My nine-year-old son is the center of my universe. This is the story of his childhood as it unfolds. Please read the first post, "Why I started this blog," to know more.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Vitrectomy on hold, laser next week

I'm going to be really quick about this, because frankly, my mind is really numb. It's not just that the Coats has become active again, it's just a whole lot of stuff around the house and the little fellow's tantrums, especially at sleep time.

Munchkin had an angiogram today. He did cry a bit - more because he was just plain scared rather than the actual pain of having a needle injected into a vein on his hand. And then he threw a tantrum because he had to have his blood checked for his haemoglobin levels. (He had his tetanus and typhoid boosters the Saturday before last, so he was really upset over all the needle pricks.)

Having looked at the angiogram, the doctor said he wanted to keep the vitrectomy on hold, describing it as 'major surgery' this time (sonny would need to be home for three weeks) and said he would rather do another round of laser and cryo. After six weeks, he would see how the response was and then decide on the vitrectomy. I know this sounds crazy, but I had kind of resigned myself to the vitrectomy so this came as a surprise. And while I was over the moon that my son didn't need actual surgery, the fact that he might still have to have it two weeks before his school (he's moving to a new one) reopens for the new academic year (June 1) and miss his first 10 days had me worried. (I had to change schools a lot when I was a kid because we moved around so much and I know how tough it can be to adjust to new surroundings.)

I still haven't been able to get the second opinion based on the tests - the other doctor hasn't responded over e-mail and I haven't been able to reach him on the phone either. (I wonder if I should be trying harder - like I said, my mind is so not functioning correctly right now!)

So that's the update for now. I hope to write again soon.

2 comments:

Liz said...

So sorry to hear all you are going through right now! Let's hope the laser and cryo do the trick, and hopefully he wont need the surgery. Are you taking him to another doctor for a second opinion, or are you just asking another doctor an opinion on things? Perhaps i can give you contact info on our doctor here. let me know.

WRITING MOMMY said...

Hi Liz,
I'm not taking him to another doctor, but yes, I'm getting another opinion. He really hates the dilation phase.
It would be great if you could give me the contact information of your doctor - I'm not sure if he'd be available for long-distance consulting, though. I really appreciate this, Liz. Thanks very muc.