tough guy

gavin's eye surgery was last thursday at phoenix children's hospital. we are very pleased to report back that everything went very smoothly. we arrived at the hospital around 3:30 to check-in. poor gavin wasn't able to eat past 10:00 that morning but he surprisingly did very well with that. his surgery was scheduled for 5:00 in the evening. jeramy and i both felt at peace with the procedure so thank you to each of you who prayed specifically for that.

phoenix children's was great! the anesthesiologist, who has helped with gavin's past procedures, allowed me to go back to the operating room with him. i was able to stay with him until he was asleep. i have to say that although i am glad that i got to stay with him since he was so scared, i also had a much harder time with this surgery than past surgeries. i think it was a combination of this being a more invasive procedure as well as witnessing the process of putting him to sleep. it was a very long hour to wait but thankfully, i had jeramy's shoulder to lean on. in addition to that, my parents also came and waited in the waiting room. it always helps me to have them there. also, two of our friends are child life specialists at pch so they accompanied us back to our room prior to gavin's surgery. i felt much more at ease knowing they were there. they also brought fun toys for gavin to play with while we waited.

once the doctor came to get us after the surgery was over, we started making our way back to the recovery area where gavin was. i heard him before i even walked through the doors. i'm not going to lie, i didn't listen to a word the doctor said at that point-again where jeramy comes in as such a support. i scooped up gavin as he cried the saddest tears. children coming out of anesthesia is not a pretty sight. he was keeping his eyes closed in a tight squint as little blood-tinged tears rolled down his cheeks.

i was nervous being at a hospital that i was unfamiliar with because all of his procedures have been at scottsdale shea. a dear friend prayed specifically for that and i was amazed at how God totally provided in a way that i know had nothing to do with coincidence. as i was holding gavin, his nurse came over and i was stunned to see a man who had been gavin's nurse twice in the picu at scottsdale shea. instantly i felt relieved as i knew that he remembered exactly who gavin was and who we were as well. it turns out that he just transferred to phoenix children's. gosh, i love how the Lord works and i love how He answers prayer.

we were able to go home later that evening and i was amazed at how well gavin was feeling the next morning. he did need to go back on oxygen for the first night do to the fact that the pain meds had really knocked him out. when that happens, he becomes a "lazy" breather, which is to be expected. he only needed the oxygen that night and then was back to his old self. the day after his surgery was filled with high highs and low lows. you could tell that he wanted to play but that he was also still in a great deal of pain.

his eyes look pretty good today. they are a little bloody still but we were told to expect that. i actually think that he is seeing things more clearly. our physical therapist told me this morning that he looked more engaged so that's wonderful. he is also really taking a big interest in our dog, fitch. when i ask him where the doggy is, he finds him and gives him the biggest smiles. he seems a lot more engaged with me and jeramy as well, locking eyes with us and keeping his focus. yippee!!

we give him antibiotic ointment 4 times a day to help lower the risk of infection and we see his eye doctor this thursday for a follow-up. although his eyes look much straighter, we will not be able to tell if the surgery was 100% succcessful for quite sometime. there are really three options moving forward. one, the surgery could be a complete success with no need for glasses or additional surguries (obviously that is the scenario we are praying for). two, the surgery could be successful enough that he will still need glasses to correct any additional crossing without any future surgeries. or three, that both the surgery and glasses are not fixing the problem and that he requires additional surgeries. i am cautiously optimistic that this surgery will be our last.

thank you for praying specifically for a good outcome. i will let you know what the doctor thinks on thursday.