Post-Surgery & A Fever

Peyton is bouncing back from her surgery finally. She spent most of the weekend being very sleepy and eventually a bit on the cranky side. She was finally opening her eyes more than half-way by the end of Monday. She's doing better with that now. Now, though, she is starting to rub her eyes a lot more, which is something we do not want. That will introduce more bacteria to her eyes and worsen the problem. I think what's happening is that her eye lids are in the healing process and are probably very itchy right now. Hopefully she can tolerate the compresses and medication enough to give her some relief.

Last night, Peyton came home from her babysitter's with a 102 temperature and her breathing sounded extremely congested and "crackly". I had great fears about pneumonia developing as it did back in May. Ron's home with her this morning and I'll leave work early to be with her this afternoon. Hopefully she can see her doctor and rule this out. Ron said she sounds a bit better this morning and her temp is down a bit. That is good news.

All of this makes us feel like "Can't the Fontenots EVER catch a break??" It seems like we just can't. I know that better, easier times are ahead. I have to believe that. But just when you think things are looking up, something always comes up. I just feel so badly for her to be going through everything she goes through. It breaks my heart that that's what her life is right now.

I'm very anxious now for our vacation, which begins on the 21st. We'll be hitting the road around 3am on the 21st and driving as far as Illinois. The kids are great travelers, thank God, so that shouldn't be too bad. Just a long day. The next day we'll drive to Green Bay, WI to spend a night with family there and then on the 23rd we'll arrive home at my parent's house. Yes, it is a long drive, but right now I'm thinking it sounds GREAT compared to what our every day life consists of at the moment!! We need that break - the change of scenery and change of pace.

I'll keep you updated on how Peyton is doing.

Another Eye Surgery

Peyton had her surgery this morning. We had to be there for 5:30 am. We got home around noon. The surgery was much longer than I thought it would be. When the doctor checked her eyes, she counted no fewer than 5-6 chalazions in each eyelid, upper and lower. So that's at least 20-30 with there being more than 6 in a couple. After the surgery, the recovery area likes to keep them til they are alert and able to drink some fluids. She never really woke up. She stirred a couple times. I did finally get her to take a bottle but she was still pretty out of it. We got home a little before noon and she has been sleeping ever since. She stirred a couple times and took another bottle, but she's really out of it. I don't remember her being this wiped out after any general anesthetic before. Hopefully she'll perk up soon. Her eyes look terrible right now. I'm not really anxious to start giving her the ointment which has to go inside her eyelids. The doctor thinks she is aggravating the problem herself by rubbing her eyelids so much, so she's become very prone to getting them. We have our instructions on how to help her over the next several months. Hopefully that will break the cycle.

Hearing Aid Update

I called Texas Children's Hospital first thing Monday morning regarding Peyton's hearing aid. Within 15 minutes I'd been sent a claim form, filled it in, had it notarzied, and faxed back to the audiology department. By mid-afternoon, the lady was calling me back to say the company where it is being ordered from had it ready to ship. It should be in hopefully today, but then TCH will have to program it and then call me to pick up. Sounds like we should be back in business before the week is out!

Peyton's eye continues to flare up with those chalazions. We're thankful she's having this surgery. Hopefully that will give her a fresh start and we can break this vicious cycle.

Enjoying the "cold" weather in Houston (it's gone down into the mid 30's overnight and was 50 this morning driving in). I miss the snow, but will be so happy to see it in a couple weeks when we travel north for the holidays!

Another Upcoming Surgery

Peyton had another sudden doctor visit yesterday. Instead of going to her physical therapy appointment, she wound up seeing her Ophthalmologist instead. Her left eye has been irritated and her eye lid was pretty red and swollen. Not wanting to take any chances with her eyes, Ron took her to the doctor. It turns out she has another "chalazion" in her eye lid. Basically it is a gland or duct that is clogged with oils. It becomes irritated and unable to drain, so it forms a lump in the eye lid. It's not a sty, although it's kind of similar. Since Peyton is scheduled for surgery on Monday, she will have this chalazion removed at that time. The surgery is to shorten the tubes in the shunts in her eyes.

Aside from that, she is doing quite well with her therapies. She's getting much stronger each day. We're still a long way from reaching many milestones, but I have a feeling like maybe Peyton being able to sit unassisted may be the next milestone she reaches. I think it's still a long way off, but she is getting stronger. Her head is still wobbly and she doesn't have great upper body strength, but hopefully in the next several weeks she might be able to sit on her own. We'll see. Only time will tell!!

We are looking forward to a visit with my Mom and Dad. They will be arriving tomorrow and will stay for a week. I'm sure they will see a huge difference in Peyton. Dad especially, since he hasn't seen her since Peyton's birthday in May.

We will see them again in just a couple months as we will be spending Christmas in Canada this year. We're driving. You can't take the oxygen tanks we have for Peyton on airplanes, so that means we have to drive. Fortunately, the kids are GREAT travelers. In July, we drove to Albuquerque - about 15 hours or so from here. We drove straight through and they didn't start to fuss until we were about 5 miles from our hotel! Hopefully that luck continues with this trip. It'll be too cold to pull in at a rest stop and let Moira run around on this trip!

I'll update regarding Peyton's surgery next week.

EUA Update

Peyton and I are home from the hospital. She had her eye exam under general anesthetic. Prior to going in, the doctor was in the pre-op room. I asked her about something I noticed about Peyton's right eye - her lower lid seemed to be a bit "puffy" on one end. This wasn't something new, but it wasn't getting better. Sure enough, she has "chalazions" (similar to a sty, I guess, but not a sty) See: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/chalazion-lump-in-eyelid for more information. She had to have at least 7 surgically removed from both lower eye lids. Poor Peyton. She is resting at home now, but looks like she's been in a fight with George Foreman...and lost.

Her eye pressures are fine. More on the low side, but still in the normal range. The doctor said that the tube of the shunt in her right eye is now too long since her eye has decreased in size. She'll have to go back in September to have the tube shortened. He would have done it today, but she has too much bacteria in her eye from her other eye problem.

All went well. One procedure down. She will have her MRI on Wednesday if all goes according to plan. I'll keep you posted.