Tear Duct Surgery

As if the jaundice for the first week of her life wasn't enough, there was the meningitis at 8 weeks, and of course then the plagiocephaly which led to the helmet. Our poor baby has put up with so much in her short little life. And today it was a needle in the eye. I like to joke that we're still getting all her kinks worked out. This child has had needles in the worst places that's for sure...needles in her tiny ankles to test the jaundice, one in the spine for the spinal tap during meningitis, and today, one in the eye.

Scarlett's tear duct has been clogged since birth. Our pediatrician said they usually clear up themselves by a year, but Scarlett's eye seemed to be getting worse so we were referred to an orthopedic ophthalmologist. A clogged tear duct actually makes the eye water almost constantly and it also tends to get goopy often as well. We decided to go ahead and have it opened up now instead of waiting for it to maybe clear up on its own. The procedure was actually quick. They strapped her into a little papoose contraption and probed her eye with two sharp objects, one being a needle. I was horrified to see that her eye and nose were bleeding quite a bit right after and vaguely remember the doctor telling me this was normal...NORMAL?

We call Scarlett's bad cry her "hospital cry" because we learned to dread this type of cry when we she was in the hospital with meningitis. We haven't heard the hospital cry in a long while, but we sure heard it today. At least the procedure was super quick because just as I was about to lose it myself, it was over and I was able to hold her and console her and wipe away the bloody tears and nose. She actually did very good, and only cried for a few more minutes after it was all over.

I didn't feel so guilty for putting her through all of that when the doctor told us it was one of the most difficult tear ducts to unclog that's he's ever done, and there was no way it would have cleared up on its own. There is a 15% chance it will have to be done again, and knowing our luck, she'll be one of those few, but that decision won't be made for 3 more weeks. For now, she's doing great, sound asleep for the night, and I promise to keep her away from any needles for the rest of the month...well after the flu shot on Saturday that is......