Robin's surgery, 2 weeks later

Wow, I've been so busy/lazy that I haven't put anything substantial on this blog. I wanted to write down how the big day, Robin's surgery went.

So on June 16th we got up very early in the morning. We had to be in Hartford at 7.30 a.m. Raul stayed at Jeff & Jen's until school, and we took Quinn with us.

Robin was quite excited still, since there was the prospect of a "big huge Cinderella". We got to the hospital just in time, of course we got a tiny bit lost first, but when Kel decided to finally ask a cab driver for directions, (you know..men..) we got there quick.

Robin went skipping into the hospital, and chattering away, making doc's passing by smile :-p

We found the waiting area for day surgery, where we then waited for quite a bit. Robin got a little bit bored. Then the receptionist lady called us in for some paperwork. There was this article on the wall on how she puts kids at ease and such, but darn, this lady seemed unfriendly like heck. She acted like she was angry. I do think she was a bit challenged, but still, her voice sounded angry, she was hunched over most of the time and got angry at kelvin when he gave Quinn a box of raisins and kicked him out of the waiting area, because there were kids in there (like Robin) who hadn't been allowed to eat because of their impending surgery. Meanwhile, there were loads of people eating in there. Don't get me wrong, I think it it wonderful that this lady has a job that she loves, but it is also a bit unthoughtful to place someone who might scare kids as a receptionist in a children's hospital waiting room with nervous kids and parents that are going in for surgery.

Anyway, that aside..

We got called in, Quinn wasn't allowed in the pre/post op areas, so I went in with Robin. We had to hang out in a little area with a bed. First a nurse came (a very nice one!) to do some more paperwork. Then we heard someone say: "are there any people with crossed eyes in here?" :-D

There was Docter Walden stopping by to check on Robin and explain some things. Then another really nice nurse came to explain Robin about the anesthesia. She showed her her mask, let her try it out, and Robin even got to pick some flavored lip gloss to put on the inside of the mask to make it smell good.

Then, we were both handed some outfits, Robin some hospital pj's, and me a fashionable gown and "shower cap". We were asked to change into these and then it was off to the OR. I felt a bit uneasy. Robin however did not, because she got to pick out a vehicle to drive to the OR in. She chose this humongous Barbie Jeep pink Escalade and rolled right over to the O.R. The last bit she skipped, right to the operating table. She had to sit down and after a bit more explaining to her, she got her mask on and started breathing in the anesthesia. That was probably the weirdest for me, you could tell she was trying really hard to do it right and concentrate. Once it started working, she started grabbing me and you could see her look around puzzled. (she told me later that i looked funny when she had to blow up the balloon). She was shaking ad trembling a bit which i was told was normal, but it is a strange thing to see your kid like that. Then she suddenly fell out, and they laid her down. Then was my time to go.

We were brought to yet another waiting room, that is just for parents of whom the kids are currently in the O.R.. There was a big tv in there, which the o.r schedules and to show who was currently in. It was color coded so you could see when your kid was being brought out into recovery.

I think we were hardly there for half an hour and then Dr Walden came in to let us know everything went great.We had to wait a bit until Robin was coming out of her anesthesia to see her. Once she did, first Kel went to see her, and then me. She was really not happy, she could not open her eyes, and was crying. When i asked what was wrong, she just kept saying she wanted to go home. The nurse heard it, so she tried to speed things up so we could go. They had told us Robin might have red/pink tears, and she did, but it was not as creepy as i had thought it might look. She was all sweaty (it was so hot there) and after she learned that she would go home very soon, she calmed down a bit. I think half an hour after I came in to see her, we got her clothes back. I dressed her up in her own clothes again, and a nurse with a wheelchair came to walk us out of the hospital. Poor Robin looked so sad, sitting there with her eyes closed, swollen, and shiny from ointment they had put on her eyes. Once in the car though, she did feel well enough to ask about her Cinderella. She (and Quinn too) slept most of the way home. While she slept though even, she had this sad look on her face that you could tell she really wasn't feeling so swell.

When we got home, we put her in bed and she slept most of the day. She would wake up in between though. She tried to eat some noodle soup, and felt a bit better. Good enough to say (while she couldn't even open her eyes), "That surgery wasn't so bad after all, right mommy?". Aww!

After a bit though, she vomited (we were told that she might be nauseous) and got really upset about that. She slept some more. After a bit, i heard her calling out excitedly: "mommy, my eyes are not closing anymore!"

Then i suddenly heard some stumbling. I went to check on her, worrying she might fall, because she was still dizzy from the anesthesia, but she had actually moved a chair next to her dresser and was sitting there eating soup with these funny Dame Etna style sunglasses on! :-D.

After 2 bites, she got tired, and went back to sleep.

Just before i was about to take Raul to tee ball practice, she got sick again though, but Kel offered to give her a bath and change her sheets so I could take Raul. It was great to get out for an hour!

When we got back, Robin was sleeping already. We had expected a rough night. And the doc had also said that in the morning, her eyelids might be stuck together. But instead, the next day, Robin was all excited at my bedside, eyes wide open, and normal looking (except for redness). She was very hungry and wanted some food. She scarfed down any food in sight the whole morning, and got more active with the minute. :-)

And that was that, She was her old self again. It took about a week for her eyes to look mostly white again. I don't think i have taken a good "after" picture yet, but I will soon. The day after the surgery Robin felt so great, we decided to go strawberry picking at night!

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, just a few with my phone, but you can see them here.

Then, a week ago, we went for Robin's post op. appointment. Dr Walden seemed very excited. He was really happy with the way Robin's eyes looked. While before the surgery, he had said that she would most likely still need glasses, now he said "she may not need glasses, we will have to see". So I think things went better than he'd hoped. He even brought in another mom with a little girl, who he had recommended the same surgery for. Of course i tried my best letting the nervous fellow mom know how well it all went. So, in 6 weeks we will be back. The docter said that time will tell if the results stay. Since strabismus is really caused by the the brain giving the eye the wrong signals, a surgery can only do so much. It is always a possibility that the strabismus will come back. Since he didn't give clear instructions on the glasses, we told Robin to try and wear them when she is doing things such as drawing, cutting, using the computer, reading etc, and other times she can keep them off. Since she hadn't worn them much before the surgery (they were not working then) she isn't used to wearing them, so she does forget a lot. She does seem to do good though. Time will tell!