A long day, and a small miracle

First the long day. We had an appointment downtown at 8am, so we left at 6ish. We forgot that it was Saturday and arrived downtown with about, oh, an hour and 15 minutes to spare. So I wandered around Food 4 Less and bought some totally unnecessary snacks (Cosmic brownies, anyone?) and then we went to our appointment. There were a few others there, interestingly, all had had surgery on their right eye except for one person. Fridays must be right eye days.
Hannah was a little agitated during the check (can't say that I blame her) but all looks good for now. No signs of infection and the retina is still staying right where it should be. All good news.
Now for the small miracle...which, to me, is a huge miracle.
Some of you know that Hannah has a 'baby' - which is one of those lovey blankets that has a bear head and a pink blanket for a body. She's had it ever since she was born, and it has been her constant companion. Well, we lost Baby (Hannah has named it Baby). We looked everywhere at home, I called everywhere we went after her last doctor's appointment, every store, EVERYWHERE! No luck. I was sick at the thought of having to send her into surgery without it, but we did and she held up fine.
Now for the miracle...today we went to Cracker Barrel after her appointment (it's her favorite thing to do after her appointment and has become routine). I called Cracker Barrel twice after Baby went missing and Stan called there once, each time we were told she wasn't there. Today I had Stan take the 'replacement' Baby (which is a lamb) and ask at the front desk if anyone had turned Baby in. Lo and behold, Baby was there. I am sure that the entire restaurant thinks that I am out of my mind. I was sobbing. I am so glad that Hannah has her Baby back. It meant so much to me and I was sick that it was gone. I really felt that I had let her down. Now Hannah is resting comfortably with Baby on the couch, a worker at Cracker Barrel is probably contemplating some sort of lawsuit against me because I hugged her and cried so much, and all is right with the world. For now, at least.

It's over...and we're pooped!

The operation went swimmingly. Her lens was removed, along with the cataract. What does this mean? Well, for now, she isn't going to be able to see much of anything except light and shadow. Since your lens focuses the light on your retina, missing a lens means there is no focus. For now. The prognosis is good for her to be first fitted with a contact and then an intra-ocular lens that is permanent. We have to wait until the trauma stitches heal and she gets a bit bigger for the permanent lens, but it's all good news.
We're all very tired from our early morning Chicago excursion, and have to return tomorrow at 8am! Don't doctors ever sleep???
A giant thank you to my bunco moms who are taking care of dinners this weekend! I couldn't do this without you!

Today is the big day

We have to be downtown at 5:30, hence the insane hour of this post. Please say a prayer that the surgeons are guided by God's hand and that Hannah has an easy recovery. I will try to keep everyone updated as soon as possible as to the outcome.

A little something to get me to tomorrow...

"Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All thing pass; God never changes. Patience attains all that it strives for. He who has God finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices." from St. Theresa of Avila

Anxiety is setting in

at least for me... I am really anxious about the surgery on Friday. Maybe this is compounded by the fact that we have no idea what time it is yet...we're waiting for scheduling to call. It's just getting really rough around here...keeping one kid calm and letting the others enjoy the beginning of summer. I'm tired.

Good news / bad news

The good news is that Hannah had a great 1/2 day back at school. The bad news is that the doctors want to do the lensectomy and cataract removal as soon as possible so we are scheduled for surgery on the 30th. It breaks my heart that she is going to have had 2 surgeries in a month! It also will put quite the wrench in our lake cottage vacation, but we'll work around that. The harder part is going to be that the pool is right down the street and it sounds like swimming will be off limits for at least a month after surgery. Sigh.

Back to school

Well, today is the day. Hannah goes back to school. I think I am more nervous than I was her first day of kindergarten! Hopefully all will be calm...she has a doctor's appointment at 2:15, so daddy will be picking her up early (before lunch) and taking her downtown and I will be picking the other girls up at school. Please say a quick prayer that all goes well today (this is the lens doctor) and we can get the next surgery scheduled and done quickly.

One day at a time...

Things are getting slowly back to normal here...with a hearty dose of chaos. Last night the girls had a birthday party - a Webkinz birthday party. They had a great time, all three of them. I was a little nervous since there were so many kids in such a small place...but things were fine.
Hannah had a difficult time this morning since her sisters went to the park...I took her with but she soon realized that sitting off to the side doing nothing wasn't fun, and the tears began. We're working on our homework now, since the house is nice and quiet.
I want to thank again everyone who has called, e-mailed, brought dinners, sent flowers and a really cool fruit arrangement, and a special thank you to the bunco moms who had a masseuse waiting for me at bunco last night!
Also, my college roommate's husband is out of ICU and has actually been able to be wheeled around! Way to go, Steve!
Lastly, I wanted to share this prayer that one of my 'triplet mom friends in cyberspace' sent me:


Prayer to St. Lucy
Relying on Your goodness, O God, we humbly ask You, through the
intercession of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr, to give perfect
vision to our eyes, that they may serve for Your greater honor and
glory.

