Eye Appointment

Ryan had an appointment with his eye surgeon Friday. We have been going in about every five or six months to check on his progress. This time she hinted that we might need to do some patching again at some point, but for now she is happy with his vision and the positioning of his eyes. One eye has better vision than the other, but she said it's good to have a strong eye. So we go back to see her again in November, and then she said we may be able to go down to one visit per year!

Eye Surgeon Follow-up

Ryan had a follow-up with his eye surgeon on Friday. They dilated his eyes with drops (she is a master at getting drops into a screaming child!) and did a full exam.


She was very pleased with the results of the surgery! His eye is perfectly straight when he has his glasses on, which is more than we expected. She also said if his farsightedness levels out around middle school, which most kids' eyes do, he may not even need glasses! She did adjust his glasses prescription a bit, but other than that, we don't need to go back again for six months.


This is the assistant, not the surgeon. I keep neglecting to get a picture of Ryan with his surgeon.
Other than the drops, he was very cooperative and even sat in the chair by himself. In the past he has always wanted to sit on Daddy's lap. Daddy wasn't with us this time, so maybe he didn't want to sit on my lap, but I think he is just growing up and getting braver.

Eye Update

Ryan had another eye exam last weekend, and the surgeon is very pleased with the results of her last surgery. His eyes are perfectly straight when he is wearing his glasses, which was pretty much what we had hoped for. They do cross a bit when he takes off his glasses, but we didn't expect to be able to fix that completely. One of his eyes has a bit poorer vision than the other, but it wasn't enough to warrant changing his lenses. It was a great report, and it made me really happy we opted to do the second surgery!

Five Whole Months

Last week Ryan had his follow-up appointment with his eye surgeon. We expected a long appointment with drops to dilate his eyes (always a treat to watch Ryan freak while she puts the drops in) and testing for a new prescription, etc. However, we were pleasantly surprised to be in and out of there in about ten minutes' time! Dr. Goodman was tremendously pleased with how great his eyes look! She had originally planned to put him in a bifocal to help with upclose crossing, but after examining him she said it wasn't necessary because they look so great.

I had been looking at them myself and thinking they look almost "normal," but she usually sees things I don't. We were very happy to leave there with such a good report, and we don't have to patch or do anything until our next visit five months from now!

Also, Ed's work began providing vision coverage with their insurance beginning December 1st, so we bought Ryan a new pair of frames this month. He's grown out of his current ones, and his lenses are so scratched that it will be nice to get new ones next month when his benefits start all over for the new year. That worked out well for us having one month of coverage this year!

Answered Prayer

Since I listed out some specific prayer requests prior to Ryan's surgeries, I thought I'd post the specific answers we received. We were praying:

1. That Ryan will tolerate the anesthesia well. Last time he was pretty nauseous.

He did so much better this time! He was nauseated once on the elevator ride down, but he was just fine after that.

2. That he would be free from infection.

He had absolutely no infection!

3. For skill and wisdom for the doctors.

Both surgeries accomplished the task, and the eye surgeon said she didn't think she could have achieved a better result!

4. One of the uncommon side effects from the particular eye surgery he's having done this time is that his lower eye lid could droop slightly. We are praying that would not happen, of course.

No drooping! Thank you, Lord!

5. He will have peace and be courageous! He is very anxious.

He did cry when he first found out that morning that we were going, but he seemed pretty relaxed and was very cooperative during all the pre-op vitals, discussions, and time before surgery.

6. For a quick recovery, speedy healing and minimal pain.

He had almost no pain with his stenosis surgery, and some mild pain from the eye surgery for a couple days. However, they gave him Tylenol with codeine this time and that helped him cope much better than last time. His healing went very well and continues to heal quite nicely.

7. Lastly, we pray that the surgeries would have the desired outcome and be successful. The eye surgery is difficult for the doctor to know definitively where to cut and suture. So much of the outcome is based on things that she can't predict or control...like how his brain will "interpret" the new position of the eye. So we're praying for the best possible outcome.

