Lexie's Surgery

At the end of April, Lexie had her Stabismus eye surgery at the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary. This was a big thing for us and so it is something I wanted to write down and remember. Here is our story, so feel free to skip this post, as most of you already know it! Our adventure started back in December, when we discovered one of her eyes was turning in. You can read about it in my older post here. Lexie, Michelle, my Dad and I travelled up to Calgary to see the peds ophthalmologist, Dr Astle, and we learned that Lexie would need eye surgery in April. I was really freaked out about the idea but I knew it was what we had to do. They really encouraged us to be open with Lexie about the surgery, but I didn't know how or what to tell her. The day before we left for Calgary, I told Lexie that we had to go back to see Dr Astle. I explained that her eyes weren't seeing straight and that he would fix them. She would have to lay down on a bed, have a sleep and when she woke up, her eyes would be better. She just looked at me and said, "No thanks Mom, I'm good. We can go to Calgary but I don't need to go the doctor." She repeated this over and over and I just had to bluntly say that sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do, but it was no big deal and she would be fine. Lexie just said "No thanks Mom. My eyes are fine." (at least she has manners!)

We decided to leave Cameron with my Mom and Michelle so we could focus completely on Lexie. That was a really hard thing for me, I don't like leaving my kids overnight, but I knew it would be best for everyone. We went up Tuesday afternoon because we had to be at the hospital at 6:30am. My Dad was going up for the auto auction so he met up with us at the hotel. (My Dad has always been my medical rock, so to speak, so it was quite a relief to have him there!) We didn't tell Lexie that he would be there and when we pulled into the hotel parking lot, she picked out his truck right away and was soo excited that he was there. The three of us went and had a great steak supper and went back to the hotel so Lex could go swimming. While Keith was flipping channels, he surfed by Treehouse and Lex decided to stay and watch cartoons instead of swimming. ( We don't have cable at home, so this was a real treat!)

When I woke her up the next morning, Lex was furious with me!! She just kept saying "Why did you wake me up, I am NOT going!" My heart was so sad for her. As we drove to the hospital, I felt so bad, I just knew Lexie had no idea what was going to happen and I didn't prepare her enough. (Mom guilt, I guess!) We got checked into the hospital and it was time for Lexie to get changed into the hospital jammies. She had a complete fit! I tried to stay as calm as I could and just kept explaining that she would be fine and we would be right there. She cried and cried and then...she was fine! I guess she was entitled to have a freak out. I know I was freaking out too! (My Dad said later that he thought we were in for it, for sure!)
Her surgery was scheduled for 9:15am but we got bumped for an emergency case. Its a good thing they provide a personal DVD player and movies in each bedside table! Lexie didn't complain once about being hungry or thirsty! They finally came to get her around 11am and we went up to the holding area. As we rolled in there, another kid was being separated from his parents to go into surgery and was freaking out. I thought "Oh no, this is going to set Lexie off!" But a nurse swooped in and diverted her attention right away. The Dr and Anesthetist came to chat about her surgery. Lexie had a nurse named Robin who had just been to Disneyland. Her and Lexie were talking about Princesses and the nurse quickly said to Lexie, "OK, say bye to mom and dad...." Lexie waved and they rolled her away as they continued talking. I don't even think Lex had any idea what was going on. (I have to add at this point, how amazing the staff are there. They nurses were so kind and willing to chat and they knew just what to say to Lexie. Its amazing what they do there and that made this experience so much better!)

The nurse gave us a buzzer so we would know when they were taking her back to her room and our waiting game began. I am sure it wasn't that long, but it felt like forever. It was probably only an hour or so but the buzzer went off and we hurried back to her room. About five minutes later, they rolled her back in. She was huddled up in a ball and sound asleep. I lost it.....I guess I was holding back until that point but seeing her lying there on the stretcher brought on a ton of emotion. I was so glad to see her and felt so bad for what had happened. Keith and my dad even got a bit choked up too. They had given her morphine as well so she slept for over an hour after that. When we finally woke her up, she refused to open her eyes. I can only imagine how it felt. We gave her a wet cloth and she ate her popsicle and drank her juice, never letting the cloth off her eyes. They released her a bit later and we were set for home.
As we were leaving the hospital, thats when the snow blizzard hit. We were driving down Deerfoot, Lex and I in the backseat, and we could barely see 2 cars ahead of ourselves. Then our passenger side windshield wiper went flying off the truck!! Oh great! Luckily we were just passing McKenzie town (?) and they had just opened a new Canadian Tire. We managed to get off of Deerfoot, stop at a gas station to get directions (of course, I had to be the one to ask for them!) and about 20 mins later, we were back on the road. I am soo grateful that it happened where it did and not somewhere downtown Calgary or in between towns! We got home around 6pm. What a long day! Lex chatted the whole way home, never letting the cloth off her eyes. She was such a trooper through the whole thing. She barely complained and was a tough lil kid!
When we walked in the door, Cam was sure waiting for us! With hands on his hips he demanded "Where did you GO??!!!!" He was so excited to see Lex and we are so grateful to Auntie and Nana for taking such good care of him while we were gone!

So yeah, that was our adventure. Sorry for the rambling, I wanted to get all the details down. Lex went back for a consult in May and Dr Astle said her eyes were AMAZING and was really pleased with the outcome. He handed me her glasses and she hasn't worn them since. Lex has since developed a cyst over one of the stitches, but the specialist here is quite sure it will heal on its own but if it doesn't she will have to be put out to remove the stitch. But, we will deal with later IF it happens! Lexie has perfectly straight eyes now and we are blessed that everything went well. She still talks about wanting to wear her fairy princess glasses but is glad she doesn't have to! The end...