Ben's Surgery

We've known for a while that Ben would require surgery to correct his lazy eye and the big week finally arrived. On Monday we went for the pre-op appointment. Looking at Ben in the chair, I was wondering exactly how much the surgery could improve his vision - enough to realize the outfit he picked was terrible? I didn't have the heart to tell him his silly socks and crocs were an eyesore so we just went with it. (but to my credit, he didn't go to school so only the doctor got to see this gem of an outfit)

Alex enjoys these appointments, too, because it's become a little bit of competition as to who can identify the letters first. Ben has the advantage of knowing his entire alphabet while Alex has the advantage of 20/20 vision and a chair much closer to the screen.

While we were waiting, Ben serenaded us with an original song. I had no idea how lovely it would be until I was already recording.

The doctor got all his measurements and answered all our questions, then at 6am Wednesday morning we were headed in for the procedure. This is the new West Campus that is less than half an hour from us.

We love Texas Children's so much! Each waiting area had toys, bikes, games, puzzles, and even Wii's for the kids.

Ben was pretty excited about his new pajamas but asked to be able to stay a dragon on the bottom.

When I broke the news that Mama and Daddy weren't going in the room with him Ben began to get pretty nervous. He mostly watched SpongeBob (a treat since it's a show we don't watch at home) and enjoyed himself but got pretty anxious during the commercials.

One last look at the turn in his left eye. After hugs and kisses, the anesthesiologist carried Ben with his Puppy and blankie into the OR with her. I was so glad they let him take his buddies with him for comfort and even more relieved to know the first thing he would get in there would be cotton candy flavored happy gas. Our little guy didn't feel or remember a thing. I'm not sure he even realized he had an IV.

About an hour later, the doctor told us everything went really well and he was pleased with the results. We'll go back next week for a follow-up to see if his vision has improved and if the eyes are working together. (There's a decent chance he may need another surgery or two to fine tune the alignment but we won't worry about that yet ) In recovery, our little rock star was waking up and enjoying a popsicle and gatorade. Once he had stabilized and the nurse was pleased, we were already headed home.
He cruised on the mini cooper to the car! We were all done a little after 10am.

Back home our little guy was worn out and slept most of the afternoon. When he was finally up and around to play with his new toy I finally got a good look at his eyes. Definitely puffy.

And definitely red! But they look much better when he's not making silly faces. He's really concerned about how red they are so hopefully it won't last too long.

Today he's completely back to normal and not in any pain but I'll keep him home through the weekend just to make sure he's not rubbing his eyes or going anywhere dusty or dirty. We are so happy that everything went well and Ben is already feeling fine. Thanks everyone for your prayers!