Barrett's Surgery

This morning started early.  The alarm went off at 5:30 am.  We drug ourselves out of bed, got dressed, and then carried Barrett to the Jeep to head to the hospital.  He was excited about going to the hospital (probably the only time in his life...if there's a next time he'll know what it's about and won't be looking forward to it!)  After checking in and changing into a gown, he snuggled with his bears...

and then had fun drawing on the heat sensitive drawing board.

After meeting with numerous nurses, the anesthesiologist, and the "child life specialist" (aka lady who brings toys around), Dr. P came in to see us.  We talked about the procedure and then he prayed with us before he left.  There's a tremendous amount of peace that comes over you when your doctor prays with you before he operates on your child.  It's truly a blessing to have such a skilled physician who believes in the ultimate Healer! 

After Dr. P left I held Barrett while the nurse gave him some morphine and a sedative (via a vial squirted up his nose!)  The drugs helped him to relax and they said it would also make it so he wouldn't remember us leaving him.  After the drugs took effect they wheeled him back to the operating room where the anesthesiologist would administer the anesthesia and then they would insert the IV and a breathing tube...and then begin the surgery.  The strabismus surgery involves cutting the inner eye muscle on both of Barrett's eyes, repositioning the eyes, and then reattaching the muscles.  The goal is not only cosmetic (both his eyes focusing straight), but also preserved vision.  The hope is that by correctly aligning the eyes his brain will begain to use both eyes to see in conjunction with one another (rather than only using one eye at a time as has been happening).  Only time will tell if the surgery has been successful.

After they wheeled Barrett off, Mike and I grabbed some breakfast and coffee from the hotel Starbucks and then headed for the surgery waiting room.  We were met in the hall by Ryan Inlow who was there to pray with us and wait with us.  Since the hospital asks that each family have only 2 people waiting in the waiting room (due to limited space), he prayed with us and then we went in to the waiting room to wait on our own.  Not 5 minutes after we sat down the phone in the waiting room rang and the attendendant asked for Barrett's parents to answer the phone.  Our hearts dropped!  Why would they already be calling us?  What had happened?!?  I was able to breathe again when the nurse on the other end of the phone said, "I was just calling to let you know that Barrett is doing well and Dr. P will come out and visit with you after he completes the surgery."  Whew!  We were glad there wasn't a problem and that everything was going well.

A little over an hour after we left Barrett, Dr. P came out to meet with us.  His part of the surgery was over and was successful!  Praise the Lord!  He reitterated to us that we won't know for several weeks to months how successful the surgery has been and also told us that we might see wild alignment of his eyes (up/down/side) until his muscles adjust to their new position.  He told us that the nurses would be out in about 1/2 hour to take us back to see Barrett.

This is what we saw when we walked through the doors to recovery....

It took us over an hour to get Barrett to wake up.  We expected the nurses to be pushing us to make him stay awake (that's what nurses do to adults coming out of anesthesia)...but they handle it different in the pediatric ward.  They told us to let him rest for awhile and that he'd wake up in his own time.

 

After an hour of deep sleep (snoring and drooling), they finally said it was ok for us to start gently waking him.  It took a while, but he finally opened his eyes to the mention of a popcicle.  They had him in arm restraints ("special sleeves") so that he wouldn't rub or touch his eyes, so Mike fed him the popcicle.

He was still very tired, but since he kept down the popcicle and apple juice, they allowed us to take him home.  He was starving when we got home and was dying for a pop tart (of all things?!?! lol)  You'll notice that his eyes are very bloody looking.  They will probably look like this for a week or so.  He's also crying bloody tears.  It's sad to watch!

Barrett wasn't messing with his eyes when we took the "special sleeves" off, so we left them off for his nap and just had him sleep in the media room where we could see him.  He played for a little while when he woke up and then he just wanted me to hold him.  He kept telling me, "I do not like my surgery!"

A little after 5 pm Tyler showed up at our house with a cute puppy for Barrett.  Barrett wouldn't talk for the first 1/2 hour, but then he must have started feeling a little better and wanted to play with Tyler (and Brody and Daddy).  We ate dinner together and then the boys played until bed time.  Just before bed time Caleb and Audria stopped by to check on Barrett.

 

Much to Brody's dismay, we're having Barrett sleep on the floor in our room tonight (Brody wanted him to sleep in his room!)  We're praying we all get a good night's sleep.  It's been a long day!