Again, the stenosis surgery was successful!
The eye surgery was successful on many levels (no drooping, excellent positioning), but we won't know the complete picture for a month or more.

Needless to say, the Lord was most gracious in answering our prayers! He is faithful even when He chooses to answer differently than we hope, but this time I am grateful He saw fit to walk us smoothly through this small trial.

Good Reports

Yesterday Ryan had his two follow-up exams with the urologist and the ophthalmologist. Both went very well.

The urologist said it has healed well and the remaining stitches will dissolve soon. We don't need to go back to him again unless Ryan's having problems. Ryan is enjoying his new freedom to stand when urinating, though he asks me every time, "Can I stand?"! (We used to have him sit because it was nearly impossible for him to get it in the toilet otherwise.)

The eye surgeon was very pleased with the results of his eye surgery. I had been examining his eye myself and thought it looked just about perfect, so it was good to hear her concur. His eye is still healing though so we have to wait another month or so to find out if he will need bifocals and/or a new prescription. He still crosses a little bit up close, and she thinks perhaps bifocals may help.

Doing Better

Ryan told me a few days ago that he's not angry anymore. His behavior has significantly improved also. What a relief!

I have been thinking about why he might be angry. I don't truly know what's going on inside his head, but I think perhaps we didn't give him enough information. Because he tends to dwell on things, we often try to keep things from him. Though he knew he was having the two surgeries when Gramie came to visit, he didn't know which day it was and perhaps we should have told him the day before instead of the morning of the procedure. I was concerned he would sit up and worry all night, so we didn't tell him.

In retrospect I think he might have felt that we "sprung" it on him, and in a way we did. Sigh. I continue to ask the Lord for wisdom with this little guy. He is so complicated at such a young age! Your prayers are so appreciated.

Angry Boy

Ryan has been acting out terribly the last several days since his surgery. We finally asked him if he knows why he is behaving so badly. Is he upset, tired, scared, angry, confused? He frankly told us he is angry that he had to have surgery and just wanta his eyes and [other parts] the way they were. I was a little surprised he could actually articulate what he was feeling, and slightly encouraged that we now have something specific we can focus on.

Along with disciplining him, we have been trying to love on him and reassure him and try to begin teaching him how to deal with his feelings. Please pray for him (and for us!). Sometimes it's as if his intellect is too advanced..he understands things far beyond his emotional ability to cope with them. I feel so inadequate to help him, but it certainly causes me to keep leaning on Him who has the answers!

The Pictures

Well, my favorite part of having a blog is sharing pictures! We didn't take loads of pictures today, but we did get a few of his progression through the morning ordeal.


Don't ask me why but Ryan woke up at 4:00am this morning. I told him to go back to sleep, but neither of us were really able to. So we finally allowed him to get up and get dressed at about 5:00. We left for the hospital about 5:30 with one sullen little boy. He must have not heard me or understood this morning when I told him we were going to the hosptial for his surgery this morning. He was chipper and ready to go. Then he asked why we were going, and he was NOT happy!


He eventually settled down, and I don't think he said two words the whole way after that. We checked in and everything went pretty quickly after that. In fact, he didn't even get to play in the playroom this time around, which didn't please him. He got to pick out a stuffed animal, and he chose this kitty and named him Stockings.



Daddy playing This Little Piggy with Ryan.
They gave him versed again this time, and it made him a "happy" boy! So long as we could keep him from falling off the bed, he was enjoying life. Both surgeons and the anesthesiologist went over the procedures again, and then they took him away...always the hardest part. They told us that they would do the procedures simultaneously, and the stenosis surgery would be about 30-45 minutes and the eye surgery about 60 to 90 minutes.



After two hours we still hadn't heard from the urologist, and Mommy was starting to get a wee bit stressed. Finally, he appeared and said he had been done for long time but he was waiting till the eye surgery was over before he came to talk to us...WHY!?



