Surgery and Valentine's Day

Still playing catch-up....

Some tasty mini cupcakes for Valentine's Day...Homemade Valentine's was an excellent multi-day craft for Tom and Elizabeth! Tom made these for his classmates and teachers. Elizabeth made these Valentines for her friends On February 19th Tom had strabismus surgery on his right eye. Our ophthalmologist first mentioned this surgery to us over one year ago, so we were not alarmed in February when she confirmed her recommendation for the surgery. We just did not realize we would get on the calendar so quickly! Tom was out of town on business (hench my lack of blogging) for two weeks straight in February which made the entire month a bit of a blur. The strabismus surgery has a 60% - 80% success rate and time is the only indicator of 'success'. Assuming Tom's procedure is a success we are hopeful this will help with depth perception and strengthening both eyes...which opens the door to multitude of other benefits, just too many to list. Given the rough start to life, Tom is such a strong guy, even those his weight may not allude to this - he is still about 22 pounds. At 5:30 AM, on the day of the surgery, here is all smiles with Papa. At Children's Hospital, Tom insisted on completing the paperwork himself, after all, it is his surgery. Since eating and drinking was not an option, I came prepared with a large bag full of his favorite books - he especially loves the Wheels on the School Bus Here we are with Dr. Salit moments before the 'feel good' drug was administered. He looked so cute and a little pitiful in his hospital gown.

"Feel Good" drugs are kicking in. He was supposed to get wheeled back to the Operating Room, but after this picture was taken he insisted on being carried by the nurse.

The waiting is finally over, my little angel is back in my arms - this picture remind me of the days in NICU. I can feel him breathing, but very legarthic.

No offense taken, but this is Tom's favorite position...and I mean both Toms. The board on his arm was for his IV and additional meds. When he awoke from surgery the nurses said he did not want his gown on and he just wanted to be held.

I did not take any post-op pictures for some strange reason. His eye was so red (which is normal), but he seemed to be in no pain. On the car ride home he did get sick, which is to be expected, but he bounced back very quickly. So far the doctor is happy with the surgery and yes, he will still wear glasses - this surgery did not tweak the lens, the procedure actually tightened a few of the muscles behind his eye.