A few months ago Noelle saw an Ophthalmologist because of her blocked tear duct. We scheduled surgery at that time, hoping it would clear up on its own. As the surgery date grew closer, not only did it not clear up but seemed to get worse. If we missed a day of eye drops it was green and goopy, and even if it was clear it was constantly running. A few days prior to her surgery she began to have a runny nose. The day before her surgery Jason and I decided we would cancel it because she was still sick, but the surgery scheduler convinced me to keep the appointment and have the anesthesiologist check her out the day of. The next available date for surgery was October 28th, and there was a good chance she would still be able to have the surgery done. We decided at the last minute to keep the appointment.
Our morning didn’t start out the way I had planned! Noelle woke up at 4:30 am and could not be comforted. She usually sleeps all night long, but when she is sick she does not sleep well. She couldn’t eat after midnight and was not happy about it! She woke up the whole house (including my parents who were staying to watch Ethan). We finally got her to calm down but then she was wide awake. Ethan also announced “I’m awake!” and climbed out of bed around 5am. We got her changed and ready to go, and she fell back asleep in her carseat before we left.
We got checked into the surgery center and got Noelle registered. She woke up shortly before they took us back to pre-op. She was quite happy and pleasant during this time. The anesthesiologist said her lungs were clear and she should be just fine for surgery. We waited a bit for everyone to get ready and then they carried her back. We waited in the waiting room while they did her surgery.
Thankfully it only took about 15 minutes and Dr. Sprunger came out and told us she did just fine. He said her duct was very blocked, and she would have went to Kindergarten with a blocked duct if we didn’t fix it. A few minutes later we got to go back to recovery to get her, where the nurses were fighting over who got to hold her! She was pretty mad but calmed down quickly when I was able to feed her. After I fed her we changed her and headed back home.
The rest of the day she was a little extra sleepy and fussy. Her nose has been bleeding a bit (a normal side effect), but otherwise is doing great. Her eye already looks better and is not goopy or watery at all. It is nice to see immediate results! She has a stent that will stay in place for 6 months and then be removed. We are glad this is behind us and that everything went well!
