Lu’s eye surgery was yesterday and it was a much, much better experience than the lumbar puncture. We got a call on Wednesday to arrive at the hospital at 7:30 for a 9:00 procedure. We had a bit of a scramble finding someone to hang with Cole in the wee hours before school, but we have AMAZING friends and Amanda volunteered.
The registration process was smooth and Lu was ready in snazzy tiger jammies in no time. There was some hiccup with the paperwork which was a little unsettling; Neuroopthalmologist seemed to get really agitated with the nurses/bureaucracy and it was a little disconcerting directly before her turn to go in.
I went into the OR with her until she was asleep, and the bilateral eye muscle repair took a little less than 2 hours. It took longer for her to recover from anesthesia than the surgery itself! I am so grateful to everyone who reached out and whose thoughts were with us – a LOT of you were concerned that she definitely deserved her requested ice cream: rest assured we stopped on the way home. Everyone has been incredibly thoughtful – her teacher stopped by with cards from all of the kids in her class. <3
Lulu had some minor eye pain, but was feeling better even by last night. She even considered going to school this morning, but ultimately decided to rest a little bit more. She was bummed to miss her class’s Pippi Longstocking Day, so she dressed up and we’re watching the movie at home.
I had been so traumatized by the lumbar puncture and its aftermath that I specifically scheduled this for the Thursday before Rosh Hashanah – I wanted to allow some extra time without missing too much school in case it was necessary. I also am eager to put this year behind us and start fresh, and this was a HUGE step forward.
I am in awe of my kid. I can’t even get over how brave and strong she has been; they left these super adhesive pads all over her torso – 5 of them – and she methodically used coconut oil to peel them off one by one. I could HEAR them tearing away from skin and they left strong red marks, but she just plowed through. Her poise yesterday – and this whole year… she is incredible.
she really is incredible! So are you, momma, must be so hard! Glad she is on the mend, Pippi!