Braden's Eye

When Cailey was two months old we took her for a check-up which we assumed would take no time at all and routine in every way. When she was weighed we found out she had actually lost weight between check-ups setting in motion hours of worrying over her and punctuated attempts to draw blood from our screaming baby.

When I took Braden to have his eye checked today, it turned into that day in 2002. I assumed it would be routine or at least a validation that perhaps things were heading in the right direction. They unfortunately were still leaving us with questions and fears.

Braden had an appointment with the pediatric ophthalmologist and then the cornea specialist to see if they could determine anything else about his eye. The nurse saw him first and ran him through a series of eye tests including your basic vision test. This was the first sign of real trouble as Braden was unable to read letters in the 20/125 range with his bad eye while wearing his glasses. This had not been an issue on Monday but clearly was today. He had complained that his eye had begun hurting and we wondered if maybe it was a bad reaction to the new antibiotic drops.


They put drops in to dilate his eyes but his 'bad eye' didn't dilate. I wasn't sure what that meant.

After those tests Braden was seen by the pediatric ophthalmologist and then the cornea specialist. They did more tests, looked at the eye and ultimately decided to take some cultures from the eye. Now, if you are unfamiliar with what that involves, it sounds exactly like you think it does. Basically, after giving him some "numbing" drops, the doctor used swaps to take fluids and what not directly off Braden's cornea. Braden, ever the trooper, sat still and let them finish the work without a peep.

Following the cultures, the doctors were still discussing what to do and brought in the chief of pediatric ophatamology to consult. One thing about going to Duke is it is a teaching and research hospital which means there is no shortage of quality doctors or doctors in general coming in to look at Braden's eye. By my count six different doctors and a second year medical student all looked at Braden's eye and 2-3 more were in and out of the room for part of the discussion.

After all of that, the verdict for now seems to be an infection caused by a virus. As such Braden is on two antibiotic drops (to be given very hour) which were mixed specially for his case by the pharmacy at Duke. He is also taking a giant oral anti-viral medication and has additional drops and ointments to be taken at least four times a day. The hope is the cocktail of antibiotics will kill whatever "bug" is causing the infection. The first step is to deal with it from a bacteria/virus perspective while waiting for the results of the cultures. It is possible the infection is fungal which would require a different course of medication.

So at this point Braden is on tap for daily visits to Duke to keep tabs on what is going on with the eye which means more wait and see.

Heather's add...
they finally got home at 6:40...after starting the apt at 1:00. They both had cakes waiting for them because when I don't know what else I can do I feed people. I make them happy through their stomachs:). And they were both happy!

Kinsey and I made Braden a Boston Creme Cake while Cailey and Ephram made Brian a banana pudding cake.

Tonight I was sitting and talking to Braden about his day and he was his normal chipper self. At one point I asked him to cover his good eye (while wearing his glasses) and held up two fingers. I asked him how many fingers I was holding up (thinking for SURE it was silly for me to be asking because of course he could see from a foot away) and he said one. My stomach sank. I knew Brian said it was bad but I never imagined he couldn't even see my fingers from a foot away. I asked him what it looked like and he said it was a big blurry blob then faded to black.

It's been an emotional day as we thought his appointment today would be routine and Brian would be in and out without a problem. I'm thankful for prayer and certainly needed it today! I want to say that though my stomach has been in knots all day and I've felt short of breath I feel like God gave me peace this afternoon. I went outside on the steps with Ephram and Kinsey while Cailey was cooking dinner and as soon as I went to sit down there were 14 butterflies on our bush...all fluttering about. We've had two or three there at a time before but I've NEVER seen so many and just felt like it was God's way of letting me know that He Is. He cares for the butterflies and He most certainly cares for my Braden.

I don't know what the future holds for my boy but I'm praying that he will be healed and this last month will just be a crazy memory of 'the summer of 2012'.