{on our way up to MN}
Well Sam had his 2nd surgery on Monday January 23rd, 2012. We drove up to Minn. on Nicks 32nd Birthday {1/21} - this time rather than on Sunday. We wanted to take the kids to the Mall of America to get them something special - that way it's not ALL about surgery. When the weather gets warmer we will be able to do fun things!
Speaking of weather - there just so happen to be a blizzard going on the day we left. Go figure. Hardly any snow all year and the one day we have a 4 hour car ride, we have -18 degree wind chill and blowing snow. But we made it safely - even though most of the 60 was covered in snow that had blown over. A little scary at times!
On our way to the Phillps Eye Institute for surgery Monday am, it was snowing like crazy. Of course. Minneapolis traffic on a Monday morning at 7am plus snow falling = TWO HOURS LATE FOR SURGERY!!! Luckily, they totally understood, and didn't really effect his surgery time at all. Just bumped it back about 30 minutes. It took us a little over an hour and a half to go 20 miles. Yeah. Griffin had just woke up 30 minutes before we got in the car, and went right back to sleep for an hour! :) That was awesome.
This Charlie Brown statue is right inside the Phillps Eye institute. The boys thought he was pretty cool.
Sam got to wear stickers on his cheek this time, rather than pen. They tell the Dr. which eye she is examining and which eye she is doing surgery on so no mistakes are made. Sam was a little sleepy to. :)
Griffin wanted to take a turn sitting in the hot seat too! The boys really are bored going there. I mean they do really well, but 4 - 5 hours is a long time for little kids to hang out at a NON kid friendly hospital waiting for their brother to be able to go home. Its right in the middle of Griffin's nap too. Griffin is usually into everything he should be - like trying to put his hand in sharps containers, digging in the trash can, going into other patients recovery rooms. Yeah. It's a BLAST.
Playing the usual Angry Birds, or Fruit Slice just before surgery.
This is Dr. Choi. She is our anesthesiologist. We love her. She is just amazing with Sam. This time Sam wasn't scared. Of course the eye drops sucked - but going back to the OR, Daddy got to take him and Sam didn't even cry when they put the mask on his face. He also put the pajamas on with NO FUSS!!! YEAY!!! Nick said Dr. Choi even made him giggle while breathing in the medicine from the mask! This is a HUGE improvement from last time!!!! Yeay for Dr. Choi!!!
Getting ready to go back to the OR.
Sleep wonderful my sweet baby Sammie. Daddy taking him to the OR. I think this was actually harder for me then taking him back to the OR last time. Something about not being there just got to me. But knowing how well he did, made it a little easier.
Sam did wonderful during surgery. Dr. Quiram said she is really pleased with how his eye handled the first surgery. There was less leakage behind the eye, and more improvement. She even thought the retina was beginning to reattach on it's own. She didn't put any steroids in his eye this time, so the swelling was pretty minimal. And the white part of the eye is hardly swollen. Over all it looks much better this time around.
She has been putting a drug called Avastin in his eye. It's a drug used on cancer patients that prevents the growth of new blood vessels. So she is putting it in his eye to prevent the growth of any new blood vessels behind his eye. Long term - hopefully there will be no new leakage from these new vessels that have developed. She's really please with the success of this FDA approved drug, and so am I! Sam has to go back in 6-8 weeks for surgery number THREE.
Our ride home. Sam is on the left, hiding under his blanket. He did this the entire way home. He cried almost the entire way home that his tummy hurt too. I felt horrible for him. I just kept saying - please don't puke in the car - please don't puke in the car!! And thankfully he never did. I think he got more Fentanyl this time and it hurt his tummy. Poor little sweetheart.
Our ride home was just as bad! Blowing snow!!
We made it home in about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Not too bad given the bad weather. Sammie was just feeling really sick to his tummy, and wouldn't even open his eyes at all. He wanted to lay down the whole time, but he did request some cheese its.
The other boys were really good during the drive and trip too. Of course they get a little bored. But overall it was a great trip. And our hotel was amazing. Hopefully when we go back in March everything turns out even better!!
