parenting

Squint Surgery for my baby girl-not just a paper explanation

So yesterday after 2 cancellations.. Erins operation on her squint was completed. 

Let me tell you it was one of the worst days of my life. My baby girl in so much pain was horrific. But it was worth it.
A week ago Erin was referred to at swimming as the “girl with the poorly eyes” by a child the same age… He wasn’t nasty, it wasn’t in a horrible way but it makes you think. If this is what children think at the age of 3, what will occur in primary school.. Let alone secondary school. I was bullied and I would never want that for my baby girl- so some people may say that her surgery wasn’t necessary, in my eyes it was.
Erins squint- 

1 in 3 children have a squint and it has astounded me how many children were in the hospital daily for correction operations- 5 children the same day we were! This put my mind at ease after the long list of complications that can come with the operation. Not only am I writing this post to enable me to get it off my chest but to help everyone else that has the same thing and wants to know more and the truth about what it’s like and not what a “fact sheet” from a hospital tells you.
So our run down of our day when like this..
We arrived at the hospital and we were seen quickly and given our beds. We were told previously that only one of us could be with Erin at any one time and thankfully this wasn’t the case! She was given “magic numbing cream”on both hands and a smiley face by the doctor on her forehead above the eye that needed correction, seen by the anesthetist and given some calpol and ibuprofen.
The next two hours literally flew by and the anesthetist came to collect me and Erin. We walked to the room and she was allowed to take her “Ted” and had her new “elsa blanket” on! 

She was put on the bed and they took the cream off her hands and tried to distract her whilst they put her cannula in. Unfortunately Erin is more switched on and started to cry and looked at me and said “mum they are hurting my hand!!” This lasted less than a minute before she was asleep. I walked out and did that parent thing of bursting into tears!!! 
We waited for an hour and a half and my baby girl was wheeled back in snoring like an old Man! With not a mark on her.
I thought excellent she will sleep it off…no she didn’t she awoke when the nurses did her observations and for an hour and a half Erin couldn’t get comfortable, cried at me, wanted to be in bed, out of bed, with her dad, with Me she didn’t know what she wanted. This was by far the worst part of this experience- I couldn’t do right for doing wrong. I wanted to help her and make her feel better but I couldn’t her eyes were gritty and she couldn’t see properly. I have to admit I thought it wasn’t going to end and started to feel bad for putting her through it but within two hours… She picked up.. Had some more calpol and seemed to be more settled. She did have a small cry telling me her eye hurt about once every hour until she went to bed, which was very quick and with calpol all night was ok. She did wake in the night for more medicine and got up at 5am (more to do with the clock change than any pain I think!!) but today has been amazing. And yes it was worth every second as she will thank me when she’s older. And if she does have to have her other eye done which they have said she may do I will go through with it. I’m totally drained but to see the difference in one day is worth it- when her eye in her own words is no longer “dead/broken/wonky/not working” it will all be worth it. She’s beautiful whatever she looks like but everyone isn’t so in love as her mummy is. This post is dedicated to my beauty baby who is the bravest girl I know xxx 
(Some pics since the op)