Bouncing Back!

Fintan underwent his enucleation (eye removal) on Wednesday and all went well. He was in theatre for a couple of hours so was rather groggy and sleepy when returned to us; he slept the anaesthetic off and was then transferred to his overnight ward with daddy.

The original plan was that he would be home on Thursday morning, but as he suffered some bleeding during surgery it was decided that the pressure dressing on his eye should remain in place until Friday. I was still able to pay a visit on Thursday with Oliver and Fintan was on fine form and fit enough to have some fun in the ball pit in the hospital sensory room.

Fintan's eye dressing was removed on Friday morning and his consultant was happy to let him go home! His eye is a little bruised and swollen, particularly in the mornings, but by lunchtime the swelling goes down enough to be able to see his blue conformer (temporary artificial eye) - Fintan's natural eye colour is hazel, so we expected him to be given a brown one!

Fintan is coping incredibly well and does not seem at all bothered by his 'new eye'; on his way home from the hospital he did say he thought the doctors had forgotten to take out his eye! He is running around the house like a tornado and is bright and bubbly as always!

Fintan's eye looks a lot better than we had expected and, in fact, his face where the plaster has caused a reaction looks worse!! Unfortunately, he does not like having his eye cleaned and his drops, but he is making a little less fuss each time we do eye care. We are not sure how he will react if his conformer falls out (and we have been warned this is likely to happen) we just hope it doesn't happen somewhere public!

We are back at the Royal London on 2nd March for a check up on the enucleated eye - Fintan will not need an anaesthetic for this which will please him - and a vision test. He will still need an EUA (examination under anesthetic) on his left eye in the next month or two and we await the results of tests on his enucleated eye. The National Artificial Eye Service should be contacting us soon about his permanent eye, but the temporary conformer has to remain in place for at least 6 weeks whilst everything heals.

We are all feeling a little more relaxed now that the enucleation is done and pleased that Fintan does not seem too phased by what he has been through - his acceptance of the situation and his confident and happy nature amazes us. We are very proud of him!

Fun in the ball pit!

Biscuits and TV!

Sick bowl use No.1 - hat

Sick bowl use No.2 - Gruffalo claw (a.k.a. cannula concealer)

Sick bowl use No.3 - the Gruffalo

Bad News

Fintan was back at the Royal London this week for what has become his monthly EUA. Unfortunately, we had the news we have been dreading for a long time - his right eye is again showing signs of activity and there is nothing more that can be done to save it; it will be removed next Wednesday (16 Feb).

We had noticed a change in Fintan's eye over the past couple of weeks; his eye seemed quite bloodshot, squinting more than normal and the pupil was not dilating as much as it should and had become misshapen. When the consultants carried out the EUA, although the eye is still mostly obscured by an old retinal bleed, they noticed quite obvious changes to the eye indicating that there is tumour activity again. The only option is to remove the eye as soon as possible.

As Fintan has not had any vision in this eye for some time, the loss of the eye should not have any significant affects on his current vision levels. When they remove the eye, they will insert a temporary prosthetic eye and he will have a little discomfort for a while, but will only have to remain in hospital overnight.

We have mixed emotions about the enucleation (eye removal); the positive is that this troublesome eye will be gone taking away the risks it poses to Fintan, but the negative is a lifetime of prosthetic eye care and his left eye could still possibly relapse.

However, Fintan has taken the news incredibly well and we are very proud of him!

Due to Fintan being seen early in the day and James having to dash off to catch a flight to the US, the camera didn't even get unpacked, but Fintan is always more than willing to pose for a picture!