Reassurance needed on ds eye op

[Pancake]

My ds1 (aged 4) is going into hospital next Saturday for squint surgery. Whilst it's only a day thing (hopefully)it means a general anaethestic and a 45 minute op. We've bought ds a couple of books about going into hospital and he seems really cool about it (he's the first out of his nursery friends to go into hospital which he sees as quite exciting and also he knows he's going to get presents)!

However I'm getting to feel really stressed about it and just feel sick when I think about him going under.

I know it's a simple op but I still can't help worrying. Has anyone any experience on their little ones going for ops and is there anything else I can be doing to prepare both ds and me for this?

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated.

pancake, my dd is a bit younger than your ds, but at 27 months has had six day surgeries (ears and eyes) and one major surgery (open heart). I can understand that you are stressed out about the surgery - it's never nice to think of your child having a general anaesthetic and being in a strange environment.
On the ward the nurse will probably put some anaesthetic cream on your ds's hand and put in an IV later - this should be painless thanks to the cream. The anaesthetist will come and see you, they or the nurse will also explain to your ds all about the 'sleepy medicine' and when it's time to go to theatre you will be able to hold him until he is fully under, they will probably show your ds toys or chat with him whilst they put the anaesthetic down the IV. I find this bit really hard - it's a bit freaky to see your child suddenly go all limp.
At the end of the surgery they might give your ds some paracetamol so that he is not in pain when he wakes up.
Once the op is over you should be able to see your ds in the recovery room and cuddle him as he comes out of the anaesthetic and then go back to the ward after 10 minutes or so. My dd tends to be quite upset as she comes round - this is the worst bit really - what cheers her up eventually is the promise of weetabix. The nurse will probably offer your ds something like an ice lolly and hopefully within a short while he'll be back to his normal self.
They usually have really cool toys on children's wards - my dd loves going to hospital and her big sister is usually green with envy!
Good luck - hope everything goes smoothly - keep us updated.

Thanks 2under2 - you've made me feel much better and at least I now have an understanding as to what will happen on the day. It's just such an emotional time. I hope you dd is ok ... she must be a very brave little girl.

Pancake, my son had squint surgery on one eye when he was 3 yrs 2 months.

Good advice from 2under2. DS1 was also pretty tearful/ 'angry' when he came round after the anesthetic which was a bit distressing, but then went straight to sleep for about 2 hours (which the hospital encourage)
Was OK immediately after that (after effects of strong painkillers) and for the rest of the day.The next day was when the discomfort of the surgery kicked in really (described to us by someone as 'irritating prickling behind the lid - like bad conjunctivitis' ). in fact he wouldn't open EITHER of his eyes (which was a bit worrying) for the next two days.
In fact the most difficult part of the whole thing was having to put anti-biotic/ anti-infective drops in his eyes for the following two weeks. Obviously they stung a bit, and he really struggled to try to stop us - on some occasions we had to literally 'pin him' to the floor with him shrieking and screaming. But it's absolutely vital that the eye doesn't get infected - makes you feel terrible at the time though (good mother/ bad mother dilemma).

Another few tips - don't forget to put him in pull-ups or something for the op and immediately afterwards - he'll probably lose bladder control, and could be more upset about that.
When you get home, be prepared for post-anesthesia to result in bizarre behaviour/ anger/ tantrums and possibly vomiting - we think it did for our DS up to 2 days afterwards (although he may also have picked up a tummy bug in the hopsital our GP said - yuk!)

The eye DOES look pretty raw immediately afterwards, and you wonder how your darling child will ever look the same again, but believe me it IS worth the few days of pain and distress - 6 months later ds's squint has been reduced to a point where it is barely visible (only when very tired) and he has recovered 2 levels of this 3D vision, which he was at risk of losing! We are SOOOO grateful.

If you want to ask anything else, feel free to contact me off line (via contact another talker above) and I'll give you my tel number...
Good luck - thinking of you.
Lol
Mo2

Mo2 and Pancake - can I just ask what kind of squint your children have/had? My daughter has a squint which meant she had to have her eye patched for a few hours a day. It is not detectible when shs is wearing glasses but I always understood that surgery would not be considered whilst they were still children. One eye was about 2 levels down from normal vision and would not be at an acceptable level for driving, should she ever lose the sight in her other eye.

