Friday, April 06, 2007

Whew....We Made It
















Ava's surgery was a smashing success! She's feeling a little weepy, and a lot sore, but thank goodness it is over! At first it looked as though the doctor over-corrected the strabismus, but we are hoping that it is just a matter of her eye needing to heal. She was in quite a lot of pain post-op so Dr. Angell suggested alternating between Tylenol and Motrin every three hours for a couple of days. She cried...hard and inconsolably....for quite some time in recovery. Laura said that she would calm down for a bit until she heard another baby cry...and then came the sympathy tears. Bloody sympathy tears. Even when she is hurting our little one still feels others' pain.

This afternoon Ava started to perk up a bit. And here is the amazing part: our girl started doing things she has NEVER been able to do before. Laura gave her a little pink puppy Grandma Geri bought her for Easter. It must have been just what she needed, because Ava started hugging the puppy and rocking forward and back with it, as if she were comforting it. She has never been able to master moving her upper body while sitting. Also, she reached over from a sitting position to give Uncle Dom a hug. I don't know if it's just coincidence, but it seems as though her vision has improved drastically since this morning. Can you imagine trying to function in a world that just doesn't look right?

One thing is clear. If love heals, then Ava will be just fine. Today she had me, Grandma Geri, Grandpa Bruce (Papa), Uncle Dom, and Laura to love and cuddle. And she also had all of you sending out love and concern. Thank you all for your kind words. It means so much to all of us.

Love, Kim

PS: Tatum is next in line for eye surgery. It's not too early to start praying for a successful surgery and rapid recovery:) We love you Tatum!

5 comments:

Noel said...

Great news! I am glad that Ava is home and doing well!!

We are praying for Tatum on this end already.
Noel

Nancy said...

I checked your blog and when I saw Ava, I said out loud to nobody in particular, "Well, just LOOK AT HER!" She looks wonderful!

I think she will continue to amaze you now that she can see things better. It's like the weekend of Erik's second birthday when he got leg braces -- total personality change. The weekend he "woke up." I cried tears of happiness.

All of our love to your entire family. Give Laura a great big hug from me. It's tough to hear your baby cry like that, but she did great.

Nance

Lisa said...

I am so glad it all went well...I was thinkng about you all over the weekend...She looks great..did they do one eye or both? She was better by the end of the day?

Way to go Ava what a big girl you are your little buddy is right behind you...should I take the next day off from work too?

Teresa and Shawn said...

Yea - so glad to hear the good news. I hope the rest of Ava's recovery goes smoothly and those beautiful eyes stay straight!

Kerry said...

Wow!! Her pictures look great! That must have been so hard to hear her cry so much after surgery, and I hope the rest of her recovery goes well. She is in my thoughts :)