Sweet Little Eyes

Violet had her last EUA (exam under anesthesia) in December and a follow up with her Oncologist in January. Both appointments had fantastic results! Violet has had no recurrence of cancer and she is exceeding all of her milestones, showing us that her chromosome 13 deletion is having no effects on her physical and mental learning abilities. Praise God with me! :) I say this often and it is with my whole heart, "We are so grateful!"

As Violet gets older, it seems the hospital appointments are becoming increasingly difficult for her. It's really hard for Josh and I to see her get so upset and scared. At her last appointment, she screamed when they just went to take her blood pressure. That has never happened before. Violet is obviously starting to associate that one thing leads to the next part that she does not like. Thankfully, Violet is able to go 3 months before she needs to go through it all again. And, we are very hopeful that all will go well with her next EUA in March, so the appointments can be pushed out even farther apart. We were told Violet is fast approaching the time period when they will be scheduled 6 months apart! And, when she is ready, (somewhere between the ages of 3 and 4) she can have the exams without having to go under anesthesia.

Violet's Ophthalmologist told us, when a diagnosis of Retinoblastoma is given, a child has many cells that have the potential to turn into a tumor. As each month passes, these cells decrease and the chances of recurrence goes down with that reduction. At approximately 24 months after diagnosis, those cells are down close to 0 making recurrence very rare. Violet is at 19 months since diagnosis!

Our little peanut coloring as we wait for her EUA ...

Snuggles with Pooh before she goes back ...

   

As I have mentioned before, Josh and I take turns taking Violet back to the operating room where the procedure takes place. This was another hard go down for Violet. She was really able to vocalize with words this time how much she did not want to be there. Josh said she also fought, cried and yelled "no" when they put the mask on her face. He came back to me with tears in his eyes. We hugged and prayed together.

Violet was a sad little girl when she came out of anesthesia. The nurses that brought her back to us said that as soon as she woke up she told them her eyes hurt and they had to console her until they could bring her to me. She said she was impressed with how well Violet articulated her feelings and what she needed at just 24 months old.

Swollen and dilated eyes from the exam. Trying to adjust and get ready to go home ...

Coloring with Daddy to feel better and pass the waiting time to be released ...

It's taking about 2 weeks for Violet's eyes to completely recover from the exams. We usually need to give her Tylenol for the pain throughout the following day, but after that she is doing just fine on her own. She is a tough little cookie!

Violet's left eye is wandering outward and is considered to be "lazy" at times. Other times though, both eyes are tracking very well! The scar tissue that remains in that eye from the large tumor blocks a part of her forward vision which causes the wandering. The location of that scar tissue (so close to the optic nerve) still makes it inoperable right now. The doctors don't expect that to change, but we sure know miracles happen! Even if it doesn't change, she does have vision in that eye which is the most important thing. This was something that we all were unsure of for a long while, before Violet could communicate clearly what she could see. And now, she tells us all the things she can see with her right eye covered. It is such a huge blessing! 

Thank you very much for your continued support and prayers for our sweet Violet! It means so much to us. <3