Alex's Eye Surgery

On September 13, 2013, Alex went in for Strabismus surgery. (Strabismus surgery loosens or tightens eye muscles, which changes the alignment of the eyes relative to each other.) In Alex's case, they tightened his muscles. I wrote the pre-surgery section as soon as I got into the waiting room that morning because it was fresh in my mind and I knew I wouldn't have time to post right away.


September 13, 2013 - Pre-Surgery:

I really thought I would be OK. What was I thinking? I had been through this before when Alex had an MRI at 3 months old...still, it doesn't make it any easier.

He must have sensed something because he was up right when my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning. In typical Alex fashion, he was all smiles. Not a peep out of him all the way to the hospital, which I am surprised by because I couldn't give him anything to eat or drink, so I thought for sure he would be fussing. It was a chilly morning, so I had him dressed in his cozy jammies and covered him with his blankie as we walked from the parking garage. He snuggled right into my shoulder.

We only waited a few minutes before we were called back to get things started. There were different nurses with lots of questions. We saw and spoke to the anesthesiologist. As expected, Alex drew a crowd of nurses. One would come into the room, google over him, leave and then another would come in. They were all talking about him as if he was some sort of movie star! He loved every single second of it. He was hamming it up, smiling and flirting with all of them.

To ensure he was relaxed when they were ready to take him back, they gave him a small dose of medicine and within 15 minutes he was completely chill. The last thing I wanted was for him to be upset when I had to hand him off to the nurse.

I got him all changed into his little gown and the nurses came to take him back. I was completely in control until that moment. I hated not being able to be there next to him to hold his little hand. not being there when he woke up, not knowing if he was ok. Off to the waiting room I went.

Post Surgery:

They say waiting is the hardest part and that was certainly the case this morning. Alex went in for his surgery at 7:37am and it was almost three hours later when we got to see him. The surgery took about an hour and everything went as planned. He was a little sleepy and groggy so it took awhile for him to wake up. His eyes were covered in ointment and not only did he have the anesthesia, but he was also given some pain medication through his IV. We took him home shortly after getting into recovery.

Eric rode in the back seat with him on the way home. All he wanted to do was touch his eyes, so we had to keep his arms down and away as much as we could. He would get upset when we would tell him no.

My Mom came over to watch Evan, so when we arrived home, Alex snuggled up next to grandma and went to sleep. He was pretty restless throughout the afternoon and I kept alternating Motrin and Tylenol to help the pain. It wasn't until about 4:00 when we really started to see him perk up. He ate dinner and went to sleep ok. I was expecting a restless night, but he slept through.

The next day he was back to himself. Happy, smiling Alex! Because he couldn't tell me the amount of pain he was in, I kept up with giving him Motrin throughout the day. We had an ointment to give him for five days until his post-op visit.

Post -OP Appointment - September 19, 2013

We saw the Doctor six days after Alex's surgery. There was still some crossing occurring so he wants us to patch his eyes for the next five weeks. One eye a day for 2-3 hours - alternating eyes. The redness had gone down a lot from Saturday and he wasn't having the urge to touch them. The Doctor said he is healing very well and we hope to have a better idea in five weeks of whether or not the surgery was a success. I am just glad it's over!

Before the surgery in the Hospital Room

Back to his goofy self...

...and his cute self!