Adiel's Eye Surgery

5.11.09

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28

Kirk, Adiel and I arrived in Spokane today for Adi's pre-op appointment. We learned more about the surgery and signed the necessary paperwork. Kirk and I had peace about everything and know that your prayers were being answered. Thank you all so much for lifting our family up to Almighty God - He was right there with us!

Here are some shots I took in our hotel room the evening before the surgery. As you can see, Adi had quite a significant head tilt (30+ degrees). She would line everything up with her right eye. After the sequence of our sweet girl kissing Kirk's face, she left part of herself all over his eyes. Oh, my goodness! That was a first. Kirk handled it well and quickly washed the vomit out of his eyes. In case you were wondering, that stuff stings!

And, the last few are cute. Adi slept in a drawer! Great idea, Mom. She was snug as a bug in a ... drawer!



5.12.09

Kirk and I both got up early on the 12th (2:45 am) to feed Adiel one last time before the surgery. She ate and went right back to sleep. We all arrived at the hospital at 6:45 am. About an hour later, it was time. The nurse came out and scooped up Adi, who reached up to the nurse's face as if pulling it in to kiss her. Amazing.

The operation itself lasted only about 40 minutes, however, we waited close to an hour to allow for her to fall asleep, administer the IV, etc. Kirk and I prayed and the Lord gave us many comforting verses to cling to; really beautiful time.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. - James 4:8

The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. - Nahum 1:7

When the doctor came out, he said everything went as planned, which was a relief. He probed her tear duct which had been blocked, as well as the medial rectus recession (detaching and reattaching the muscle behind her left eye).

He suggested we get an MRI done of Adi at some point. He said he didn't recall ever seeing the various mis-wirings our girl has in any other patient he's helped (been practicing for about 30 years). The nerve issues she has are not unique, however, having them all going on in one little person is.

So, that's something to be praying for. He said that the MRI would be able to indicate possible problems she may have in the future.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. - Psalm 23:4

We are not concerned, though. As you can see from these photos (taken only a few hours after surgery), Adiel is doing great ... a little swollen, but still smiling. She was in a lot of pain as she came out of being asleep, cried a bunch, but after a good nap, she was quite content. We only needed to give her a little bit of Tylenol! The arm splints you will see helped her not rub her eye.

Her neck muscles are tense and she's slowly realizing she doesn't have to tip her head anymore. As a bonus, her left eye has drawn forward a bit, so both eyes are more symmetrical now. At the post-op appointment, her doctor was even amazed at how well everything went! He said the tilt is gone! Most likely just a bit of neck tension causing what we see now.

This is a total answer to prayer and a miracle! Adiel has binocular vision, probably for the first time, and is doing so well. We'll continue antibiotic eyedrops for two weeks and have a follow-up appointment in July to ensure all is well.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you who prayed and thought of us this week! We are incredibly blessed to have you in our lives and we thank the Lord for you!!!