An Update- At Last

It's been a wild weekend.

Parker: The appointment on Friday went well. Parker let the doctor do a full examination, which can only be attributed to being an act of God. Parker's left eye looks great. His right eye still has the white blood cells, so we have to continue to treat it with a stronger steroid. Both eyes are more farsighted from the implants than what we had anticipated. But, hopefully, as he grows it will correct itself. Parker also broke his glasses this weekend. So, Eric went to walmart and bought some adult glasses for $10 to put on for now so that he doesn't have to wear the patch all day. The tape from the patch at night is already hurting his face, so we leave the tape on all day too. I'll put a picture below. He looks quite funny.

Me: I did something strange to my back. It started last Wednesday and has gotten worse. I ended up in the ER on Saturday. They were concerned about a possible blood clot in my lungs. They ran an initial test which came back slightly elevated, but not as elevated as they would expect. That's the story of my life: slightly off. I had an option of running another test, but the amount of radiation would have been extremely dangerous if I ever wanted to have more children. I don't think I do, but I wasn't ready to make that decision in the ER while totally drugged up on pain killers. So, we didn't do the test. I'm now on a combo of percocet and valium. Nice. Actually, it still doesn't kill all the pain. It just makes me tired so that I sleep through it.

Anyways, I probably won't update very much until all of this is over. It kinda hurts to type. But, Parker is doing well. I'm so thankful and relieved. I can't even believe that the drama with his eyes is almost over. Thank you all for your prayers and meals. Once again, we wouldn't have made it without you. And, give my mom a big hug if you run into her somewhere because she's been here almost everyday for a week now taking care of my kids for us.

We're Home

So, about 2 minutes, literally 2 minutes, after my last post the nurses wheeled Parker back into the room. Apparently when he woke up he started screaming at them. They tried to give him a sippy cup and his doll and he just threw them at the nurses. Then, he hit a nurse. So, he got to "recover" in our room. The nurse that brought him back seemed very traumatized by the ordeal and seemed to want us to give Parker a time out or something for acting that way. Whatever. He's two. He has no clue what's going on, and he's scared.

He wouldn't calm down, even with us. So, we went ahead and loaded him in the car to come home to a familiar environment. He took a long nap. (He and Eric. :)) He's awake now and isn't fighting the patch on his eye. We're pretty tired and hope to go to bed early tonight.

On another note, I was in terrible back pain yesterday and today, to the point that I can't even hold my own kids and it hurts to breathe. So, while the boys napped I went to the doctor. I've sprained my back. Nice. Now I'm doped up like my son.

Thanks for your prayers. I'll write again after our doctor appointment in the morning.

Here's Parker playing in the waiting room.

Parker before surgery.

Parker angry at home. :) Can't say that I blame him.

Update #2

The doctor just came in. They finished earlier than expected. The surgery went well on his left eye. We should see him in 30 minutes.

The right eye apparently has some white blood cells sticking to the lense. We have to increase the steriods in that eye to fight it off. I'm glad they were able to see that. Pray that the right eye will heal correctly.

Update

We got a call in our room at 10:00am saying that they had a really hard time getting Parker to calm down. So, we're running a little behind schedule. They estimated that they'll be finished with the surgery around 11:30am.

I'm currently sitting here trying to distract myself from everything. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to complain about our experience today. When we got here the nurse came in to check Parker's vitals. She was flustered by my two-year old not wanting to be checked. So, she kept handing me the instruments, asking me to take his blood pressure and pulse, etc. Then, she'd get upset and correct me when I didn't do it right. I don't know how to check someone's blood pressure and oxygen levels... Ah!...Then the anesthesiologist came in to explain to us that Parker would be getting the gas to put him under and not an IV. I asked about the IV. She told me that they only do IV's when they do surgery. Yep. She had no clue that Parker was getting surgery today. Then, they couldn't get Parker to take all of his sedative, so he was crazy.

Anyways, I'll update later.

In Surgery

They just took him back to surgery at 9:15. Our surgery was pushed back when we got here. The morning was a bit rougher than what I expected. Parker did really well in the waiting room. However, when we went through the double doors to the surgery center he started to scream. He remembered.

So, hopefully we will be hearing from the doctor around 11:15am or so. He'll then be moved to the recovery room for about 30 minutes to one hour until he's stable enough to come back to our room. I'll post when we hear that it all went well. I'll post some pictures later today from home.

Thanks for your prayers. Keep praying. :)

Surgery Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day. I can't believe it's here already. I'm overwhelmed with knowing that my little P will be able to see clearly after tomorrow. Please pray for his surgery and recovery process. I keep telling him that we're going back to the hospital to fix his left eye. He just says, "I can't!" And, then runs away. I guess I'd be saying the same thing.

We have to be at the hospital at 6am. The surgery is scheduled at 8am. First, the doctor will evaluate his right eye. They can make adjustments to his left implant based on the recovery and results of the right eye. Then, they will take out the left cataract, and put in an implant. The surgery should take about 2 1/2 hours. We'll probably be able to leave the hospital around or shortly after lunchtime. We'll then have to wait until Friday morning to see the actual results of the surgery

I'll update the blog as things occur. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Valentines and Sprains

This is my view from the couch. I sprained my left ankle on Friday while trying to weave through the mess in our laundry room. Then, I sprained my right ankle Sunday while carrying a mirror down our front steps.

My mom stayed with me all day to take care of the kids while I watched the large ankle. My dad came over too, after work, and had a little snuggle with Parker.

Parker loves to "hold" Abigail.

It usually turns into this... Yes. They are both laughing...

Eric gave me roses for Valentine's Day. In the roses were dates that he's planned through May.

The Next Surgery

Parker's surgery for his left eye is scheduled for Thursday morning at 8am. I'm glad it's earlier in the day than last time. Of course, I'm as nervous as can be about Thursday after the surgery. He doesn't have any idea that this is coming up again. I can't wait for my little boy to be able to see clearly again!

Life...

I can't even tell you how great it's been to have nothing to blog about. Parker's doing really well. Life has seemed normal lately. For an update:

• Parker has discovered the red fire alarm at school. So far, I've caught him each time before he pulls it. Where did he learn that? Seriously? I'm nervous.
  
• Abigail has 4 teeth now.
  
• I signed a model release for Abigail for The Picture People. I'll let you know if/when her picture appears at the mall.


• Parker has a little girlfriend at school named Miller, or "Miwwa" as he says it.


• We paid off my car!