Anyway, he said all went very well and his recovery should be fairly easy. Then the eye surgeon showed up and again gave us a good report. We were told they would come get us as soon as he woke up and started calling for us. However, after about 30 minutes they called us and said they were taking us all back upstairs to the final recovery room. He had woke up very well and wasn't nauseous or distressed at all.



He ate a popsicle and took some pain medicine, and we got him dressed and were out the door within an hour and a half. Last time we were in post-op for 45 minutes, then in recovery for over two hours. He did wonderfully today!



He is feeling great now, and we're having trouble keeping him still. He had a caudal block and is still unsteady on his feet from the anesthesia. The nurse told us to keep him quiet for the rest of the day and that they have about two kids a week come back to the ER after having surgery because they fall and need stitches!

I am grateful to the Lord for His mercy toward my son! We will keep you posted on how he progresses and on how successful it all turns out. We go back to see the eye doctor tomorrow and again next week. We also will go back to the urologist next week.

We're Home

Ryan's surgeries went very well today. It lasted two hours, which was longer than expected (giving Mommy and Daddy a stressful hour), but both surgeons said everything went well.

Ryan seemed to tolerate the anesthesia better this time around. He woke up beautifully with no pain and minimal nausea. We left the hospital just four hours after arriving, which was much quicker than last time. We got home a little before 1:00, and we had to stop for a prescription.

He's eaten four popsicles and half a peanut butter and honey sandwich! He is complaining that he "needs to scratch" his eye, but he isn't in any pain so far. He urninated right after we got home, so that was great!

I'll update more later, but that's the report for now. Thanks so much for all your prayers.

Specific Prayer Requests for Surgeries

Tomorrow are Ryan's surgeries, and I thought I'd list some things we'd specifically like prayer for. I know he is in the Lord's care, but the Bible does say, "You have not because you ask not." If you care to pray along with us, we are praying:

1. That Ryan will tolerate the anesthesia well. Last time he was pretty nauseous.
2. That he would be free from infection.
3. For skill and wisdom for the doctors.
4. One of the uncommon side effects from the particular eye surgery he's having done this time is that his lower eye lid could droop slightly. We are praying that would not happen, of course.
5. He will have peace and be courageous! He is very anxious.
6. For a quick recovery, speedy healing and minimal pain.
7. Lastly, we pray that the surgeries would have the desired outcome and be successful. The eye surgery is difficult for the doctor to know definitively where to cut and suture. So much of the outcome is based on things that she can't predict or control...like how his brain will "interpret" the new position of the eye. So we're praying for the best possible outcome.

His surgeries begin at about 7:30 am, and last time we were home by around 2:00 pm, if I remember correctly. I didn't list it above, but of course Daddy and Mommy could use your prayers too. I am much less anxious about it this time around, but it is never easy to hand your baby over to someone else to anesthetize and cut on! Thanks so much.

Things Don't Always Turn Out the Way You Want

Ryan had two appointments today: One with a urologist, and one with his eye doctor. The urologist told us that Ryan will definitely need surgery, and the eye doctor said she would like to do one more surgery on him as well. It was not exactly the news I had hoped for.

We had hoped that Ryan's urological problem, a stenosis, could be treated in the doctor's office, but the urologist said it would only have a 50% chance of success if done in-office (though he was willing to try if we thought Ryan would lay still for it...uh, no.) versus the 100% success rate he's had with outpatient surgery. We opted for the outpatient surgery. He will probably have it done in October.

Then we went for a six-month post-op check-up for Ryan's eyes. His surgeon said everything looks good except that one eye is slightly higher than the other, something we really hadn't noticed. At first she said it is really only cosmetic, but then I mentioned a couple of interesting things I've noticed when he's reading to me and she thought maybe his eyes could be the cause. So we are going to experiment with patching during reading to see if it helps. If it does, then she definitely recommends another minor surgery to even his eyes out a little more. It won't correct the crossing any more than what he has now, but it might help him to use both eyes together better than he is now.

