Addison's Cataract Surgery

Yes- I am finally getting around to writing about Addison's surgery! I have been spending a lot of time with family this past week, and Addison has had a few appointments, so we have been really busy. I can't complain-- I got to spend time with my favorite little human the whole time :) 

Surgery Day:

Addison's surgery was scheduled for Friday February 5th at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA. We were required to be there by 6 AM to check-in and complete some paperwork (there is always paperwork!). The day before, we learned that New England was going to be hit with a storm-- the amount wasn't the issue-- it was the timing. It was set to come during the morning commute, essentially right when we would be traveling into the city. We live about an hour and fifteen minutes from Boston, but we were meeting my mom in NH so that she could drive with us. Because of the variables (and the snow), we decided to leave our house at about 3:30 AM. Yes 3:30-- oh and the last time I could feed Addison was at 2:30 AM-- so needless to say I didn't sleep that much that night. Although to be honest- I'm not sure I would have been able to sleep anyway. 

I caught these pictures the morning of her surgery before we left the house-- could she be any cuter?! 

We met my mom in Nashua, NH at 4:00 and we were on our way. We left so early in case we hit traffic/ it started to snow, we would at least be early and not late for the surgery. We ended up getting into Boston in record time haha. It didn't snow on our drive there, and there was absolutely NO traffic. We got there around 5-- and had plenty of time to wait. All we wanted was coffee, but of course nothing was open until at least 6:30! I wonder what the nurses and doctors who work the nightshift do?! So we just walked around a little bit-- it took us a while to find the surgery center haha-- and just waited for the check-in window to open. We checked in at about 6 AM, and prepared ourselves for pre-op. Addison was supposed to be under anesthesia at 6:30 (her surgery was scheduled for 7:30)-- but the place was packed! They were running a little behind and there was only one nurse getting people all set (the other nurse didn't show!). The one nurse came in hastily, and asked us to wake up Addison. Poor thing was still tired, and started to get upset. The nurse quickly weighed Addison and all the while, I was trying to calm her down. Immediately afterwards, the nurse  hooked her up to monitor her breathing. At this point-- Addison started to really cry and the nurse became flustered. She was worried about Addison's breathing and oxygen levels-- but she was crying so obviously the levels were a little off. The nurse didn't have time to worry about it so she just kept trying to get a good read, but Addison was not having it. Her little legs were flailing! Finally, she got a good read and then told us that the anesthesiologist would be in shortly. 

We waited for another 30 minutes or so-- and we were visited by another nurse and the anesthesiologist. The nurse checked in with us about the surgery, explained that she would be the nurse in the room and that she would take care of Addison. It was really comforting to hear someone say something like that. The anesthesiologist then came in to discuss what she would be doing with Addison. She asked about Addison's breathing-- it is technically called striders/ trachea malaysia. She only breathes that way when she is hungry, excited, or starting to cry. It sounds slightly challenged, almost as if she has to clear her throat. It is something that should clear itself up by the time she is six months old, but it was good for the anesthesiologist to be aware of this. Now by this point, Addison was asleep again, and the anesthesiologist really wanted to know what the breathing sounded like-- thankfully I had a video to show her. She was so glad that she knew what Addison's baseline would be, and I have to say that we were all grateful for that as well. When the anesthesiologist was done her pre-op process, she left but told us she would be back relatively soon to take Addison. 

Addison's main pediatric ophthalmologist came in around the same time for a pre-op discussion, and I have to say that I was so glad to see a familiar face. She went through the surgery process with us again, checked and marked Addison's eye, and reassured us that everything would go great! She told us that once the surgery was done, she would check in with us right away. She also told us that the surgery itself would take about an hour and half, but with the preparations (anesthesia, ultra sound and necessary eye measurements), it would be more like two hours. I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to wait that long! She assured us that Addison was in good hands- and then left the room to prepare for the surgery. 

We then waited, and waited, and waited for the anesthesiologist to come back but she never did.  Finally, the main nurse came back in and said there would be another anesthesiologist starting the process because the first was summoned for an emergency. I was a little frustrated, just because I felt so comfortable with the previous anesthesiologist but that's how it goes haha. The new one checked in with us and reviewed the paperwork, and assured us that everything would be okay. I mean-- we really had no choice at this point-- we had to trust him haha. The nurse did tell us that the original anesthesiologist would come into the surgery room as soon as she could to make sure everything was okay-- and that made me feel a lot better. I mean when you see a lot of medical personnel, it can be overwhelming, so anytime one of them reassured me, I felt so much better. Finally, they were ready to take Addison. Thankfully, they were putting her under in the surgical room (I had heard rumors that parents held their children while being put under anesthesia) so I kissed my precious baby and we left to wait for the surgery to be done. 

