Allan's surgery

Sorry for the delay in posting. It has been a little hectic and we have been trying to wait and see what is going on with Allan. Of course, as usual, ain't nothing easy.

After he had his cataract taken out, we knew that he would have to have follow up surgery to remove scar tissue from behind the pupil and to try and stretch and recenter his pupil (it is a little misshapen and off-center from the original surgery.) He isn't going to have great vision because of the cataract and how long he went without light getting in to his eye, but, it being "off" isn't helping. It is clear that he has some vision in the eye but when the light isn't coming in directly, it just makes it that much harder. So we always knew that we were going to have more surgery on the eye, but, what with one thing and another and what with being worried about whether he had a hole in his heart and all that, this surgery fell on the list of priorities. Since he's been doing (knock on wood) so well, though, we had to get this all sorted out. So we've been on the schedule for surgery for the 17th. Dr. Alice and Dr. Jim (Ginny Beth's mom and dad) have decided to decamp so we have a new surgeon (Dr. Seema). The long and the short is that it is Thursday night and we are still in the process of trying to figure out if Big Al is having surgery on Tuesday or not. I don't know who these people are that can just (from either an emotional or practical standpoint) drop everything and have their child have surgery without a little more warning, but, apparently, we are in the minority. On the 'need to know' basis, we don't need to know. It is infuriating. The issue isn't whether Allan needs the surgery (he does). It is where to have the surgery -- whether at the main children's hospital or at the out-patient facility. And, of course, the schedule for each is apparently guarded by separate Gorgons. Really, I don't expect this to be a service industry, but, really, you are dealing with sick children and concerned parents, so a little consideration and compassion might be in order. One set of doctors would prefer it at one location, approximately a football field's length away from the other. No one expects Allan to misbehave in the OR, but, if he did, the anaesthesiologists would rather be in the hospital facilities than the out-patient. Fine. Whatever. The best part was when the one surgical scheduler said (literally, not even my embroidery of the truth, which I acknowledge I am prone to, on occasion), you will come at 6 a.m. and you may or may not have surgery that day. We may or may not get to your child and you may or may not have to come back several times before the surgery is performed. Who.In.The.Hell.Do.You.Think.You.Are?????
At which point (for whatever it was worth -- probably nothing) I advised him that under no circumstances would I bring my Very Sick Child who is On Oxygen and a Monitor to sit in the hospital waiting room with the filthy common people for them to decide whether they could Get A Round To It. If it required me to pretend to have a baby, then I would do so, but my child wouldn't be sitting around all day for them to say, come back next week. Really, the whole point is supposed to be that our child is medically fragile enough to require a higher level of care in the OR. So how is sitting in a waiting room all day conducive to advancing his care? Plus, how many people can just take off serially to sit around to see if someone can manage to squeeze their baby in for surgery?

At any rate, the last word we had was that we would be the first case in the main OR at the children's hospital on Tuesday morning, but no one has confirmed that from the hospital. We hope to know for sure tomorrow. Flora is delighted with the prospect of spending the night with Griffith. She spoils him to the point that he isn't going to have any sense at all.