Caleb's Chalazion

Last spring I noticed that Caleb had a sty on his right eyelid and I began to treat it with warm compresses. Then, when those didn't take care of it, I started to use some sty medicine. Spring turned into summer which turned into fall and he still had this sty. 

It wasn't bothering him, it wasn't getting any bigger, and I (finally!) started to figure out that it wasn't a sty. 

I asked my friend, who is an eye doctor, what she thought it was and she looked him over. She then told me that she thought it was most likely a Chalazion and that we would need to see more of a specialist to treat it.

I of course googled it as soon as I got home. It turns out that a Chalazion is a cyst in the eyelid caused by inflammation of a blocked gland. 

Mark and I took Caleb to a specialist in Hermiston who gave us our options. We decided to have the doctor remove it through a small  procedure that takes about 10 minutes. Because of Caleb's age though, he would have to be put under with anesthesia. We scheduled the appointment and prepared Caleb for his big day.

The big day arrived and since his appointment wasn't until around 1:00 in the afternoon we met with our plumber, our flooring guy and our cabinet guy as well. Caleb wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything and we watched him like a hawk and had planned on going to lunch after his procedure. 

Here's how it went down:

We were called to take him to the room where he would change out of his clothes, meet the anesthesiologist, and then be wheeled back for his procedure. Well... we did the changing of the clothes thing and then when the anesthesiologist came in the first thing he asked Caleb was when he ate and drank last. He informed the man that he hadn't eaten since 5:30 that morning but then he said 

"I just got a small drink in the waiting room".

The anesthesiologist asked Mark and I if Caleb was kidding. Mark said no and then we were told that we had to reshedule the whole thing. (Apparently they are very strict about not eating or drinking before being put under! As they should be!)

Awesome right?

This was back in January and we couldn't get in again until today.

I told Caleb to stay far, far away from this thing today:

Here he is bright and early this morning. He hadn't had anything to eat or drink since last night and was so scared to swallow water that he didn't brush his teeth.

You can see his Chalazion right above the center of his right eye (or the eye on the left in this picture).

We did the whole changing of the clothes thing and meeting the anesthesiologist thing (much better this time - we had all the right answers!) The people were great and even showed Caleb some magic tricks while we were waiting. 

He was a little nervous but not too bad. We prayed and I read to him and then he visited with the different staff members.

They mark the eye that they are doing the procedure on - really big so the doctor can see it from across the room (I guess). 

Then before we knew it, it was time for him to be wheeled back. Without us. 

I didn't like that part but I was brave and before I even finished one chapter in my book, they wheeled him back.

Pirate Caleb:

He was so excited to have an eye patch! That is, until he learned it was white and not black like pirates wear. He then asked for a parrot and a peg leg. The nurses got a big kick out of him. I was just glad that he was feeling good enough to make jokes!

We stayed for just a little while to make sure he was doing well and then he was wheel chaired out (he liked that of course!) and simply told to use warm compresses through out the day.

He did great all day and felt fine. The main focus for him was eating once we left the surgery center and then after that we just relaxed at the house watching movies and playing games. 

Here he is after dinner while we were all playing Uno:

Very little bruising and swelling, which is great! Also, we were told the redness will go away quickly and that the eyelid won't even really show a scar. He didn't need any pain medicine and was a champ about the whole thing. 

I'm just glad the procedure is done! I didn't like watching him be wheeled out of the room without me. Hopefully that will be the last time!