Brightwood Lights

As you’ve likely already heard, Andreas had to have another eye surgery this month. If you recall, his eye surgery in April of 2009 was to insert synthetic slings to “lift” his droopy lids. The results were nearly miraculous, as his impaired vision had already begun to affect his development. I was beginning to worry that he had some more serious developmental delays, since he was not nearly as responsive as Simona had been at that age. But, after his surgery, he was like a new child, learning to roll over and laugh and becoming much more interactive within days.

Flashback: Andreas pre-surgery, in April 2009.

Pre-op at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

In the recovery room at CNMC.

The day after surgery, April 2009.

Within a few months of his surgery, he began to develop “bumps” on his left eyelid. They were diagnosed as “granulomas,” which are basically just tissue that can form around the site of incisions or stitches. For some reason, his body didn’t really “like” the sling. However, removing these essentially harmless tissues would require another surgery, and since they weren’t interfering with his vision, our doctors advised us to ignore them.

We were happy to follow this advice until this summer. They began occasionally leaking some pus and, by mid-summer, seemed to be bothering Andreas. Other people began commenting on them more frequently, confirming our suspicions that they were, in fact, growing larger and more noticeable. We made an appointment with a highly recommended pediatric ophthalmologist, but the earliest date we could get was for late September.

Finally, during our road trip in August, one of the granulomas seemed to have conquered his entire eyelid. Andreas also began to tell us that it bothered him (as well as a 20-month-old can communicate!). Intervention was definitely necessary. During the final two days of the trip, it began draining both blood and pus. Fortunately, upon our return home, we were able to get an appointment for late August. Our physician consulted with his colleagues, and all agreed that the granulomas should be surgically removed and that the sling in the left lid should be removed as soon as possible. This introduced the possibility that the lid would drop again, but it was also possible that it wouldn’t.

The massive granuloma.

So, as luck would have it, we were scheduled for surgery on my thirtieth birthday. Andreas was a champ, and the surgery couldn’t have gone better! He was extremely chipper pre-op, despite being woken up and taken to the surgery center at 5:30 in the morning. Post-op, he was fighting mad until we got him discharged, fed, and home. He spent the rest of the day eating and sleeping, even eating plenty of birthday cake that evening.

Andreas waiting for surgery at the Scottish Rite outpatient surgery center in Atlanta, GA.

Caleb got to go into the OR until Andreas was asleep; hence, the goofy gown & cap.

In the recovery room.

After both surgeries, he has been mad as a hornet as he’s woken up from the anesthesia.

We could not have asked for a better outcome– a definite answer to prayer. The lid looks great and has NOT dropped again, meaning that his vision is not currently endangered and that no subsequent surgeries are on the horizon. We will have one more post-op visit in October and then will (hopefully!) be able to go to twice-a-year check ups for now.

Three days after surgery.

Many thanks to those who have been praying for our little guy. We’re thankful for access to top-notch medical treatment and for a healthy little boy.

After Wyatt’s wedding, we (mostly) stayed in Iowa for another week. (By mostly I mean that the kids were there all week, while Caleb and I did some additional traveling.)

Much fun was had at Grandma & Grandpa’s! One of the kids’ favorite activities was simply riding little bikes out on the driveway.

Grandpa also let them play in a puddle out front right after some rain, which Andreas especially enjoyed.

Grandma took us to the Iowa Children’s Museum, which was a highlight for Simona. She got to be a doctor, a cashier, a dentist, a pizza-maker, a ballerina, and much more.

Andreas found plenty of “Flugzeuge” (airplanes) and other entertainment, too.

And Grandma treated us to a ride on the carousel after lunch, which both kids adored.

Other kid-fun during the week included a trip to the splash park, rides on the tire swing, and lots of reading books and playing on the living room floor with Grandma & Grandpa. (More pictures are on the “photos” page).

Meanwhile. . . while the kids were having fun with Grandma & Grandpa, Caleb and I got a chance to go to Chicago by ourselves! We enjoyed an evening with Northwestern friends Anne, Wei-Lin, Brett, Mary Ruth, and Cordell, eating Chicago style pizza and home-made ice cream; wandered around the NU campus reminiscing; visited Dan, Hilary, and their new son Drew (more NU friends); and generally enjoyed Chicago in the summertime.

On the way back to Iowa, we detoured through Dyersville to see the Field of Dreams (ie the cornfield / farm where the famous movie was filmed). As huge baseball fans, it was about time we made it to this site!

If you build it, they will come!

The next big item on our agenda was the 60th wedding anniversary celebration of Caleb’s grandparents, the Neils. All six of the Neil’s children were home for the reunion, and all spouses/grandchildren/great grandchildren but one were able to come, too. Unfortunately, I was a bit under the weather and didn’t get many photos.

A breakfast with Great Grandpa Brenneman and a bonfire at the cabin rounded out wonderful week in Iowa.

(More on the travels to come, but the next post will likely be an update on Andreas and his eyes.)