Sunday, September 30, 2012

The eyes have it



At Jacob's 3 month old check-up it was noted that he had clogged tear ducts in both of his eyes.  They had been that way since he was born; getting all gunky with yucky green stuff each morning. The pediatrician recommended I wipe them with warm wet washcloths several times a day and I did.  But nothing changed.  

By the time he was 5 months old I was beginning to be concerned about the upcoming 6 month check-up so I took the advice I had received from more than a few mommies and squirted breast milk in his eyes.  Jake, I am sorry if you are reading this as an adult and are appalled, but that's what I did, and guess what?  The next day your left eye was clear and never became clogged again.  

The right eye however, would not clear no matter what I tried.  So at the one year check-up the pediatrician said it was time to address this and have a specialist look at it.  We went to eye surgeon Dr. Brooks and he recommended Jake's right eye be aspirated.  "Such a simple procedure, it'll be over in 10 minutes, no side effects... but we will need to put him under anesthesia and be at the hospital.  But don't worry."  Yeah, okay, sure, no worries.  AAAAHHHH!  

I can't imagine the stress of having a child undergo a procedure that is actually dangerous, (as I know some of you dear friends have had to do,) because I was very stressed about this. So stressed in fact that I rearranged the living room furniture the morning beforehand and washed all the bedding in the house.  (I like distractions.)  

Adding to my stress was the fact that Rob was unavailable (due to a work commitment) and Jake and I needed to be at the hospital at 6 am.  My sweet sister offered to drive down and help with the big kids, but thankfully a woman from church generously offered to take Charlotte and Toby at 5:15 am and even got Charlotte to school for me.  (While managing her own 5 children's morning routines.) Thank you, thank you, thank you!  (Also, Pam, I fully expect you to make that trip sometime in the near future now just to play with me.)

So... the procedure DID go smoothly and WAS over with quickly.  And now nearly a week later, Jakey can see clearly now the gunk is gone.  He can see all obstacles in his way.  Actually, he had no problems seeing before, but isn't that a great song?  

Dr. Brooks did tell me there is a 1 in 20 chance that his eye will re-clog itself because his passageway, or whatever, is very narrow on one side.  (I'm so technical, huh?)  If that happens, then Jake will need a procedure to put in tubes- similar to when kids have tubes put in their ears.  But thankfully that is unlikely, and so far all looks well.  I am very thankful for modern medicine and that this was not a lifelong problem for Jake as it may have been in days gone by.  That said, I hope we don't have to go to the hospital again anytime soon.  For that matter, I hope YOU don't have to go to the hospital anytime soon either.  Let's just all be healthy and not go to the hospital, k?  

2 comments:

Aubrey said...

So glad Jakey is gunk-free! Medical procedures of ANY sort are stressful, my friend. Congratulations on handling it all so well!

Mandy Benton said...

So glad everything went ok! Seth almost had to have that operation too but luckily the gunky eye resolved itself when he was 9 months old. I hope everything is clear from here on out!