Cam went in today for his EUA at the Pretoria Eye Institute. The nurses and theatre sisters all greeted him with exclamations of ‘Cameron! It’s so good to see you!’ and ‘Sjoe maar hy word nou so groot!’ (He even got a Certificate of Bravery today...:)
The main reason for this particular EUA was to check whether or not the vitreous in the back of the left eye was ‘leaking’ again into the front of the eye. Jacobus said to Murray yesterday that he’d been thinking about Cam’s eye for weeks and wondering if and how he should make an incision to drain the vitreous again. Every time we operate there is increased trauma to the eye, which heightens the chances of glaucoma developing. He said that if he saw the need to operate he would do so today, rather than scheduling yet another general anaesthetic. Murray didn’t go into theatre this morning, because if Jacobus was going to operate then he didn’t want to be there – i.e. when Cam is under the knife, he prefers to wear his ‘dad hat’, rather than his ‘optometrist hat’. And so, while we were drinking fairly lousy coffee, because it felt like the right thing to do, with knots in our stomachs, our little man was undergoing his fourth operation and about his tenth general anaesthetic (we have literally lost count). He was so calm going into theatre. When the anaesthetist took him from me, Cam just snuggled up to his chest and put out his fingers to feel his face, as he often does when he meets new people.
Jacobus was pleased with how things went; the op was not unnecessarily invasive and he says that Cam’s eyes are looking good. His retinas and corneas are still healthy. The pressure in his eyes has increased to 20, which is still ok, kind of… but it’s on the upper side of normal so we’ll just keep on monitoring that.
He didn’t react all that well to the anaesthetic... He was cheerful, but pale, and sleepy, and he lost his supper all over his bedding...! We'll see Jacobus early tomorrow morning to remove the patch, and then it's eye drops every two hours for a week.
Jacobus was pleased with how things went; the op was not unnecessarily invasive and he says that Cam’s eyes are looking good. His retinas and corneas are still healthy. The pressure in his eyes has increased to 20, which is still ok, kind of… but it’s on the upper side of normal so we’ll just keep on monitoring that.
He didn’t react all that well to the anaesthetic... He was cheerful, but pale, and sleepy, and he lost his supper all over his bedding...! We'll see Jacobus early tomorrow morning to remove the patch, and then it's eye drops every two hours for a week.
The photos: muffins for breakfast with Meagie when she slept over; playing with Lola before bedtime; first haircut at Granny's place last night, and playing Granny's lumo little flute for Dad; Cam's cot at the Pta Eye Institute; recovering at home this afternoon.
‘He sends a cross, but He also sends the strength to bear it.’ – Leo Tolstoy
