Post-Op Craziness

   Before Surgery; I couldn't resist adding these two photos, even though they really don't have anything to do with the post.  I just think he is so stinking cute!



We have never had same-day surgery with Kai before, and they had us put him in cute little baby scrub/gowns!

 Surgery went well for Kai yesterday.  Dr. K said that they were able to examine both eyes thoroughly, and his right eye still looks great.  His left eye was actually better than they originally thought, still bad, but not in immediate danger of perforating.  There is 12 mm of tissue protecting the cornea, and Kai's ulcer is 9 mm deep.  Dr. K put an amniotic membrane over the left eye to protect it and then sewed it closed.  He didn't sew the eye completely from side to side, just in the middle.  There is a plastic piece that reminds me of the end of a sales tag to help keep his eye closed without pulling too much on the eyelid itself.  The eye will remain shut for about a month.

Kai handled the anesthetic well, tolerated food, and was only slightly grumpy afterward.  He was more sleepy than anything, but couldn't seem to get comfortable unless I had my hand on him.  The RT who took care of Kai during the surgery is a favorite of ours, and when we saw him, we knew Kai was in good hands.
        I love little baby hands!  This was taken when he finally settled down after the surgery.

The trouble didn't happen until we got home and tried to give Kai his first eye drop.   We were trying oh-so carefully to lift the corner of his eyelid up to get the drop in (as we had been instructed) and out pops the amniotic membrane.  You can see the picture  here  (I didn't include it in the post for those who are squeamish).  Disheartened doesn't even begin to describe how we felt.  It had been a long day and neither of us had slept well the previous night.  It was almost ten at night and had just gotten home.  The last thing we wanted was to have to turn around and drive back up to Primary Childrens (it is almost an hour drive one way).  We were just grateful that we hadn't put any of Kai's stuff away.

J got right on the phone to the on-call doctor and I started getting his vent circuit ready for travel (when Kai is in his crib--or the surrounding area--he is attached to a humidifier; when he is on the go, he wears a paper substitute called an HME to help with humidification).  The on-call doctor contacted Dr. K who said for us to come in the next day but we didn't need to go up that night.  As long as the stitches didn't come out we are good.  Whew.

Today we packed up, went back up to Salt Lake to the Moran Eye Center, which is located right next door to Primary Childrens, and saw Dr. K again.  We had saved the amniotic membrane to show the doctor.  He confirmed that it is indeed the membrane.  He looked at Kai's eye and said he is encouraged that the eye is already healing around the stitches.  He said since Kai isn't as close to perforating as they originally thought, he feels comfortable enough to leave the membrane off and not put Kai back into surgery.  Good news.  The amniotic membrane had been basically like neosporin for the eye.  It was there to help protect and promote healing, but not completely necessary for the healing to happen.  If Kai's eye had been a bit more worse then it would have been vital to get it back on.

Dr. K said that what must have happened is that because Kai's eyes protrude out so far, he had to pull the eyelid quite tight to get it closed all the way; the resulting pressure made it like a shaken soda, when the slightest opening came, the membrane shot out.  We had him show us how to insert the drops.  He pulled on the eyelid and opened it much more and further than we had (he also did it the same way we had).  Double whew.  It hadn't been due to incompetence on our part--it would have happened regardless.

On our way home Kai's heart rate skyrocketed and his oxygen saturation levels plummeted.  It was reminiscent to how he was before the ventilator.  Suctioning, increasing oxygen, checking cords and hoses to make sure nothing was kinked or popped off, none of it worked.  We are still unsure what caused this latest "blue" episode.  Even now, several hours later, his heart rate is still higher than normal.  We have been able to turn his oxygen down but it is still higher than normal. 


Today was J's sisters wedding.  We were able to get back home in time for J to make it.  Unfortunately, with Kai just having had surgery, we felt it was best that I stayed home with him.  I am sad to have missed it, but I told J to take lots of pictures for me! 

With having to take Kai back to the doctor today, J didn't think that he would be able to make it because the wedding was 2 1/2 hours south of Salt Lake.  We went to the appointment over an hour early in hopes that we could get in and out in sooner.  It worked!  We were also the first ones there (only on-call or emergency situations are looked at on the weekends).  We had been told to expect a long wait time because another family was coming in from Wyoming, but we didn't see them there at all.

Aren't they a cute couple?  We wish them lots of happiness!