Shelby's Saga

 What a week Shelby has had . . . I'll try to give you the high/low-lights so this post won't last forever.  Last week I asked Shelby to look up at me & her left eye did but the right eye stayed down, agh!  Fortunately I already had an eye appointment @ Walmart for Quinn & Jessi's the very next day.  They said no problem in squeezing Shelby in.  Jessi's eyes are fine, Quinn got glasses (she's adorable in them), & Shelby had to be seen by a specialist.  The only dr. in South Eastern Idaho who can take of this kind of problem couldn't see her until Nov. 4th so I called my Dad (who's an internist in Utah) and he did some checking for me.  We got an appointment  with a Pediatric Ophthalmologist for this last Tuesday in SLC.

  Monday I loaded up Shelby & Halle then headed for my Mom's for the night.  We woke up early & packed the car thinking I would be coming home right after the exam.  2 hours of bouncing Halle & keeping Shelby entertained Dr. Peterson had me head to Primary Children's for a Cat Scan - WHAT?!?  I called my Mom for back up & she hurried to the hospital with me (the picture below is of poor Shelby in one of the many exam rooms).  She was even smiling & happy as you can see until they had to do "contrast" which is a dye I guess that they give as a shot.  Her veins are so tiny they couldn't find one for a while & we both cried.  I tried to be tough, I even sang her songs until I couldn't any more - the nice technicians just looked at me like, this happens all the time.

Here's what they found (I snapped the pix of the cat scan with my phone).  In the right eye socket you can see the big piece of glass sticking through the back of the eye socket & into the brain.  Ouch!  They were going to admit her right then but Dr. Peterson said this was above his expertise & I needed another specialist, Dr. Patel.  He saw us the next morning & said we needed to meet with another specialist, a pediatric neurosurgeon in case they couldn't get the glass out through the eye & had to go through her head - this just keeps getting better & better huh?

Surgery was scheduled for Friday @6:30am.  They encouraged us to keep her in her jammies & bring whatever blanket or baby would make her feel more comfortable (we brought both).  They even let me get in a gown & stay with her until she fell asleep.

I know we had half of American Falls, all of the Smith & Wyne family fasting & praying for this little one that day.  I still cry just thinking of all the people who love us & our tiny Shelby.  Around 10:30am they came out from surgery letting us know the glass piece was bigger than they anticipated but overall the surgery went well.  Joaquin & I got to laughing at this picture because it's probably the most still she's stayed in her whole life.  She woke up pulling all the cords off & trying to get off the bed.  The nurses were just scrambling around insisting she either be carried or in a wheelchair.  We smiled knowing they just don't Shelby like we do.  She looked pretty rough but lit up when we promised her a McDonald's Happy Meal (man they have a good advertisement campaign don't they?).  We couldn't let her play on the toys but just being there was enough.

We go back to SLC on Wednesday morning to have a check up.  They're worried that once they removed the glass piece it might have acted like a cork to the fluid around the brain.  So we go back to make sure there isn't any fluid gathering behind her eye. We are so hopeful though as she is already back to running from Josh, squeezing Halle too tight, and even back to Pre-School today.  She goes around the house whenever she doesn't get what she wants & says, "because I had surgery, that's why!"