The only good news today was that we will probably be able to do both surgeries at the same time (if we can coordinate two surgeons' schedules), so he would only need to go under general anesthesia once.

Ryan is less than thrilled with the idea of having another surgery (or two...he doesn't know about the eyes yet), and frankly so am I. However, I am not tempted to be as fearful as I was the first time. I just don't want to see my little boy hurting again. Thankfully we have a God who allowed His Son to undergo unimaginable suffering so that we may "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

Doctor Appointments

Ryan had two doctor appointments today. The first was his four-year checkup. He fought and fussed even though we kept reassuring him that he wasn't even going to get a shot. I think the reason he was so uptight was that the last time he had his weight and blood pressure checked he had eye surgery and woke up in pain! Anyway, he's in the 15 percentile in height and 50 percentile in weight. It's no wonder everyone keeps asking if he and Abby are twins...he's not growing very tall very fast and she's almost caught up with him!

His second appointment was the one-month follow-up with his eye surgeon. He has healed great and his vision is really good. He most likely won't need to have another surgery, but as expected, we didn't get a full correction of his strabismus. He still crosses a fair amount up close, but at distance there is much improvement. The surgeon said that may be the best we can do for him. He crosses much more with his glasses off than with them on, so he will be wearing those for quite some time, if not forever. Time will tell. Overall though, I am pleased with the results and now that it's over, I'm glad we did it for him.

Still Squinting

We took Gramie to OMSI before she left so she could see the kids enjoying her gift, our one-year membership. We haven't been for several months, and Ryan had a great time. In addition to his usual favorites of the cranes and sandbox, he also built a styrofoam building and played with playdough. He is still closing this one eye off and on, but I think it's less than it was. The doctor said to just wait and see how he does until his next appointment at the end of February. She thinks his brain is just trying to adjust to his new vision. I'm thinking of calling him Popeye though!

Surgery Details

After playing for a while in the play room, the nurse called us back to his bed and gave him some meds. The nurse was impressed with how willingly he took his meds. They gave him some Tylenol and some Versed. The Versed took about a minute and a half to start working, and he was pretty loopy! It's supposed to relax the patient, but it relaxed me too.

About ten minutes later they walked all of us down to the operating floor. Poor Ryan was trying to tell us something, but all I could understand was "go back." I knew he was a little scared but the Versed seemed to be helping him. We were allowed to wait with him in the pre-op room, and we talked to the nurses and the anesthesiologist who would be attending Ryan. Next, Dr. Goodman, our surgeon, came in and talked to us for a while.

Then the dreaded moment was upon us. I was worried about how he would respond when they took him from us, but he was so out of it, he didn't notice a thing! We waited for almost two hours, and then the doctor came and said everything went great. What a relief that it was over and my baby was all right!

We only had to wait another fifteen minutes or so before they came and got one of us to go back into the post-op room with Ryan. Ed was gracious enough to let this worried Mommy go, though I know he wanted to go too.

Ryan was still out when I got back there, and they had just given him something for nausea. I guess because he was sweating profusely they knew he was nauseous. The nurse told me that for some reason, the eye muscle surgery patients always seem to get very nauseous. I talked to him and stroked his head and arms. He stirred a little, but not too much. When he finally roused somewhat, the first thing he said was "Where's Daddy?" I was going to go swap out with Ed, but they said it was time to take him back upstairs to his room and we'd pick up Daddy on the way.

So back we went to the recovery room for another hour or so. All the other children in our room were awake and eating popsicles and drinking soda. They don't give the eye muscle surgery patients anything since they are usually so nauseous. I felt bad for Ryan, but he didn't seem to notice. We had removed his eye patch, and he could have looked around if he wanted to, but it was just too painful to open his eyes. He laid there quietly with his eyes closed for over an hour. Finally, we determined he wasn't sleeping, only keeping his eyes closed and resting. So they got his vitals again, and then said we could take him home. We got him dressed, gathered his things, and home we went, approximately six hours after we arrived.