Now at this point it was probably about 8/8:15 and all three of us needed coffee. Desperately. We knew there was a Dunkin Donuts somewhere, but we just didn't know where exactly. We were directed to the first floor and we were still lost haha. We finally found the Dunkin Donuts in a small corner of the hospital. It was probably the smallest Dunkin Donuts I have ever seen and it was PACKED! There was hardly any room to order and their "waiting" area was even smaller. My husband hates crowds and gets very claustrophobic, so I offered to get our stuff to let him wait down the hall. It was such a good idea on my part haha-- he definitely couldn't have handled it. 

Once we got our coffee and treats, we sat down at a table in their cafeteria (if you can call it that) and just talked to keep our minds occupied. We decided that we would head back up to the waiting room at 10, and once we made it back up there, Addison was out of surgery. We were allowed to go see her in the recovery area (there were multiple beds)- and seeing her almost broke my heart. She did wonderfully but seeing her hooked up to all the machines again, just brought back the memories from a few weeks ago. 

The nurse told us that she did amazingly well, and that she was going to be a little tired and irritable from the anesthesia. When she started to stir, I was so happy! I just wanted to cuddle my sweet little girl. Since she hadn't eaten since 2:30 AM, I figured she would be really hungry. I had pumped breastmilk during our wait time, so I thought it would be perfect to give her a bottle when she woke up. I grabbed my little one in my arms, kissed her incessantly, and then started to feed her the bottle. She started eating well, but then something changed. She was coughing and choking, and not breathing normally. It was as if she was gasping for air-- and just couldn't catch her breath. I started to get nervous and the nurse immediately took her and signaled for another nurse to come by. My husband then took Addison to try to calm her down.Her oxygen and breathing levels were off, and they used a nebulizer to stabilize her. It took for what seemed like forever, but she finally settled down. My husband placed Addison back in the hospital crib and she was continuously monitored. It was a very scary time-- it was difficult to watch Addison struggle so much with breathing. 

The nurse instructed us to let Addison rest-- so we waited next to her. While we were waiting, we noticed that all of the kids that came out of anesthesia were having a difficult time. The kids would cry and were irritable-- it was difficult to listen to that. 

Once Addison woke up again, she was crying and visibly upset. The only thing that calmed her down was having us hold her hands and place her pacifier in her mouth. The poor thing-- it was so hard to watch. We comforted her like that for a few hours. The anesthesiologist checked in with us and told us she was concerned with Addison's breathing. She told us that she might need to stay over if her breathing wasn't regulated by the afternoon (ugh) but that it looked like it was getting back to normal. Although we did not want to have to stay over, my husband and I were glad that they were taking precautions in making sure everything with Addison was okay. 

A few more hours passed, and Addison was somewhat back to normal. The pediatric ophthalmologist that performed the surgery came to check in with us (she had a surgery right after Addison's so she couldn't speak to us right away). She said the surgery went great, and that her stitches would dissolve within two weeks. We scheduled a follow-up appointment of the following day to make sure everything was okay and to get her medicated drops. 

After our check-in with the pediatric ophthalmologist, the anesthesiologist came back and told us that Addison's levels were great and that if we felt comfortable, we were cleared to bring her home. We were so excited!!! I fed the little lady (not from a bottle-- I still think that was part of the problem earlier in the day with her breathing), and we packed up to go home. 

Even though it had snowed, we were able to get home by 4 pm and it felt great to just rest. We ate a light dinner, relaxed and all went to bed early. It had been such a long day! 

Here is the little lady with her lovely patch :) 

We had an appointment with the doctor the following morning where we learned the eye drop schedule. Thankfully, her eye looked great and was healing really well. There were three medications given to us-- one we had to give 8 times a day, one we had to give 4 times a day, and one gel-like medication we had to give her once a day. It was a little overwhelming to say the least! I had to use the list portion on my phone to keep track! 

Addison with her shield-- at least it is clear! 

We had another follow-up appointment the Thursday after her surgery, and we were supposed to get her contact, but the company messed up the order. So---- we go this Thursday to hopefully get her contact. This is the part I am nervous about-- it just seems so difficult! However, I will do whatever it takes for Addison to see out of that eye. 

I will update you all after our appointment Thursday (fingers crossed)! It has been such a journey already-- but a necessary and worthwhile one.