Cooper's Eye Surgery

My little man has had a clogged tear duct since he was born.

At 18 months old our pediatrician told us we should probably see an opthamalogist since it hadn't resolved on its own.

So we visited Dr. Whittfield who told us if his eye hadn't resolved on its own by 14 months then it wasn't going to resolve.

So here we are at St. Al's OR awaiting his eye surgery.

I don't like my kids having to get poked and prodded but I am so incredibly excited for this surgery.

I am tired of wiping my poor son's eye.

It's consitently draining and sealed shut with goobers and ouchie and gross!

Here we (my mom and I, poor daddy had to work) are trying to buy time while waiting for surgery.

He was very hesitant to get into the wagon so my mom pulled the two of us around until he felt safe enough to ride on his own.

We rode all around the preop area waiting for our turn.

A hour and a half of waiting in a gown he was very impressed with in a strange area at the butt crack of dawn was not the best case scenario for Cooper.

I have always been a little biased towards St. Lukes so I didn't know how our experience at St. Al's would go...but let me say I was really really impressed.

The facility was very clean and new and updated and wonderful staff and we really felt comfortable the entire time.

When it was time for him to go back into the OR the anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, scrub nurse and doctor all walked back with him in the wagon.

Sucking his thumb and sniffing his blankie.

He didn't make a peep. He was amazing. Kind of got me choked up.

Thank you St. Al's team! You took very good care of my baby boy.

Then they brought him out of the OR awake and NOT crying. They could not believe he hadn't cried the entire time.

From the time they wheeled him away from me in the wagon to them putting the mask on his face to go to sleep to when he woke up to walking him down the hall to me...he did not make ONE peep!

The cute nurse anesthetist, Derek, said he was the poster child of the day.

He had never seen a kid be so good. That's my boy!

His eye looked ouchie with the bloody drainage and little bit of swelling.

Once he got to drink some apple juice he felt like a new man.

Come to find out everyone has two tear ducts in each eye and he is missing one of them in this eye and the one he does have was completely occluded.

So now we watch and wait. If after a month we aren't having any issues than the surgery was successful...but if not then he has to go back in to have stents placed to hold that duct open...ugh!

Thank you mom for all your help that day.
Thank you Tami for watching over my other sweet peanut.
Thankfully the day went very smooth.