It started out with a "kuliti" in my eldest son's lower left eyelid a few weeks ago. After a couple of visits to his pediatrician and ophthalmologist with applying only eye drops and warm compresses to the affected area to no avail, his ophthalmologist finally decided to do surgery to drain it.
Now my son is very prone to "kulitis". Based on our doctor's records, we've been to her office at least once a year to have his eyes checked for various kulitis, but they all eventually resolved on their own with no further treatments. Unfortunately this time, his kulitis (meaning two of them!) were more stubborn and didn't want to disappear. They just got bigger and bigger and bigger that I became worried it might start affecting his vision.
My son's condition is medically known as a chalazion. You can read more about it here. After deciding to go ahead with the surgery, we had to visit our pediatrician to get a clearance, since the procedure was going to be done under general anesthesia. Just to be on the safe side, aside from doing a physical exam, the doctor also asked us to do a CBC. And this was when I started to witness and realize how brave my little boy was. Really!
When we went to visit the lab to have his blood test done, the cashier told me to go ahead and have his blood drawn first before paying for the test. She said it was just to make sure that Joshua would have the test done on him, instead of him refusing and crying about it, and they would have to cancel the transaction. This was his first time to get his blood drawn, and he didn't even flinch! I told him not to look when the med tech was doing his thing, but he wasn't scared at all and watched the procedure being done. He was more curious about what blood looked like and how it was being done!
After getting our results and was given the go signal by our pediatrician, I was next prepped by the anesthesiologist on what to expect and what to prepare for the next day's procedure. Our procedure was scheduled for 7am the next morning and I was given last minute instructions with regards to fasting (no food and water after midnight), things to bring (toys and security blanket), etc. I was also told to prepare myself if ever my child becomes hysterical when he is wheeled into the operating room and also after he wakes up from the procedure when the anesthesia wears off. So I was really mentally and emotionally preparing myself of what's to come the next day. I also prepped Joshua of what to expect so he wouldn't be too scared about it. I also told him that he was going to be a pirate the next day since he will be wearing an eye patch for 24 hours right after the procedure.
Well, when everything was said and done, all my worrying was for NOTHING. My son took it like a trooper and he was even calmer than I was! Not once did he cry from the time he was brought to the OR, where a mask was put over him so he could go to sleep during the procedure, and waking up from anesthesia with an eye-patch over his left eye. All the doctors and nurses were praising Joshua on what a brave boy he was. Mind you, the doctor told me that this was going to be painful after the anesthesia wears off since she will be doing an incision to take out all the yucky stuff inside. But Joshua took it on with minimal tears and complaints.
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| My brave little pirate and his partner in crime |
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