Cohen Has Surgery.

Reagan had a blocked tear duct when she was born.  I was constantly wiping "goop" out of her eye.  When she was 9 months old, my pediatrician recommended her for a study a medical group was doing on obstructions of the tear duct.  It meant that I got paid to have her see a specialist.  It was a pretty sweet deal!  Especially considering that they gave me prescription drops to put in her eye (also free); and those drops worked!  She didn't have any more problems after that, and I made over $100.  All of which, I deposited in to her college savings account.

Cohen was born with the same problem.  Only both of his eyes had blocked tear ducts.  I went through the same motions, of constantly cleaning the discharge out of his eyes.  It was always worse when he was sick.  And with both Cohen, and Reagan; I always had people asking if they had eye-infections?

Cohen's defect didn't clear up, the way Reagan's had.  As he got older, the problem got worse.  He looked like he spent a lot of time crying, when he really didn't.  It was just that his natural tears didn't have anywhere else to go, but down his cheeks.

At Cohen's 18 month well-child appointment, Dr. Swensen suggested that I take Cohen to a specialist.  I was really sad that I couldn't get Cohen in to a study, like I had with Reagan.  Seeing a pediatric opthamologist is expensive, when you have to pay for it yourself!

Dr. Swensen recommended: Dr. Robert Hoffman.  I called Dr. Hoffman's office, and the wait time to get in to see him was ridiculous!  Dr. Swensen always takes care of me (turns out, Dr. Swensen, and Dr. Hoffman went to medical school together); he pulled some strings, and got me an appointment to see Dr. Hoffman, ASAP.

Dr. Hoffman recommended that Cohen have both of his tear ducts surgically unblocked.  We scheduled the surgery.  Dr. Hoffman was going to be out of town for most of the month of June.  So, Cohen had to wait until July 25th to have the surgery.

We had to be to Primary Children's Medical Center at 7:30AM.  My Mom came to my house to watch the girls.  I LOVE having her nearby.

Check-in was speedy.  The surgical clothing they gave me to dress Cohen in was ridiculously oversized.  He kept tripping over all of it.

When we made it to the 2nd waiting room, we found out that Dr. Hoffman was running behind.  We had to wait for over an hour here.  Cohen was surprisingly well-behaved.  Since he couldn't eat or drink that morning, I was expecting him to be a grumpy bear!  My son LOVES to eat.  His usual breakfast is: 2 nutrigrain waffles, a bowl of cereal (adult sized), and yogurt.  You can see how I'd be worried by the fact that I made him skip breakfast.  But he did well.

When Elsa had her surgery, they asked if I wanted to give her Versed (to relax her)?  I would have given it to Cohen, for his surgery, but they didn't even offer it?  They didn't take him back to the operating room in one of the little cars, or wagons either.  I held him while we walked back, and then I handed him off to the anesthesiologist.  It was one of those painful Mommy moments!

The doctor came to speak to Nick and me after the surgery.  He said that he probed Cohen's eyes first, and dislodged a lot of his blockages, but it wasn't enough to totally fix them, so he had to insert little balloons in both ducts too, to expand the ducts (the balloons were removed at the end of the surgery).

The nurse came, to escort me back to recovery.  She was also taking another family to recovery.  Their child was closer than mine, so she had the go with her, and I had to wait in the hall.  From the hall, I could hear my little boy screaming at the top of his lungs!  But I couldn't see him.  It was agony.  Waiting for the nurse to come back to take me to Cohen.
When I finally got to him, he was inconsolable.  After Elsa's surgery I had an idea of what to expect; but it doesn't make it any easier.  The nurse had tried to give Cohen a bottle, which I thought was weird.  He hasn't taken a bottle for almost a year now.  I don't think he even knew what to do with it.

We moved Cohen to a different recovery room, and they let Nick come back.  Cohen was still fighting mad.

Things went on this way for a good hour.  He didn't want to drink anything.  He didn't want a popsicle.  He didn't want to watch TV.  He didn't want Mommy to hold him.  He didn't want Daddy to hold him.  All he wanted was to get the IV out of his foot, and the heart monitor off.

I finally asked the nurse to bring me some crackers.  He brought an array of goodies, and I tempted Cohen with some Lorna Doone cookies.  That was the ticket.  He scarfed down the cookies, and asked for more.  Then, I got him to drink some apple juice (out of a sippy cup, this time).  I tell you... that kid does not like to be hungry.  After he ate, he calmed down; and the nurse took out his IV.

Cohen fell asleep in his carseat on the ride home.  He slept most of the afternoon. 
24 hours later, you cannot tell that he recently had surgery.  He is toddling around like his normal self.  He has had 2 bloody noses today, but the doctor said it's to be expected.  He said Cohen may also bleed from his eyes.  That hasn't happened, yet.
But Cohen's prognosis is good.  The doctor said that most of the time this type of surgery is very effective, and rarely does it have to be re-done.  Thank goodness!