Jule's Stein Visit #2

 

Dad building Connor a house

Knocking down the house

 

A nap in between doctor's appointments

 

Grandma and Connor making wishes on the big day

 

Yes tattoo's on his forehead for examination

Waiting to be called in for his exam

Connor was awesome & Mommy was a wreck to say the least. This past week we were at UCLA for three days of appointments. These are not your typical doctor's visit. Each appointment is a long visit of waiting, seeing the doctor's assistant, waiting, seeing the doctor, waiting, seeing another doctor, and then of course paying! Man. Oh. Man. Our first appointment on Tuesday morning had me in tears within 5 minutes. After six hours of seeing doctor's we finally made it back to our hotel room so we could get some rest...but oh no, what two year old rests ;D! Connor would say, "Play room, Mommy?" How could I resist when he was such a good boy all day at appointments. Super tired wanting to sleep, I went anyways...Dad was there for the first day and built really cool houses in the play room so Connor could knock them down - He loved it and had us building them all week.
Wednesday was the big day...Connor had his exam under anesthesia with Dr. Demmer and Dr. Lee. Poor Connor was not allowed to eat after he went to bed on Tuesday night. I did not think it would be such a big deal, since Grandma spoiled him with new toys for the waiting room that kept him very busy. But when they ran behind 2 hours, Connor started running around crying & asking the nurses for grapes and peanut butter sandwiches. It was quite funny, but really sad he was so hungry. He was put under at 11am and the exam lasted 45 minutes - much longer than the 15 minutes I was told. Another reason for me to panic. I was called back by the doctor and as soon as I made it through the exam room doors, the nurse grabbed my hand and ran me to Connor (okay, more panicking!). When I got to Connor he was biting and hitting the nurse, he was not a happy camper waking up. I grabbed him from the nurse and took on all the hitting and biting as I kissed him as much as I possibly could. He was given a pain medicine to make him fall back asleep and wake up a bit slower. He was much happier then and was excited to have apple juice. Dr. Demmer came back to chat with me once Connor was awake and calm, so I could listen. He inforned me that Connor's eyes are completely healthy!!! Praise GOD! Dr. Demmer did find that Connor's eyes were slightly different from the first prescription he had given us, so we are ordering his new glasses with a new prescription of -22.5 in the left eye and -19.5 in the right eye. He also saw that Connor's eye is shaped like an egg rather than a ping pong ball, he is not sure why...so he is doing some research on this. Dr. Demmer is concerned that there could be other problems Connor has that is creating such a severe deteriation in his vision. He has asked us to see a genetic specialist to rule out any other diseases he could have causing his eye problems. This is our next step along with getting contacts.
Thursday morning Connor got to put his contacts in for the first time. It was a screaming battle and lots of bribing with lollipops. This will be hard transition for Connor because of his age, but it is highly recommended as it will give Connor clarity of objects and peripheral vision. The funniest part of our visit was when the doc sat me down to discuss the price of Connor's contacts (just incase I fainted!), each pair will cost $500.
This was a hard trip for us to make as a family, but we are so grateful to all of you as we knew we had continuous support the whole time we were there. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the love, prayers and support. We will keep you posted on everything we find out and the dates of his next appointments.