Trek's Eyes continued

So what the heck is Congenital Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is basically the inability for the eyes to drain the fluid that your eye makes and needs (note this not tears). So what happens is that pressure builds up in your eyes and this pressure is not drained out correctly. I will try and scan a picture showing this info, but can not promise anything. So what you have is what I compare to a drain tile for your eye, and it goes all the way around your eye and the fluid runs off your eye and then passes out in another drain back into your body. When you look at a picture of your eye you have the round eye and obviously the eyeball in side of that. Then within that is your cornea and your pupil, etc. Also at the back of your eye is the optic nerve, which is very important as this tells your brain what you are seeing. So the reason that this issue is so urgent and serious is that when pressure builds up it will damage that optic nerve, and this would mean vision loss (note that when I say vision loss I do not mean glasses, I mean it is permanent). Also, what will happen when you are an infant is that the eye will stretch. There is a very thin membrane that goes over your cornea and when that stretches to capacity there is small tears that can happen. Again this is permanent and cannot be repaired once it has happened. At this time I will also note that technically congenital glaucoma is not a curable issue. Many times there is the need for multiple surgeries, sometimes meds and revisiting things when you are older as you monitor it very closely throughout your whole life. So here is how they fix it. If you have a weak stomach you may want to skip down to where I get back to Trek. What they do is cut into the white of your eye at the outside of your eye or the furthest away from your nose. They then flip this back and attempt to locate this canal or drainage area, they then take a tool and thread it into this canal going around your eye half way on one side and then half on the other side. This is still however done on only one side of your eye and then typically if this does not clear the flow they will then go in and cut another flap on the other side and do those two halves. Just recently though they have a new approved tool that has the potential for going all the way around the eye and clearing all possible fibers that may be causing blockage. This would then eliminate the need for the 2nd surgery for the other side of the eye. Here is a link to a video of this similar surgery, minus the new tool, please note this is graphic and if you do not have the stomach or are not age appropriate do not click this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsYqDWb_iwE
If neither if these options work they then would go in and put a tube into the eye to help drain the pressure. When you are an infant they do not wait and do the eyes separately, but rather operate on both eyes in the same surgery.

So back to Trek…wow this is getting long, and I apologize to those who may not have wanted the whole story. So when looking at Trek originally he could see there was a haze on both of his corneas as well as some tears in that membrane, of which he could not see much as Trek was obviously not too thrilled for having his eyes pried open. Also he could see that there was some damage already done to his optic nerves. He said do not panic at this however, as there is no way to determine vision loss at this point or what the loss might be. He also said that he has seen some nerves bounce back once the pressure is relieved. So he prescribed 2 different drops and an oral med for Trek to take that would eliminate much of the pressure and buy us some time, but definitely not be a long-term fix. He then talked about scheduling the OR for an exam and surgery as early as Monday or the latest Thurs. or Fri. So now we need to take some time and breathe, maybe. As we are waiting for the meds to be filled, we are just in shock from the last 10 hours or so, and I am anxious to get home and really begin to pray over Trek and consult my friend Google again for alternative options for glaucoma. Then the Dr. calls and says that he could even possibly get him in the next morning first thing to get this done, and he even calls back again a number of times to let us know how long he would be up still that night for us to contact him. Wow, the pressure is building and he is very anxious to get in. He says there is no benefit to waiting and not a huge risk for waiting since he had the meds, but still better to get it done soon. I then tell him that to be very honest that we needed to go home and pray about this. He then says that he is a Lutheran with Baptist flair and that he attends a regular men’s study, and he and his wife worked abroad with mission for a season.


So now the decision process begins. Our friends Matt and Julie offer to bring pizza over and hang out with us as we absorb the difficult news and decision. I am beginning to have a large amount of questions. I am not against doctors, but feel that many times we as Christians do not give God and significant enough time to seek Him and hear His answer. So I am wanting to take the week and have people pray over him and fast and pray for his healing. However, do I risk my son’s loss of vision over praying, and am I just praying because I feel like I have not devoted enough serious prayer to the situation. Then also I have to do what I believe will make my wife happy as well and be sure there is no way the enemy will allow blame for each other to settle in. I am literally going crazy trying to decide, and I then talk to my step dad who helps me to make my decision. He says, “will you have more regret if you wait and something happens to his vision, or if he is not healed and you think it is because you did not devote enough to prayer?” Hands down the first option as if God really wanted to heal then he could do it overnight. I also knew that Heather just wanted him better as soon as possible. So Matt & Julie leave and we hit the phone asking and pleading for prayers for him through the night. A huge thank you to all those who have prayed for him and please continue as he is not out of the woods yet as far as his eyes or development.


So begins possibly the hardest night of my life, and for sure as a father. Such a loss for words yet at the same time so many that you just want to scream. I spent much time in worship and prayer and watching him sleep and praying over him. I have not cried this hard in a long long time as I sat by his crib and prayed to God that if it was anything I had done to forgive me and not allow this to pass to my son. I then prayed that he would not endure anything more from that night on. I sat next to his crib and continued to look at him and pray for him, and tell him I love him so much over and over again. Heather began getting tired and I wanted her to go to bed as the next day was going to be a big one. I continued to sit with him and eventually fell asleep I think for about an hour maybe two that night as I fell asleep next to his crib. I just could not leave him. He is so precious when he is sleeping.