surgery report

This most simple answer is today’s surgery was a success!

The surgery was, in many ways, a preventive measure to keep the retina attached. Of the many options that the doctors had, they proceeded with the vitrectomy. This is where they try to reduce the amount of blood in the retina to prevent scar tissue to form. They were able to see the back of the eye which is the most important view to see if the retina is still attached. They were happy to report that the retina does seem to be holding nicely. Hence, they did not proceed with a scleral buckle. Although there is some scar tissue forming, at this point it is not enough to force the retina to tear off. This was terrific news. To be honest, it was extremely hard to pull back the tears of joy. To boot, while they examined the eye under the microscope, the doctors were able to see that the stitches, done on news year’s day to close up the eye, are healing nicely.

In addition, the docs described that his pupil was extremely small and that sight was virtually closed off in the eye. Today, they stretched the pupil open and from what I understand, the pupil will remain permanently large.

Since this was the first time the US doctors were able to see the eye under a microscope, they were able to see how long and big the laceration is. The cornea specialist was not needed for today’s operation, however the retina specialist today is confident jasper will need a cornea transplant in the near future. He will have another surgery within 2 months to remove the stitches and the transplant might take place then.

Although we arrived at 7:30am this morning, the surgery before us took a great deal longer and jasper was not wheeled into surgery until 1:30pm. The hardest part about this was holding off jasper’s hearty morning appetite. He was not permitted anything to eat since last night’s dinner before surgery. Although we were able to walk the corridors to pass the time, instead of waiting in a room the whole morning, the smell of McDonalds in the halls and a coffee kiosk with good looking chocolate croissants didn’t help our cause. Besides the wait, our experience at children’s hospital has been nothing but exceptional.

By far the most amazing part to see is this kid walking around at home within hours after the surgery. By 6:30pm, he had slightly opened his good eye and was saying “hambre” (Spanish for hunger). He promptly wolfed down a stack of crackers, two cartons of apple juice, 1 1/2 french toasts, a whole apple and some soup. Shortly afterwards, he got up and began stumbling around looking for his toys. Simply amazing since anyone over 30 would be still on their back in bed…moaning.

Lastly, while Mara held jasper in the recovery room on her chest, our baby girl starting kicking away at him inside mara’s belly. It was as if she was sending him a message: “Keep kicking away!”

My only regret is i forgot my camera early this morning. Hence, i didnt capture many of the sights of the day. They'll remain inside of me.

We return tomorrow at 10am for a post op examination. Thank you again for all the kind words, thoughts, and prayers.