Surgery Update, NICU Reunion and Shampoo

It's been awhile since I've felt like sitting down to blog. I guess I've been in a bit of a funk lately...and feeling a little old since my niece just turned 30! YIKES!

Tate's surgery went very well. Dr. Trese tried to make a few cuts to Tate's pupil in hopes that it would just spring open but that didn't work. He had to cut away part of his iris to make his pupil size be 4mm which is good. He removed the rest of his lens capsule and did a bit of laser to remove old scar tissue. He also put an air bubble in Tate's eye because his retina is slightly folded and this should help flatten it out. We had to keep Tate on his belly for 2 days and that was quite the task. We are going back to Detroit on 10/14 for a check up (we usually follow up with his doctor here but Dr. Trese wants to see him first) and hopefully that will be our last visit to the Motor City. For all of you who are wondering ~ Yes we finally went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sad to report it was a bit underwhelming. The highlight was listening to "Roundabout" by YES on a video monitor since it's in the top 500 songs that changed rock and roll. I'm a HUGE Yes fan for those of you who don't already know that!

We went to the first NICU reunion last Sunday. It was quite surreal seeing all my friends that I made (my pump room buddies) while the twins were there and their children. I was so happy to see our 2 favorite doctors and they were equally as happy to see Reese and Tate. It was a little disappointing that we only saw a few of the nurses who cared for them. We were hoping to see our favorites but none of them were there. The nurse who let me touch Tate for the first time when he was just 1 day old was there and she came right up and hugged me..that surprised me a bit but she was really sweet. I think we'll go back next year for sure. I hate to say this but I was quite surprised that out of all the kids who were in the NICU at the same time as my kids, none of them had any health issues. Please don't get me wrong..I'm very relieved that they are all healthy with no problems. It's just made me feel a little worse about my kids vision issues... and selfishly so. Please don't say "It could've been worse" because I already know how their whole ordeal could've turned out...I just wish that they too had no problems at all.

Okay, last subject is Shampoo. I will tell you that I always have been and always will be a shampoo snob. Even in my broke and single days I would buy expensive hair products and live on rice and cereal. I'm in a shampoo rut. I always have at least 3 different shampoos and alternate their use (just to keep my hair surprised) but I've been using the same ones for years and I'm getting very bored with them. I'm asking for your help and opinions..which shampoos do you use and why? There really is a huge difference between salon poos and drugstore brands. My hair will attest that this is true. Anyway, please let me know if you have any good shampoos I should try. Thanks for your help!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Week in Review

19 on the 19th

Just realizing that my twins are 19 months old today and that today is the 19th! It's their Golden Month Birthday!! Did I just make that up? They are taking a nap so I'm catching up reading blogs when I should be packing! We're leaving tomorrow late afternoon to head on over to Detroit by way of Cleveland (RRHF here I come). Tate's surgery is early Monday morning and I'm asking again for all my blogger friends and family to pray for my sweet little guy.

Will keep you all posted after his surgery. Thanks for praying!

Update on Tate

Tate's surgery went as well as could be expected. He did have a cataract which had to be removed, meaning they removed his ocular lens. They were able to open his pupil which was the main goal of his procedure. They did have to make one serious decision and we're glad that opted to stop where they did. I should mention that Dr. Trese (doctor in Detroit) was aware of Tate's surgery and acted as a consultant. After removing his cataract and all the lens cavity, they wanted to make a small hole in the back of his lens chamber. After noticing that Tate still has some residual ROP scaring, they realized if they did make this hole, it would pull on his retina. This is where Dr. Trese will come in. We will be making hopefully a final trip to Detroit so he can do this delicate procedure on Tate. So all in all, this is a good thing. Tate will probably have to wear glasses or a single contact on his right eye but that is so minor.

Tate's primary doctor who lead the surgery told us that Tate's cataract was so opaque, that he didn't really think that there had been any useful vision in his right eye. What?? Here we've been so worried about this procedure since all this time we've thought it was his "good eye". After Tate's right eye was patched yesterday, we were not sure how much he could see out of his left eye which has a severely dragged macula. I tell you people, I'm so happy to report that Tate was not the least bit affected by his right eye being patched (except that he kept trying to remove it all day). He played and acted like his usual self.....so now we realize that even though his macula is dragged, he still has had very useful vision out of his left eye....who knew?

