Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Post Surgery Update

Lane had surgery on Feb. 7 due to his eyelid drooping again since his original surgery in 2009. The plan for the surgery was to try to tighten the knot on the existing silicone rod (frontalis sling) to pull-up the eyelid again so it was not impairing his vision and would hopefully hold-up for a year(s) to come. In the operating room, the surgeon was able to quickly locate the rod, tighten the knot, and indeed Lane's eyelid raised in the operating room. After the surgery, we were told the surgery was successful, easy, and minimally invasive.  Lane came out of surgery with a huge bandage over that eye and underneath the bandage his lid was sutured closed. We were so relieved the surger way over, and Lane was doing fantastic. The next day we went to his post-op appointment to have his bandage and the suture removed. Upon removal, my  husband and I could immediately see that his eyelid was not at all raised, but in fact, drooping to an almost closed state. We knew immediately that something went wrong. My heart and my stomach dropped. Two doctors examined him and communicated to us that the rod must have snapped under tension after the tightening procedure, and that he would need another frontalis sling surgery with fascia lata as soon as it could be scheduled. We were devastated for a day or so, but now we realize that we are lucky our son doesn't have anything life threatening, he can endure another surgery, and the frontalis sling with fascia should be successful (we pray). So, another surgery for us on March 28! In the meantime we are patching his good eye for one hour a day to keep the other working (for at least an hour a day).  Attached is a photo of Lane 4 days post-surgery.