Our Hospital Visit

Monday morning we had to be in the hospital for 8am. This gave the nurses time to do all the admissions. Then they planned to take each child in order of age. We were really pleased when James' time was fixed at 9:45. It meant all of us had less time to sit and dwell on what was about to happen. If I simply thought of it as an operation and didn't think too much about what they were actually going to do I wasn't too bad.

Watching Ben 10 on the iPod while he was waiting!

I was a little worried about James being given the anesthetic as the last time he underwent surgery he wasn't too keen on the needle being put in his hand and less keen on the mask going over his face!! It was a horrible thing to watch so I wasn't looking forward to a repeat performance. However, he must have forgotten all that and with the nurses brilliant approach with him.....he was getting magic cream on his hand, a butterfly was going to sit on his hand and he would see it being fed with milk (!) or if the butterfly wasn't hungry he could put a mask on his face and blow up a balloon!.....he did everything without even a whimper! My brave brave boy! He cuddled on my knee, watched the butterfly being fed and promptly fell asleep! It was hard though leaving him.
We were told the surgery could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. Three muscles were being corrected in his right eye and one in his left. For James it took the 90 minutes by which point my nerves were shot!! Jesus and I did A LOT of talking in that time and I sang "How Great is Our God" a few times (into myself.....no one else had to be put through that experience!!)!!
At about 11:45 we were called up to Recovery. As I was looking around to find James' bed a theatre nurse literally launched on me and gave me a huge hug! Not really what I had expected!!! LOL!! It turned out she was a former pupil of mine! It was lovely to see her again but I probably came across as just a little distracted as she talked to me.
This is a photo of how James looked in Recovery...

Can you believe he had just come out of surgery to his eyes?!! There's not a mark on his face at all! I expected there to be a few little cuts or at the very least some bruising. Not a thing! The only way you would know something had been done to his eyes is that they are very bloodshot.
Unfortunately James did not react well to the anesthetic and morphine he was given and what we thought would be a few hours experience turned out to be an overnight stay in the hospital. Any time he woke that afternoon, and this didn't happen often, he was really ill. As he had been fasting from Sunday evening he was becoming dehydrated so they put him on an IV drip to sort out his fluids. My poor wee lamb looked so miserable!! As I said to Peter it gave me a new insight into what people have to go through when their kids are really ill and maybe have to go through this quite a number of times!
After a fairly good night's sleep (on James' part..not mine!) he woke and after being initially sick, he ate some breakfast and had a drink. We were so tahnkful. The nurses discharged us mid morning yesterday and for the rest of the day we simply relaxed in front of the TV.
Today James is in great form....chatting nineteen to the dozen and running around! The only time we have an issue is when he has to get drops in his eyes (4 times a day...HELP!!!). He is no problem when taking medicine but putting these drops in is a nightmare! We have a major meltdown! Anyway....tough!....it has to be done!!!
James has to see the consultant the week after next to hear her verdict on the surgery but I have to admit that I feel there is a huge difference. His eyes are so much straighter already! I am delighted with the results.