Seeing clearly

From the very first suspicion that our daughter had a hemangioma on her forehead over her left eye, we were told that our top priority would be keeping watch on her eye. When the eye is so swollen that it can't open, it is unable to develop clear vision. We were told that the eye is like a muscle...use it or lose it.

During her first couple of weeks of life, our daughter's facial hemangioma was small enough that it didn't affect her vision at all, but as the hemangioma began to grow, her eye grew increasingly swollen to the point that she was virtually unable to open her left eye at all. When we received the MRI/MRA results in late February, our pediatrician was very concerned about her vision because the test results enabled the doctor's to see the extensiveness of the hemangioma under the skin. To hopefully reduce the inflammation and get the eye open, the doctors started her on the steroid immediately.

Though both the steroid and Propranalol made good progress in reducing swelling so that she could open her eye, it was still closed about 50% of her awake time, and the doctor's didn't think this was enough progress. So, today we had day surgery at Dell Children's Hospital in Austin. I had no idea how much my heart would heart when the nurse took her out of my arms and walked down the hall with her for the procedure. I am thankful for a friend (who didn't even know we were at the hospital) who called with an unrelated question. Our 15 minute phone conversation was probably the best thing for me!

The doctors declared the procedure a good success. Our ophthalmologist was able to do three injections right into her eyelid at a very surface level. The dermatologist did several injections in both her left cheek and back of her neck. The steroid will last for about a month in these locations to keep the swelling at bay. If necessary, we can do another round of injections at that time. We are once again thankful for a team of doctor's who collaborates to do what's best for her!

As I write this blog, it's only been about 10 hours since her procedure, and it's amazing the results we're seeing already. Her cheek is so kissably soft! We are praying that this first round of injections is all she'll need. The doctors hope that we will be able to increase her oral medications to a level where they'll maintain the reduced swelling. She's sleeping well due to some of the anesthesia that's still in her system.

Please join us in praying that our daughter's vision will develop clearly and that the days where her eye didn't open will not have a long-lasting impact!