I'm looking forward to know how he sees after I take him to the doctor this morning to have the patch removed. Since his pupil is now open, he should be able to see much better. And we do know he was nearsighted in that eye and removing the lens should correct that. The reason he'll need glasses or a contact is to replace the lens and help him focus.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. It has really meant a lot to me and our family. I'll keep everyone posted on when we make our trek back to Detroit. Maybe there's still hope for me and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!

Frustrated!!

Our trip to Detroit was a bust! No zoo..no Rock and Roll Hall of Fame..no surgery...nothing!

We were so excited that Tate's care was now in Dr. Trese's hands only to be shut down. The appointment was Tuesday at 145p. This was our fifth trip to his office and at the most, we've waited 45 minutes. They have a great set up. You sign in and they administer the drops while you wait so when your name is called, you go straight in to see the doctor. This visit was quite a bit different...to say the least. We arrived at 140p and there was not a seat available to sit it. There were at least 50 people in this waiting room..parents along with their children all waiting to see Dr. Trese. I guess they got a little behind that day. There were at least seven blind children there and it was quite humbling for me.

We were finally seen at 430p and promptly found out that the letter from our doctor never made it to Tate's file..good thing I was prepared and had a copy myself. Dr. Trese comes in, reads the letter in front of us, looks at Tate for maybe 2 minutes (remember I said previously that Tate's eyes do not dilate so he couldn't see behind them very well), and tells us that he doesn't preform perifial iridectomys..only bilateral ones. What?? He said that we should go back to Tate's surgeon..you know, the one who sent us to Dr. Trese.. and have him preform the iridecomy and leave the lens alone. Even if Tate has a cataract or if the Dr gives him one, just leave the lens as is and then bring Tate back and Dr. Trese can remove the lens.

This could have all been found out with a simple call from our doctors to Dr. Trese. He could have given his second opinion over the phone instead of giving it to us during a 10 minute office visit. Which by the way cost us well over $600 in hotels, gas and not even counting food. We were very upset when we left there ( I did tell Dr. T that our doctor didn't want to do the surgery and wanted him to do it but it was kind of a mute point since he doesn't even do them).

The next day, we drove 12 hours home..our 8 hour drive always turns into 12 with stopping to feed our kids, and realized that now we were no longer upset but rather mad and frustrated.
We're now awaiting a call back from Tate's primary opthamologist who was rather quite surprised when I called and told him our ordeal. He's getting involved and having the surgeon fit Tate in for surgery ASAP. So, hopefully we'll know a little more next week.

Please keep little Tate in your prayers since he now has to wait even longer for this procedure....oh yeah, and pray for his frustrated mommy too!

Road Trip to the Motor City

We're off on another road trip...not a pleasure trip however. We are going to Detroit again to take Tate to see Dr.Trese. We haven't been to see Dr. Trese since last September. We are both relieved and anxious about this visit.

We learned in May that Tate's right eye has changed since his last eye exam in November. It was explained to us that Tate's eye is getting shallow and the fluid in his eye isn't flowing like it should. They just need to poke a little hole in his pupil to get to his iris and then make some holes in his iris which will allow the fluid to flow properly. If we do nothing, it will surely result in glaucoma. His surgeons here fear that if they do the surgery, they may cause a cataract (they think he may already have one forming) which will result in removing his ocular lens. The problem with that is he may have scar tissue behind his lens and if they even touch it, it could detach his retina. Drama right? And I forgot to mention that Tate's pupils don't dilate because they are scarred down to his iris from the ROP. His opthomologist and retina specialist have highly recommended taking Tate to Detroit to have Dr. Trese give a second opinion and ultimately have him do the surgery. They are also hoping that the doctor can loosen that scar tissue for proper dilation.

The worse thing about all this is that this is Tate's right eye which is his good eye. We know he can see out of his left but the vision in the right is much better. Dr. Trese is Tate's best hope for a successful outcome. Please keep our family in your prayers for safe traveling mercies and especially for our sweet baby boy. We know God has great plans for Tate and we just want his vision to be perfect.

This will be our fifth trip to Detroit. I've made only one request...to stop in Cleveland on our way back to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We'll need a little excitement after all this. I also hope to take the babies to the zoo while we're there. We took them last summer and it was a lot of fun. Well....I better get back to packing. Just wanted to keep everyone up to date and ask for your prayers.

PS.... My 25 year high school reunion is going on as I type this and I obviously wasn't able to make a trip to Dayton Ohio (Wayne High School class of 83) to attend due to this impromptu trip. Hopefully I'll still look good for our 3oth!!!