Jackson had his outer and inner eye surgery on Friday, November 13th. We got to the hospital at 10:30 and they took him back at about 12:45. He played happily and even had a surprise visit from Mr. Steve and Mr. Keith (our music ministers). The surgery lasted about 5 hours. Dr. Cheeseman, the ophthalmologist, widened the eye openings by making incisions in the outer corners of both eyes, and he moved the eye muscles surrounding both eyes to correct his vision problem (eyes turning in). Dr. Chen, the plastic surgeon, made an incision in his right leg, removed fascia from the leg and used it to create slings (3 per eye) that run from above his eyebrow through his upper eyelid to open the eyes more. When Daniel and I went back to see him in recovery, it took us both by surprise to walk around the corner and to see Jackson's EYES wide open and staring at us! He was comforted easily and kept looking up at the ceiling and the lights. My sister-in-law, Hannah, and I stayed with Jackson in the hospital overnight, and he came home around 1:00 on Saturday. Outside of being irritated with not being able to close his eyes at night, his recovery has been so smooth, and we just couldn't be happier with the outcome!
Jackson calling out before surgery: "Get me out of here!"
Poor buddy! Not only do his eyes hurt, his leg does too!
Rivers came to visit Jackson a couple of hours after his surgery. We weren't sure about whether or not she should see him, but she wanted to be there to comfort him. In fact, she came the next morning too. Here she is making out a grocery list with Aunt Hannah.
Saturday, he played in his playroom some, but was generally tired. We all stayed home from church on Sunday to get some much needed rest and recuperation!
Calling out again: "Hey guys, did you know that there are lights on the ceiling?!! Wow!"
Our handsome little man! We now have two children with no surgeries in our near future! Praise God!
We went to the mall last night to have pizza and let the kids ride the carousel. On the way there, Rivers was "talking to" Dr. Chen on the phone about her baby doll, Kate. She told Dr. Chen that "Kate needs the same kind of 'different eye surgery' that Jackson had." It was adorable!
