2nd opinion

So we met with the second retinal specialist this morning (Dr. O'Malley). He gave us another perspective on our situation...kind of :)  He also does not think Landon will regain vision in his eye. He put Landon in a straight jacket, strapped him down, and did another ultrasound and a thorough exam.  That was fun! He showed me on the ultrasound where he thought what our first surgeon (Dr. Holz) thought was a significant retinal detachment, was actually what he thought to be a trajectory of the depth of Landon's wound. He believes when Landon poked himself he actually poked his eye ALL THE WAY TO THE BACK!! Ouch. My baby is so tough. He says that the pupil is pretty much non reactive, and the eye is beginning to get soft and the pressures are starting to decrease. Our Dr. Holz told us that his eye would continue to shrink as time went on and Dr. O'Malley agrees with that. But he doesn't see a significant detachment. He sees a small area where the retina is just beginning to detach from the back of the eye and he sees some scar tissue. He also thinks the cornea is clear.

 So, his recommendations are this: go back to the operating room and remove the scar tissue and clean up some of the eye and inject silicone oil into the eye to help it maintain it's shape and hopefully to prevent the eye from shrinking. There is nothing right now that they can do about him developing a lazy eye, which has already started. I assumed from a cosmetic perspective that we could just let the eye continue to shrink and then replace it with a prosthesis. Dr. O'Malley said that removing a child's eye is an absolute last resort because if you do that Landon's facial bones will not grow around that eye as they should.  So this surgery would be mostly to allow him to keep his eye for as long as possible, not to restore his vision. He thinks there is a slim chance if we do this he MAY have very minimal peripheral vision, but no functional vision. So he called Dr. Holz and gave him his recommendations and we go see Dr. Holz tomorrow afternoon. 

I think Jeremy and I have decided not to pursue the NY trip. Apparently, there is a corneal specialist here in Dr. Holz's office that does the Keratoprosthesis and if that is a route that works for Landon than we can do the whole surgery at one time. So that is where we sit.

This may sound crazy but I left that office with a smile on my face. I have a peace now that I have not had since this whole ordeal started. PRAISE GOD! I hate the fact that we will probably put our Bug through another surgery, but I believe in the long run it will be better for him. 

Yesterday afternoon, our family was blessed by some truly Godly and amazing people. Cynthia, Sandra, Jeanine, Barry, Stephanie, Natalie, Jenn, Allison, Misty and my family gathered at our house and prayed over Landon, Jeremy and I and over my mother-in-law. We heard testimonies of healing & hope and we were reminded of scriptures that tell us how much God loves us and is walking through this storm with us.  It was the most spiritual moment of my life that I can remember other than being saved. My faith was restored and my eyes were lifted to God. So thank you to those who were here with us, and thank you to those who pray for us daily. We will never be able to thank you enough. And thanks Aunt Martha for the yummy dinner!! 

I will update tomorrow afternoon after we see Dr. Holz. Continue to pray that we will make the right decisions concerning our Bug!

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."

Romans 8:28