The Good & the Bad

 

The good thing about going to Madigan since Jeremy was four months old is we know most of the surgical services staff. Therefore when we arrived at 7:15 AM they got Jeremy right back & into a bed. He crashed right away since he woke up when I did around 5:45AM. As we waited I went over all the paperwork one more time. Had them place the RED ALLERGY alert bracelet on Jeremy so they remembered to take off his EKG Leds ASAP when he woke up. Then we waited about an hour before they wheeled him back fo his eye surgery.

 

They placed the purple X over the right eye so they didn't mess with the wrong eye- good thing they did.

 

He was all smiles & high fives as they wheeled him away. The other people in the waiting area could hardly believe how at ease he & I where. One mom was in tears while waiting & asked how I could be so calm? I gave a brief little history of all the surgeries Jeremy has had & the fact that if I get upset it does him no good or the doctors. Staying calm is much better for everyone.

Well off he went & I headed to the closest coffee stand for a much needed caramel sauce latte with a bagel- I was starving by then.  Headed to the waiting area in time to catch a lady yelling at a man who was talking on his cell phone. Apparently she didn't want to hear his whole conversation & he told her she could move-WOW! It took around an hour forty-five minutes before the doctor came out to talk with me & take me to recovery. They where able to adjust the tube that Jeremy had placed behind his right eye at four months of age. It helps drain the fluid behind his eye to keep his pressure low. It immediately dropped his eye pressure down to 24/25 which was still a little higher then they had wanted but better then 40 that it was last week. The doctor let me know that for now it's as good as it is going to get ever. That we will continue to use 3 different drops two times a day forever. That his vision is still considered legally blind in that eye- but he can see.That over the years it may get even worse where he has no vision at all but they have no idea when that will happen. That was that & at least for now his pressure is lowered & he can keep a little vision in that eye.

When I got to him I went to rub his back & noticed right away his EKG Leds where still on, GRRRRR!!! I start yanking them off only to have some nurse who doesn't know us flip out. I calmy tell her to call the doctor now! She does then comes back over to see what the fuss was all about as Jeremy lays clawing at his chest & crying very loudly. Let me show you what the problem is -  I say in my nice but stern mommy voice.

My little guy had a severe allergic reaction to the sticky stuff on the back of the EKG Leds just like his chart said he would & the BRIGHT RED bracelet he was wearing warned about. But NOOOO, they still left the dang leds on too long. That led to Jeremy needing a benedryl dose in his IV & a very strong sedative to keep him from scratching at the sites.Poor little guy looks like someone burned him on purpose with some round blunt object. Finally a nurse who knows us comes over & has the other new lady leave- thank goodness. She get's Jeremy's IV out, let's me get him dressed. Then she wakes him up so we can leave.When she got some questions about me carrying Jeremy out instead of a wheel chair- well Jeremy yelled at the other nurse so loud- yep they let us walk right out of recovery!

I am so grateful for Jeremy's medical team, but sometimes I want to scream when they mess up the small things. Especially when I go over it & over it before he leaves my site. Thankfully he was fine & wanting to eat. I went & picked up some Pizza Hut and we headed home.He is laying on the couch watching Batman now with Banyan. He is really groggy from all the extra medication he would not have needed had they simply paid attention. But I am very glad his eye pressure is down for now & we where promised no more surgery for at least 6 months!! That may be a new record for us!  I can't say we will miss the early mornings at the hospital. We plan on enjoying this brief vacation time as much as possible.

So there you have it folks the good, the bad, & the ugly......ugggg