’s time!”The surgery was very fast and Dr. Locastro talked to us in a conference room afterwards for about ten minutes about Will’s prognosis. Will only sees with one eye at a time which is really a brain issue. But because one cannot rewire the brain, stretching or rearranging the muscles usually sends enough information to the brain to wake up the part that hasn’t been working properly. That being said, we are now waiting to see what happens with Will’s brain. Because of his PVL, it is a little more of a guessing game as far as how much his eyes will be corrected. So, we wait. We’ll see Dr. Locastro in a week, and then six weeks and then every six months until Will is eight and his eyes are “set”. His eyes did look better the very few times he peeped them open today so I am eager to stare at him tomorrow when he feels better.Coming out of the anesthesia was a little rough on him. He was so mad when we walked back to the recovery room—he literally matched his purple scrubs! It took him a while to calm down even after I held him and sang his favorite “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” a few times. After he calmed down and the morphine kicked in, he fell asleep. He was really hoarse from the tube being down his throat (I didn't even recognize his cry at first) so we ended up staying longer than we thought so he could have a little breathing treatment. The nurses were great and even sent a moose home for Will and one for Libby (a little stuffed moose, that is)!

Will was hooked up to the same machines he wore for 10 weeks in the NICU. I had a few emotions roll over me as I looked at the pulse ox screen and the heart rate monitor. I do not miss those beeps!

He slept from the time we put him in his bed (around 12:30) until about 4:15. Andrew and I also had a long nap; even though we didn’t have surgery, we were pooped! When Will woke up, he drank 12 ounces of Pedialite and kept it down (one concern with eye surgery is that babies have vertigo and are really nauseous) and later had some formula but didn’t keep that all down. He’s back asleep now and seems to be comfortable. He was giving a lot of little moans while he was awake but he also smiled and cooed for his visitors this afternoon. Our friends brought over dinner and Cousin Emmy, Aunt Meri, Papa and Nanny stopped by. Grandma is coming over tomorrow and I know we’ll all appreciate her TLC!

Libby survived Will’s surgery very well. She took care of Papa all day and arrived home toting her suitcase and asking for Will-Will. She was mostly concerned about the boo-boo on Will’s hand from his IV. That concern was quickly resolved when she saw the moose he brought her!

Thank you for your prayers. Tuesday night my friend called right before bed and said, “I hope you’re feeling the prayers for peace that people are praying for you tonight so you can rest.” I had just thought the same thing as I was trying not to worry about every detail of the next day. I did sleep well and so did Will.

Now we’ll pray that the surgery worked and that it will be his last one.

After I posted the last blog entry about living an abundant life, I took Will for his check up just to make sure his ear infection had cleared up-- and it had but his right ear was infected. Since Libby was with me, I asked the doctor to check her ears since she’d had a cough and runny nose for a week. Of course, she had one too! Sometimes I hesitate to even post anything on the blog about what I’ve been learning because I always have to live out that lesson that day or the one after. This time wasn’t any different!!

Next time I post a blog, I am going to talk about learning how to enjoy sunshine, rainbows, and winning a huge cake to eat all by myself. Then maybe I’ll have that sort of day!