Eye Surgery

Even though patching did not work, Rhys sure looked like the coolest pirate ever for a time.

After no success with 2 attempts of months of eye patching, and visiting two different eye doctors, Rhys underwent bilateral strabismis outpatient surgery on his eyes Wednesday. Both Neal and I were there to help him come out of anesthesia without rubbing his face. He was quite uncomfortable and agitated at first and at periods throughout the day but we worked on staying calm for longer and longer periods. Pretty hard on a mama to see her son crying pink tears.

The next day he opened his eyes a lot more and his anxiety quickly lessened as he realized his eyes were feeling better and the drops and ointments really were benefiting him instead of hurting him. We took it easy by trying things slowly throughout the morning--reading a few pages to see how it went, going for a short walk outside to see if the light still bugged him, etc. By early afternoon he was much more himself and we went to a follow up appointment with the surgeon. She measured and found that it all looked good and Rhys was quite happy with how things were progressing.

He went back to school for a trial day today, Friday, with orders for no PE or recess play for a week. I am happy to be only 3 minutes away from my boy. We preemptively had Rhys' teacher discuss the upcoming surgery and the resulting temporary change in appearance (red whites of the eye, crossed-eyed) in hopes to avoid teasing and increase understanding and compassion. But they are second graders so we'll see.

Neal has had his boss in town and has been having dinners with him and Neal's been preparing for the PTA's silent auction this week.  We are happy that Saturday is open and he can spend some more time with his son and family.

Thanks for help from Opa, in caring for Rhys while we went to a short school meeting, and for the calls to see how Rhys has been doing from family. We appreciate the love and support.