Saint Lucy, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
Amen

Update from today's visit

Today's visit went well...the eye injury is healing as well as can be expected. No signs of infection, no signs of leakage. There is some distortion of the lens due to the stitches, however. What does this mean? It means that the lens is going to have to be removed sooner rather than later. We knew the lens would have to be removed as part of the cataract removal, but we didn't expect that it would be this soon. We meet with the lens specialist on Monday.
The best news...Hannah gets to go back to school! She can't go to PE or outdoor recess, and has to wear her eye shield and sunglasses, but she gets to go back to school! She is going to have a half day on Monday, because of the eye doctor appointment, but she gets to go back to school!
Can you tell I'm a bit excited to have some normalcy back??

Countdown to follow up appointment

Our follow up appointment is at 8:45 this morning. I am nervous. Please keep us in your prayers.

Another non-eventful day

Today was a very calm day. We went to Wal-Mart, rented some movies, and basically took it easy. Hannah has been such a trooper...not even complaining about the eye drops 4 times a day! 2 more days until our next appointment...I am eager to hear what the doctors have to say - I am hoping it is good news.
I am very grateful to all who have helped out...it is all so appreciated. I am worn down but trying to keep a good face for the kids...sometime I'll be able to collapse, but it won't be for a while! So for now I just keep swimming and trying to keep my head above water. Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers.

Non-update

A non-update is good. We had an uneventful day regarding Hannah's eye. She is such a trooper...doesn't fuss at the eye drops that she has to have 4 times a day, the sore throat from the breathing tube from surgery, any of it. She is much braver than I.
Other than Hannah's eye, we did have some 'eventfulness' - we went and got new tires for the car, had lunch with grandma and grandpa and picked out new DS games for her sisters.
Once again, a giant thank you to everyone for all of your kindnesses. I am overwhelmed. A special thank you to Anne from bunco for dinner and all the special treats for the girls, Reza for the yummy desserts, Heather from church for the wine, balloons and bears for the girls and for bringing dinner, Carolyn for keeping 'taco Tuesday' and bringing tacos for dinner last night, Deanna and Jeff for the beautiful flowers and teddy bear, and Sandra and Tracy for meeting me at the library and listening to me babble. If I have forgotten anyone, I am sorry! All of these things are making it a bit easier to get through this. I just keep remembering that it could be so much worse.
On a side note, please keep my college roommate's husband in your prayers...he had a terrible car accident over a week ago and is just now off the ventilator. Pray that he has as uneventful a recovery as Hannah has been having.
Once again, I am overwhelmed by your caring, generosity and love.

Scary, scary, scary

Here's the latest update:

For those of you who don’t know, Hannah injured her eye on scissors on Sunday. She had a 2 ½ hour surgery that day. We were transferred from Edward Hospital to UIC for the surgery and the ambulance driver was my best friend growing up's brother! We went back to the eye clinic at U of I Chicago and so far all is well. They checked to see that the wound is stitched tightly and that there is no more leakage from the globe of the eye. They also did an ultrasound of her retina and all is well there, too. So, for now, we wait. Hopefully her eye will heal well enough that she will have better sight than she has now, for now she can see just shadows and movement. She has to be out of school for a week (to keep the eye from being jostled as well as keep infection far away) and we have a follow up appointment downtown on Friday. I’ll be staying home with her all week.

It has just hit her this evening that this is going to be a long time and that her eye might not ever be the same. It’s heartbreaking to see your child hurting so much. I am trying so hard to keep this in perspective – at the end of the day, I have a little girl who will be just fine. Eyesight isn’t that important, and she still has 100% sight in her other eye.

A big thank you to Jeanne, who has been keeping you all updated. It’s hard for me to write because writing it down makes it so much more real to me.

Another big thank you to my church bunco group, who are bringing meals this week. All of your calls and concern and prayers are so appreciated.

Please keep the whole family in your prayers – I have one little girl who is scared she won’t see and two other girls who are feeling a bit neglected. This triplet thing is HARD!!