Strabismus Repair Day

Today was surgery day for Rae. She had her eyes fixed and her nose cauterized. At some point in time in her life, likely resulting from her stroke, her eyes started drifting or what is called strabismus.  It is not always noticeable to most, but it is worse when she is tired or crying.  We were not sure if we should get it repaired, but after consulting an pediatric ophthalmologist we went ahead with the surgery.  Without repair she would likely lose some of her side vision and her depth perception.  It is a fairly simple procedure done as an outpatient procedure.

This morning we headed out bright and early before 5 am for her surgery at Children's.  She did great and actually did not need any meds to calm her down.  Most of the time she has to go to hospital she get to play on the iPad or my phone.  She thought she was going to get to do the same today, but she was sad when she found out there would be no computer this time. She didn't remember much from the last time she had surgery, which was good.  We did find out she was sad and cried when she went into surgery.  It was funny when I asked her what she wanted to take - her blanket, pillow, and panda all got to go with us this morning, and they also went into surgery with her. It did make my day when I walked into PACU that she wanted her mommy and was calling for me.

Rae came thru both of her procedures just fine.  Having her IVIG  infusion last week helped get her counts up, which would cut down on any extra oozing, and it definitely helped today.  The ENT was able to cauterized several vessels in her nose, and he said we should see a very marked difference. This will be a nice break from having nose bleeds that could send us to the ER.  Her eye procedure went well too.  Her eyes are red right now and has double vision.  They are bothering her, especially right after she came out to recovery. We are having to stay close to her because if she has to move around she is still a little dizzy.  It is funny because she is wanting to do it herself, so she scoots or crawls around.  The part she is not liking are the eye drops - she was not happy with mom!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying.  We are very grateful. 

My Foot

My left foot for many years has been a source and pain and frustration. Several years ago when we still lived in Alabama, I had surgery on it to clean it out and fix a fracture I had no idea about. The surgery seemed to have worked, but a few weeks after it we had a house fire and I was back on my foot working hard to clean out and help repair our partial burnt home.

The pain started coming back. I would get cortisone shots, and I just started living with the pain. I ran a half marathon with this ankle. I didn't have much pain while training, so I thought maybe it was good. Well, in the past few years the pain has returned and with a vengeance. It would hurt standing on it a long time, shopping, and when I would clean my house. It would be hard to walk the next day, but I just lived with it.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I had had enough. Sadly, it took meeting our insurance deductible for me to finally go to the doctor. After my first visit he scheduled an MRI because of what he saw in the X-ray. The X-ray showed there was an extra bone, and I was hoping that was all that was wrong. This past Monday I got the results of the test, and oh my goodness. My ankle is a mess, and it seems my only option is surgery. If surgery is not bad enough, the recovery is going to be a little trying. My foot will likely be in a cast for 6-8 weeks, and then I can absolutely put no weight on my foot during that time. YIKES!! Noel has already informed me that he will be mean to me if I do not follow the doctors orders. We are both tired of the pain, and I want to be able to clean house and be pain free the next day.

 Just pray this will work this time, and recovery will go quickly and I that will come out with a brand new ankle. Pray my girls will be able to handle mom being a little incapacitated for a little while. They are sad they will still have to do school.

Red, White, & Boom

Happy 4th Everyone!! As we celebrate our country's freedom, I am reminded of how thankful we are for our freedoms. To me, the most important is our freedom to worship.  Last night we went to Columbus to watch Red, White, and Boom.  We went over early to find a great spot.  Rae was not sure of what was going to happen.  We tried to explain, but fireworks are just something you have to see.  While, she may have seen them before, this time was special.  Emily was not with us this year, because she was away at camp.  We missed her.  Downtown Columbus was a little crazy, but we felt like we found the perfect spot on top of a parking garage.  While we would have liked to be on the river, the crowds were probably insane.  The parking garage we found turned out to be perfect.  We sat the girls on top of our car, and they were able to see an amazing fireworks show.  Rae loved all the colors, and she could not take her eyes off them.  I almost teared up during some of the songs (esp. God Bless the USA), just thinking about our freedom and the freedom that Rae now has.  She has no idea what freedom means is right now, but one we pray she will be thankful for it in the future. 

Be thankful for the freedoms we have in our country.  Be thankful for those fighting for us to keep our freedoms. Be active and take a stand to insure our freedoms in the future.