My Boy at 18 months

Took many pictures over the weekend and have a number of updates yet to be documented. But guess the single most important thing to have happen to Little Fella when he turned 18 months is his eye ducts operation.

Although it was suppose to be a "minor" day surgery, the thought of having our precious little boy going through a surgery with G.A. at such a young age really makes my heart ache beyond description. I am sure that all parents will agree with me that no one will want to see their kids to have anything to do with a hospital other than the routine health check-ups and vaccinations. 

At such a young age, still unable to make any decisions on his own, the responsibilities will have to fall on us as his parents to decide on what is the best for him. And decide we did.

Since Little Fella has been suspected of having block tear ducts since birth, this has been the single most worrying issue (among others, trust me you will have 1001 things to worry about your kids) to have weigh on my mind ever since.

We have tried massaging (to a certain extent as little fella can be very difficult to contain whenever mummy tries to do it) and seeked the advice of no less than three different pediatric opthamologist's opinions.All the while delaying and hoping that he can just simply outgrow this issue.

Infants whose blocked ducts goes away normally does so by the time they are twelve months of age. As Little Fella grows older, the chances of him outgrowing the blocked ducts became slimmer and the success rate of a probing procedure will be lower as well.

At this stage there were many questions raised:

1. Are we going to continue and wait in the hope that he will still outgrow it?
2. Are we going to seek more consultations from other pediatric opthamologist?
3. Are we mentally and financially prepared to go through the probing procedure?
4. Can we bear to see our boy "suffer"?
5. What are the risks?
6. What are the side effects?
7. What is the success rate at this stage?

All these and coupled with the fact that Little Fella is generally coping very well with the teary eyes. No infections or irritations of any sorts since birth. We have also confirmed with the opthamologist that his visions will also not be affected by his teary eyes. Do we really have to go for the procedure? Aaaaaragh!!!

 In the end, after many sleepless night of pondering, we have decided to opt for the procedure to be done on our precious little boy for the following reasons:

1. He has passed the "average outgrow age" by six months and his conditions show no signs of improving on its own.
2. We finally found a nice lady pediatric opthamologist with whom we felt comfortable to entrust our boy in her care .
3. It will be for the good of our little boy if this issue can be corrected.
4. The fees is still considered affordable and we want the best for our boy, that is no more teary eyes!
5. At his age, he will most likely not remember anything from this incident. (it's us as his parents who will be more traumatized) 
6. The success rate will dip lower as he grows older.
7. As he grows older, he will be involved in more activities and classes and thus scheduling a surgery will then become trickier. 

Thus the probing procedure date was arranged on 30th April 2012 at 730am on a Monday. Tuesday was labour day and a public holiday. For many, it was a much anticipated long weekend. For wifey and myself, we can only try our best to suppress our feelings and emotions about the upcoming surgery and enjoy our time with the little one.

The night before the surgery. Little Fella having fun playing with dearest Mummy.   =)

Five hours after the surgery and resting at home on the sofa watching his favourite television programme.

It pains me to see my boy in this state, although I must say that he's a brave little dude and carries about his usual activities at home with minimum fuss. Except for the bruises and swelling, everything was back to normal as though nothing had happen on that morning.

His left eye is actually the eye that tears more but surprisingly its was his right eye that has more "blockages" and thus the bruises. The opthamologist had declared the operation as a success as she had managed to probe and connect both ducts from the eyelids through to the nose.

We were told that we will have to wait for about a week to see the results as it will take some time for the swelling and bruises to heal. In the meantime, we are still keeping our fingers tightly crossed and hope that everything will be as per mentioned and that our boy's eyes shall be teary no more.(please)

Here's our little champion (as mummy calls him) one day after the operation.

The swelling is greatly reduced but the bruises still remains.

Son, if you are reading this many years later when you grow up, you must know that Daddy and Mummy will always have your interests at heart in whatever thing we do okie. As much as we do not want to have this procedure done, in the end we feel that it will still be beneficial for you in the long run and thus the go ahead. As the verdict is not really out yet, Daddy really really really hope that we had made the correct decisions to let you have this operation.

Please dont blame us if you suddenly see pictures of yourself with a bruise eye for a while, trust us, we dont want it as well. We may not be the best parents but we will try our best within our capabilities to be one. Luv ya to bits


Daddy