Monday, October 27, 2008

restoration... in a medical sense

21 comments:
 
Today was a very exciting day for us... most of you have been following the story, but in case you haven't I'll recap. R2 (Richy the Second) was born 4 months early and as a result had numerous medical issues, ending (when he was about 4 months old) in a shrunken non-functioning left eye. 

We began the process of getting an ocular prosthetic (called a scleral shell) a few months ago. It's like a thick contact lens. We started with a clear conformer, which he has worn for 2 months to stretch the eyelid and make sure he can tolerate a prosthetic. So today was the big day to get the long-term shell, painted to match his good eye.

I got lost twice on the way there and once on the way back. Good times.

Once we were there, Dr. Turntine showed me the rough shell, which had to be sanded and painted and go through a variety of chemicals and machines before it would actually be wearable.
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Then he brought Richy into his office and painted the iris while he watched him. I asked him if he did other art, and he does, watercolor and acrylics. He painted the blue and the blue-green and all the tiny little lines, and then he ran his paintbrush across some red thread and drew miniature veins on the corners of the shell.
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Throughout the process he would hold it up to R2's good eye and compare color and such.
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He drew in the pupil and then painted a clear coating over it all. We compared it one more time and then he put it inside something that looked like a vise, inside a pressure cooker. The curing process took over an hour so he sent us out and we got an oil change in the van, ate some lunch and listened to Rush in the van with the heater blaring (43 degrees out there, y'all).

When we got back, he took the shell out of the cooker and buffed it with that same circular tool they use at nail salons, and then exfoliated it further with a scary machine with a pumice. Then he used a big powered circular brush, and then he gave it to me to look at.

I dropped it on the ground first thing. Grace and ease, that's me.

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Luckily, it had to be disinfected anyway so we dropped it in the stuff (medical term) and waited a few minutes. Then he took out the old shell and put the new one in.

It was so surreal, looking at my son who is so familiar, and this eye, which is about a perfect match, and remembering that first 4 months when he had both eyes.... so familiar and so strange.

He admired himself in the mirror for quite a while. I think he understands.

after:
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21 comments:

  1. WOW! This is absolutely amazing, Jess! I am so excited for R2; he looks so great! I know Senior wishes he could have been there with ya'll to witness the big event! 42 degrees huh? NICE!! I loved seeing you this past week. You were positively beaming! How was the trip home?

    Love you,

    Tammy

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  2. I thought the same thing.. amazing. It looks SO good!

    That would be surreal.. a distant familiar. So neat. What a change for R2; keep us updated on how he likes it.

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  3. Awesome, awesome, awesome!! I know you're so happy.

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  4. That's so cool! R2 looks so studly and handsome, and I am jealous he now owns something hand painted. :-) I'm excited for him!

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  5. WOW! WOW! WOW!

    It is amazing........WOW!

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  6. Everyone: my blog has photos!
    *baby showers
    *37-week maternity photos --taken by Josh
    (He did so well & he really enjoyed photographing them. They're so pretty.. excited to meet the pretty girl in there!)

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  7. Shannon - Nice photos on your blog. I also saw wedding pix of Sylvona. Tell her that her "Spokandy" friend said "congrats"!

    sivadnorahs

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  8. Nice eye for R2. What a miracle!

    sivadnorahs

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  9. he looks so good! very intelligent looking, like he should be able to spout off the answer to 11,683 x 235, without even thinking about it.

    =)

    he's beautiful!

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  10. Amazing! I can't wait to meet you all for REAL! Up close and personal!

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  11. Yeah! R2 What a big day! He looks great!-G

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  12. yeah, jess, how did you get back home? with the rest of the team driving elsewhere?

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  13. that eye is amazing! he looks so cute.... like, i can hear him saying... "hmmm, looks pretty good...."

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  14. the team rented a 15 passenger for the tour, and my mama and I drove my minivan back to KC

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  15. must be a real dork......I click on the turtles drive real slow and I see Josh and sweet baby Keith......where are the new photos of the bout to pop prego????

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  16. Your son is so beautiful, thank you so much for posting this!

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  17. How excited we were to get the photos out here on the road!

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  18. Wow - he looks so good! How brilliant for him. I know you were concerned about other kids and him looking different. I'm so happy for ya'll....


    ~ misskerri

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Jess here: if Blogger gives you problems, just click "Anonymous" and sign your name. Roll with the punches, folks...

 
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