I guess Ryan's flu bug was a blessing in disguise because on the way home he told us he thought we was going to throw up, so we had time to pull over and get him out of the van before he actually vomitted. If he hadn't been sick just the week before, I know he wouldn't have known what that feeling was. That was the only incident he had, and he rested his eyes the rest of the way home. What a relief to be home and to have the surgery behind us.

I'm so grateful to God for watching over Ryan. He is so faithful! I am grateful too for all the prayers that have been prayed on Ryan's and all of our behalf! We had as much peace as I imagine one can have during something like this. Thank you, Lord, family, and friends!

Early Morning Before Surgery

The alarm is so unwelcome at 4:00am! We let Ryan sleep as long as possible, but we still had to wake him at about 4:45am. I was just going to put him in the car in his jammies, but he insisted on getting dressed. So after we got him dressed, grabbed his blankie and favorite buddy (Sprinkles), we were off to the hospital. I was hoping he would go back to sleep on the ride in, but he was wide awake.

After we checked in and filled out the appropriate paperwork, we were taken to his bed where he was given some jammies to wear (very scratchy and uncomfortable looking to me...not to mention pink). After some preliminary vitals (he weighs 34 pounds), we were allowed to go into the play room for a while. Ryan rode each of the three little cars they had there, but this little coup was his favorite.

Surgery Date

We got a date for Ryan's surgery today. It will be January 18th. We could have had it done three weeks from now, but we thought it would be better to wait another month after we've moved and so we can have a full year's use out of our insurance deductible. Now that it's scheduled, I feel a little nervous. I have been praying about how much to tell Ryan about it and when because he is so fearful of things. They have a tour of the hospital available, but I'm afraid that might make him more afraid. Hopefully he'll be brave when the time comes (hopefully Mommy will too!).

Second Opinion

We saw a children's ophthalmologist today for a second opinion on Ryan's eye condition. There weren't any revelations really. She agreed that surgery is reasonable (and if it were her child, she would do it), but she said it is also reasonable to not do surgery. However, if we ever think we'll want surgery for him, we should do it now. The surgery is most successful the earlier it is done. If we opt for surgery, it will restore peripheral vision but not really improve his vision to the point where he will not need glasses (at least for several years). He sees almost 20/20 with his glasses now. The patching has been working great, and he sees equally well out of both eyes now.

If we don't have surgery, his strabismus will stay the same and will not improve with time. So basically, he will have limited peripheral vision, and his eyes will still cross, significantly when he's looking at something up close. If we wait and let him decide when he's older, we run the risk of the surgery not being successful. So to do reconstructive surgery now or to leave well enough alone is the question.

I know I certainly wouldn't want to live my whole life with my eyes crossing back and forth incessantly, and my hubby agrees. We've decided we are going ahead with the surgery. We believe it's in his best interests, and I pray we've made the best decision for Ryan.

These pictures don't show it very clearly, but they show somewhat how his eyes cross with and without glasses. I had a difficult time getting him to look at the camera and hold still so I could get a good picture. His left eye probably crosses a little more frequently than the right, but they both do cross.

Often without his glasses, his eyes will cross
even more than this picture shows.


This is a little bit blurry, but it does
show how his right eye crosses too.


This shows how his eyes look when he crosses them at
distance with his glasses on. This is probably about
how they will look after surgery without glasses.

Second Opinion

We found out our insurance doesn't cover the Casey Eye Institute, so our ophthalmologist gave us another referral. We go see Dr. Shawn Goodman on November 18, and we will get her opinion on what is the best way to proceed with Ryan's treatment.

Upcoming Surgery

Ryan had an eye appointment today, and the doctor confirmed what we had suspected for a while: He will need surgery to correct his strabismus fully. However, she wanted us to get a second opinion on how to proceed with the surgery, so we are now going to have an appointment at the Casey Eye Institute in Portland before the surgery is actually scheduled.