Eye follow up

Natalie did great last night!  We put her to bed with the arm splints on, since we expected her to try to take the eye patch off...but she took the arm splints off and left the eye patch!  Whoo hoo!  She didn't much want to open her other eye, even when she was awake.  I'm so glad she had an 8 a.m. appt to remove the patch.


But an 8 a.m. appt meant we had to leave at 6:30 to make sure we could get there during morning rush hour. Thankfully, we arrived in plenty of time (carpool lanes really work!) and met Aunt Chris at CHLA.  Chris watched the boys while I took Natalie to her appt.  Thank you Chris!  The boys had a very fun time exploring and finding the great playground that's there.  (I still prefer CHOC, but CHLA does have some amenities.)

So the dr. removed the eye patch and said everything looks very good.  Natalie's eye is very red, which is to be expected, and it will take some time for it to look normal again (like a bruise that heals).  But I was surprised that I couldn't see the shunt...I thought it was going to be visible over the top of the colored part of Natalie's eye.  The dr. said it's right below her eyelid, so it's only visible if we pull her eyelid up.  I'm so glad!  This is what the shunt looks like, and all the pictures and diagrams we'd seen of it indicated it would be visible.

Now another follow up in a week, then once a month for several months, and another EUA in 3-4 months to see how both eyes are doing.  Thanks for your continued prayers for a healthy recovery, no infection and no scarring.  AND that Natalie will adjust to this after the local anesthesia wears off (the doctor said she applied something yesterday that is helping Natalie to not feel it).

Patch off: check.  Glasses on:  check.  Happy girl:  check!