When did your child's eyes open?

[angieo]

Hi!

My son, Jeremy, had an anterior CVR with Dr. Fearon on Monday, and we got to go home earlier today! We are so happy to have this operation over with :). But I'm super stressed about his eyes and thought I'd try to get some more information.

Jeremy has severe glaucoma (high eye pressure). The problem is that we treat his eye pressure with drops, but his eyes are tightly swollen shut. He takes oral medicine too, but it's harsh stuff, and his bloodwork was coming back awful after surgery, so he has to stop the oral medicine for at least a week. His eye pressure may be high enough that if it is untreated, he'll go blind in a few days. Our ophthalmologist is giving us until Fri. morning with no meds, and then we have to pry his poor little painful eyes open for the drops.

We actually hope that the CVR relieved his eye pressure. Usually eye pressure and ICP aren't related, but Jeremy had a previous CVR, and his glaucoma went away for 4 months right after and came back about a month before we realized his ICP was up again. One of the main signs of high eye pressure is not eating. He's eating really poorly, and I know he did just have surgery two days ago, but I'm still freaking out.

Could you let me know when your child was able to open his/her eyes after surgery? Do we have a chance of having his eyes open by tomorrow? I feel sick thinking about touching his swollen lids, but I feel sicker thinking that he may go blind if I don't do anything soon.

Angie

P.S. Sorry I haven't been here lately or given any updates! The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind. It ended up that Jeremy's brain broke through the back of his skull last week because he needed the surgery so badly. Our local NS totally misdiagnosed Jeremy this summer...thank goodness for Dr. Fearon. You can add us to his fan club. Hopefully all will be smooth with Jeremy's treatment from here on out!

[BrendansMummy]

My litte ones eyes opened on day 5.. I hope his eyes open soon

[AJ's Mommy]

Oh my! AJ's eyes closed day two and opened day 3 1/2. So they weren't shut long. He didn't have a CVR though. I hope your little man's eyes open soon. Do what you have to do momma! If you need to pry his swollen eyelids open to stop him from going blind then do it. I think he will tollerate it fine?

[evergreenmom]

I'm so glad he has had his surgery... welcome to the other side!! I remeber reading soemthing a while back about using a (cool?)damp wash cloth on the eyes to help crack those lids open. Call Dr Fearon or even the nurses on the peds floor...

So happy to hear from you...I was wondering how your little guy was doing. I really hope his operation has successfully treated the issue with eye pressure- that sounds scary! You guys have sure been through enough at this point- I hope it is smooth sailing from now on!!

[Ger]

Hi Angie.
My daughter Neve had her surgery on Thursday and her eyes were slightly opened on Sunday. The nurse told us that kids differ in their swelling so it will be hard to judge. I can tell you that Neve would not sleep in the cot for the first week so she slept in her buggy which was slightly upright and I think this helped a lot with the swelling. We are two weeks post op today and Neve still wakes up in the morning with swollen eyes, I think this is because she sleeps with her head in the matress so the fluid is going to the front of her head. The swelling ususally comes down after 30 mins or so. Not sure how your little man sleeps but maybe you could try a few days sleeping upright, I know it sounds silly but might help.

Congratulations on the op, and hope things start to improve for you soon.

Ger

[Danielle]

Adrian's didn't open fully till the 6th day after the op..

[Carmen77]

Mateo had a CVR/FOA and his eyes opened at day 5.. it is very frustruating in itself, let alone to know how imperative it is for your baby to have his open soon!!! I always tried to keep his eye lids a litte moist so they didn't get stuck together, and keeping them upright really help too!!

Mateo kept wanting to sleep on his tummy so that's why the Dr said his eyes were swollen that long, but as we all know not every baby is the same!!!

Good Luck!! Keep us posted!!

[dannlark]

They should open today. Do try wiping his eyes with a warm damp cloth to unstick them, that is usually all that's needed to get them open a crack!! Good luck and keep us posted!!

[angieo]

Thank you for the advice on the damp wash cloth! I used one this afternoon, and now his left eye is open a crack, which is enough for drops, yay! This morning, we decided that we were too nervous to wait until Friday, and my husband put the drops in while I went for a walk outside (I'm such a wimp!). He said it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

I had him sleep in his crib which was raised up on one side with a few books, not that he did much sleeping...he was in our arms 75% of the time, I think! But tonight, I think we'll have him sleep totally upright in a swing or even propped up in bed with me to help things along.

Things are looking better than they did last night. It feels good to be in a place where every day is an improvement!

Angie

[Janet]

every day gets better and better. I'm glad he is improving.