A Pirate No More

Mr. Miles was born with congenital Esotropia (crossing eyes). Usually when babies have this condition, they train their brain to use one eye or the other in order to focus which often results in Amblyopia (lazy eye). Such was the case with Miles. While both eyes were crossed, the left eye also had Amblyopia as he favored his right eye.

Esotropia and Amblyopia can usually be corrected with patching or with glasses. Inasmuch as Miles vision is perfect, our only option was to try patching his strong eye, hoping to correct his lazy eye. For the past two months, we have patched his eye for two hours everyday. He has tolerated the patching very well and has giggled through his daddy and brother teasing him about being a pirate. Arrgh!

Unfortunately, we didn't get the results we were hoping for with patching, so it became necessary to have eye muscle surgery. Strabismus surgery involves operating on one or more of the six muscles of the eye. Typically, the surgeon will weaken or strengthen an eye muscle by moving it to a different position on the eye in order to acheive adequate eye alignment.

When a child's eyes are not in proper alignment, the child will "see" with the straight eye and "ignore" the sight from the turned eye. This means that the child is only using one eye at a time. Successfully aligning a childs eyes may allow a child to use both eyes at the same time giving the child better quality vision.

Today, our sweet baby gave up the patch, and underwent strabismus surgery at Primary Childrens Medical Center. I am happy and relieved to report that all went well, and Miles is home and resting somewhat comfortably. We won't know the complete outcome of his surgery for six weeks, as it will take that long for his brain to adjust to the realignment of his eyes. But so far, he looks really good and we are hopeful that he will not have to repeat the surgery.

Sitting in most any waiting room at PCMC is a humbling experience. On both of my previous visits to our pediatric opthamologist, my heart ached as I witnessed the suffering of so many very, very sick and disabled patients. Today was no exception. As stressful as it was to have my sweet six month old undergo surgery under general anesthesia, I had the calm reassurance that he was in fact extremely healthy and his surgery was non-invasive.

We sat in pre-op with a family whose three month old was having his second surgery for clef lip/palette repair. His first surgery was at one week old to repair a birth defect in his skull. Another family sat with their son who was confined to a wheel chair and used sign language and a computer to speak. I cannot begin to imagine the countless surgeries and doctor visits these two boys will face in their future.

I was again reminded of the miracle that Miles is in our lives. Every time I visit that hospital, I gain perspective and strength. Every time. And I am grateful.

Our baby is home, he is well, and we are on our way to a full recovery. We have been enveloped in our Heavenly Father's care today and He has surrounded us with earthly angels: Thank you to my mom for sitting with me at the hospital all day; Thank you to John and Gina for stopping by last night to help administer to Miles; Thank you to Whitney for taking Rachel and for a most delicious dinner; Thank you to Heather for taking Cole and for handling the football shopping and Lacrosse running; Thank you to Tony's parents for visiting and for bringing dinner for tomorrow night; Thank you to Angela who made several calls to PCMC on our behalf even though she was somewhere far away in the Uintah Mountains at Girls Camp; and Thank you to many friends and loved ones who have called, e-mailed and offered up prayers on our behalf.

We are indeed blessed.