Pancake - I'm useless about surgery as well. I pulled out of an operation for my daugher earlier this year because I was just too frightened. It's only postponed though, sure she'll still have to go through with it but it makes me sick to think of it.

Many thanks Mo2 - it's great getting a better understanding as to what will happen. I've taken the following week off work to be with ds1 - do you think this is long enough?

The tips are great and I'm really hoping that this op will work first time but his squint is very bad.

Just makes me feel completely anxious and weepy but I've got to remember it's about making him better!

Tinker - I can't remember all the 'medical' terms for my son' squint, but basically it wasn't that the eye was just 'lazy' and that the muscles would be improved by patching it, his squint was so large (and had developed so rapidly) that his brain had effectively 'shut down' the image' from that eye when he was using both together (so to as avoid double vision). His sight/ vision in each eye independently was very good- althought he is slightly longsighted.
Our consultant basically told us that patching was not an option for this particular case, as what was needed was to physically 'realign' the squinting eye to 'see' (directionally) what it ought to have been - then hopefully both eyes would begin to work together again - and this is what creates '3 D vision'.
We were told that time was of the essence, and that the risk of delaying was that effectively DS might 'lose' the ability to use that eye completely, and that this would be irreversible.
As I say, it appears to have been the right decision, as Ds has now successfully recovered 2 out of his three potential levels of vision. AND 'cosmetically' looks great (i.e. straight)

His squint was also termed 'big' - don't know how they measure it (is it in degrees?) but he had a 40-45, and we were told that it is difficult to achieve more than 30-35 correction in surgery (and it's a very inexact thing). However afterwards his operation was termed a 'huge success' and his squint was reduced to a 6-10, which, if it stabilises at this level as he grows up means he is unlikely to need further surgery.
HTH.

BTW - he will still need to wear his glasses (for longsight) for the rest of his life, but that's a small price IMO and they don't bother him...

Pancake - I would've thought a week would be fine - particularly if you have a weekend at the end of it as you will (i.e. 8 days in total)
Ds had his Op on a Thurs & went back to Nursery the following Thurs.

Mo2 - glad to hear it was such a success. My daughter is also longsighted - does seem to be more common with longsightedness. I've searched on teh internet about squints and it does sound as though your son's differ from my daughter's. She doesn't squint with her glasses on but I notice it without them when she is tired. Strangely it only started after she stared wearing glasses. She just looks cross-eyed in one eye (being biased, I think it's quite cute, bit Karen Black, the actress) However, she has become VERY conscious of it, never wanting to take her glasees off. But, have been reassured a little, that she should respond well to contact lens or laser surgery when older. It's the cosmetic side of things I worry about as well. But good to hear your little lad has been sorted out.

Tinker ... my ds squint sounds similar to Mo2 but not quite so severe. Patching again wasn't an option for him. He too is long-sighted and has to wear glasses but I have to say that after him wearing them for 10 months now I can't imagine his little face without them ... he's really grown into them!

I'll let you know how I get on next Saturday - now it's so close the dread is ever increasing.

Pancake - I've sent you my details in case you want to give me a call.

A bit of a strange tip - but something I wish I'd been able to avoid...
When we came home, all DS wanted to do was lie on the sofa and listen (wouldn't open his eyes) to TV/videos. As a result, when he vomited (twice in 24 hours after Op) the sofa suffered and I then had to start stripping and cleaning sofa covers. Just wish I'd draped some old blankets over it first!

Having said that, only about 50% of kids are actually sick afterwards, and often it's immediately afterwards - while still in hospital, so may not be an issue for you.

I had an operation to fixed a "crossed eye"/"wall-eye" when I was 8yo. I know I underwent a general and I can't remember anything else about it, except that I'm fine now. My left eye is still weaker and still wanders very rarely, but I think I'm living proof that things can go ok. HTH

Pancake - is everything OK? How was the Op, and how is your son? Hopefully you should be over the worst of the post-op stuff by now?

Thinking of you.....