Tear Duct Surgery

Alayna has had clogged tear ducts since she was a newborn. It would get sort of get better and worse and I had to massage and wash them constantly to keep them clean. She would regularly wake up with her eyelids "glued" shut from the goop. Finally, when she was about a year old they seemed to clear up, although the right eye would still get slightly clogged whenever she had a cold. Around her second birthday, however, the right eye got really clogged up again and was worse than ever. It was almost impossible to keep it completely clean and it started to get infected regularly. Her pediatrician gave me eye drops which would clear the infection and keep the goop under control, but as soon as I stopped using the drops several times a day, it would goop up again.

This is a picture of her on Thanksgiving and you can see her eye was really goopy and red, getting infected again.

So, after the pediatrician gave us several rounds of eye drops and antibiotics, I asked to be referred to an eye doctor. The eye doctor said that she would need lacrimal tear duct surgery, in which they put a stent in the tear duct in order to help it drain better and remove it after 6 months, when the tear duct should be opened enough to drain itself.

In April, we went in for the surgery. It was difficult, especially because she wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything the day of the surgery, even water, and the surgery wasn't until 2pm. She had to go under general anesthesia, which was very scary for me since I had no idea how she would react. She was very brave though and did well with the surgery. Here is a picture of us just before she went in to surgery. Notice my fake mommy "Everything's ok" smile, ha ha!

When she woke up she was very sad and wanted to just be held for a long time, and was trying to rub her eyes which of course she wasn't allowed to do. After she woke up fully though and got to finally eat something she felt much better, she wasn't in any pain, and she didn't remember a thing about it by that evening. Her eyes have been great and clear and beautiful since then. Now we just have to wait until October to see what happens when the stents come out.