Monday, May 25, 2009

Titus' Eye Surgery

Tomorrow morning at 6am we will arrive at Cooks Children's Hospital in Fort Worth for Titus to have an MRI and Surgery on his Left eye. Since birth Titus' left eye lid has been significantly lower than his right. When he was born he couldn't even open it. They told us it was because of the way he laid in my womb and that he may or may not grow out of it. Last year we decided to take him to the opthamologist because my pediatrician expressed concern about his vision being effected. We put it off at first because he was showing no signs of choosing one eye over the other. As he got older I began to notice that people would mention it in front of him, other children would ask him what was wrong with his eye etc. He had NO clue it was any different than anyone else. One of Vernon's Step-Mom's friend had a son who had a brain tumor that started with a droopy eye and headaches and quickly progressed to full cancer and then ended in death. He was the same age as Titus. When this came about, I made the appointment. He has had NO signs of headaches, so I've had no concern that this is the case for Titus, but people bringing it up to him combined with the knowledge that a drooping eyelid is a sign of brain tumors in children prompted me to finally make the call. We went to the doctor, he examined Titus and found NO suspicion of anything beyond what they originally told me. When he was in my womb his eyelid was closed longer than the other resulting in a elongated muscle. He DOES NOT have a lazy eye or any tracking issues. Also he told us that he has great vision and no signs of choosing his right over his left.
With all this info we were left to make a decision. The Doc said that over time it will only get worse because of gravity. He also told us that it could begin to affect him a lot more when he starts reading. Dr. Packwood also told us that after the age of 7 this particular type of surgery becomes much more intricate and would be an overnighter in the hospital. With all this info we decided to go ahead and get it done now so that no eye muscles are damaged or get into any habits that we would then have to do therapy to break.

We had it scheduled for the end of last year, but could not afford it. Through Christmas we received some money from some sweet friends and family members that put us on the path of being able to aford it. We then made a new appointment, got better insurance and are set for Tuesday May 26th...tomorrow.

We just told Titus last night. He took the news pretty well. He was mostly worried about getting any shots. He quickly told me that as long as he didn't have to get any "vaccines" than he was okay. I told him about the IV and he said that would be better than shots...we will let him think that for now;)

We will arrive tomorrow at 6am he will have an MRI to insure nothing is causing the eye to droop than he will have the surgery at 8am. It is a 1-2hour surgery with a 3-4hr recovery. Then we will get to take him home for the rest of his recovery. They said it will be pretty painless once he is sent home. He will only be on Tylenol.

We greatly appreciate your prayers tomorrow as he is going into surgery! Thank you in advance! We will keep our FB statuses updated and our twitter...if we can and if you are interested.

8 comments:

Ang said...

I will be praying for your sweet boy tomorrow in surgery. And for the rest of you!

Christ and Tori said...

Amber, Titus as well as the rest of you will be in our prayers for a quick, safe and speedy surgery and recovery.
Love, Chris and Tori

Nancy Mon said...

I am praying and will continue praying tomorrow for your sweet little boy.

Harris Family said...

May the peace of God surround Titus tomorrow. We'll be praying.

Danielle (Life with the Hewitt Family) said...

We will be praying for Titus!

Krystal said...

Praying for you guys this morning!

kg said...

I hope everything has gone well for Titus this morning. Hope the parents are holding up well. It's not easy to see your little one undergo a surgery no matter how simple it may be. I'm thinking of you guys today.

Michelle said...

Saw on facebook that it went well!! I will be praying for his recovery!!! Love you!