The Infamous Eye Surgery

I was looking for pictures of the Pool Project and ran across these. I thought since maybe my good friend Tanya (the only person besides my Mom who might actually read this) knew about the infamous eye surgery, she might want to see the pictures, although this was quite a while ago!

Alden Brock was born a perfectly healthy baby boy, other than the minor fact that his tear ducts were immature/very small, and that meant his eyes never properly drained and stayed matted with "gunk" all the time. When he was just a few months old, they were so bad that I would see him in his swing when he would wake up from his nap, and I knew he was awake b/c he was smiling and moving around, but his eyes were stuck completely shut! I would have to soak cotton balls in warm saline just to pry them open! When he was six months old, we finally broke down and had them fixed. The procedure took all of about 10 minutes and they haven't given us a minute's trouble since then!

When he was also about six months, we noticed a "bruise" of sorts under his right eye. As he grew, it got darker and darker. We were also out in the sun a lot, and it continued to get bigger and darker. Then finally one day, I noticed it was starting to become raised. After much agony and decision, we decided to have it removed upon the recommendation of several doctors. This was b/c it was on his face and we knew it would only get worse. His daddy had a birthmark on his neck at the hairline growing up and hated it. He finally had it removed when I was pregnant with Alden. For that reason, he could understand how Alden would feel with a birthmark...again, especially on his face.

So, we did all the research. We saw a dermatologist at Children's Hospital and determined it was not cancerous. Then we went  to a pediatric plastic surgeon at the same hospital. We were told he was the best of the best. As a side note, while we were in the waiting room to see the doctor for the first time, we really  realized how lucky we were. There were children with unbelievable needs. I overheard one grandmother brag to another mother (obviously being seen for the first time like us) about how good this surgeon was, b/c he was able to make her grandson an ear. Lo and behold, you could tell a difference in his ears if you really looked, but if you had seen this kid in the mall, you would have been none the wiser!! It was simply amazing.

Here are the pics of us at the hosptial on D-Day:

Alden's room was all ready for us...

Settling in and waiting for the doctor... There was a TV and DVD player, as well as lots of books... 

Not super happy about the gown...

BTW, when it comes time to head to the OR, you don't get rolled in on a bed like normal hospitals...

NOOOO, not at Children's....you walk your child back to the door where a sweet, wonderful nurse takes them herself! Very homey and much less stressful on the child...They also wait until the child is put to sleep before they start the IV! You can't beat Children's!

Right after surgery...very sleepy baby!

A close-up of the incision...

Later that day after we got home and he woke up...

There was a good bit of bruising...

Obviously the little fellow is feeling much better after we get home that day, b/c he seems to have found his way into the drawer under the dryer...   ;-)

And he brought some "men" along with him...

And he KNOWS he's being very mischievious AND getting away with a lot b/c he's sick!

A few weeks after surgery...

Yet a few more weeks later and the scar is fading fast!

As a side note, this pic is taken at the hospital where Alden was born. We were there to visit our new niece, and we had to stop by and see "our picture." The photographer we use is A-MAZING and WAY after Alden was born, we found out she had used this picture of him in the maternity ward there! In that pic he is 3 weeks old and is laying over his daddy's kevlar helmet. It says "Welcome Home Hero" all around the sides of the canvas. We have this in our living room, but it's the first time we had seen it anywhere else. Needless to say, we were a teensy bit proud...

Here is a pic about 6 months later, and the scar is completely healed.