Katherine's Surgery

I mentioned back at Easter that Katherine had to start wearing glasses because her eyes would involuntarily move inward when she was focused on something up close.  After weeks of wearing her glasses, her eyes had not improved and had gotten a little worse than before.  Her ophthalmologist suggested she have surgery to correct the problem now, before it gets worse and while she's young.  Jason and I came home from that appointment and researched both her condition and the surgery suggested.  We decided to go ahead with the surgery in hopes of getting Katherine out of her glasses for good.

Katherine had her eye surgery this week.  It's always hard to see your child have to have a procedure done, and I can't even begin to imagine what it's like for parents who have children with serious health problems that require long hospital stays and multiple procedures.

Before her surgery the sweet nurse let her pick out a new pair of sunglasses to wear home.  Seriously brilliant.  They would come in very handy later.

I literally cried when I kissed her goodbye before they whisked her off to surgery.  Katherine was fine.  She had been promised she would see balloons and candy beyond the double doors that led to surgery.  (She apparently did see balloons and candy because she mentioned it later in the day after her surgery.)  The poor nurse tried to make me feel better as I blubbered all the way down the hall back to the waiting room.  Jason, of course, knew this would happen.

I thought the worst part was over.  Then there was the wait.  When the doctor finally came out to tell us that she had done fine and was still sleeping, I thought the waiting was the worst part.  I thought I had prepared myself for what she would look like after surgery.  She was having surgery on her eyes after all.  She would be puffy and swollen.  When we rounded the corner and I saw a nurse cradling my almost unrecognizable baby I cried again.  My poor baby was so red and swollen, she looked like she'd been in a bad accident.  The nurse pointed to a recliner and offered one of us to sit down to hold Katherine, but before she could even get the sentence out I had already parked myself in the chair (sorry Jason).  Katherine was handed off to me where she tried to wake from her groggy sleep.  Her swollen face was definitely the worst part.

I seriously questioned what we had just let happen to our baby.  Her eye muscles were still swollen and uncontrollable and her eyes were red with blood.  All normal, but still.

{All smiles on the way home wearing our new shades.  And also still a little loopy.}

We went home and by that night, her eyes were almost back to their normal size.  By the next morning she looked like herself again and was already acting like her normal two-year-old self.  Her eyes are still red.  I call them her "vampire eyes."  She has no idea how scary her eyes look, so she just rolls with it.

"Just put these drops in her eyes 3 times a day and then put this ointment under her lower lid 3 times a day as well and don't let her rub her eyes."  Ok.  You realize she's 2 right?  Eye drops and ointment are a nightmare.  She fights and cries and won't hold still, causing me to waste most of her $90 eye drops.  Yes $90.  We've bribed her with M&Ms which has helped very little.

At her post-op, everything looked great but she would have to continue to wear the glasses.  I'm still hopeful that eventually we can ditch them for good.

Any tips for getting eye drops in 2 year old eyes?  I'm all ears.  

We ended the week with #NationalDonutDay and a trip to Tony's Donuts, where Katherine picked out the sprinkliest of the donuts.  Happy Friday!