Eye Exam and Star Scan

We had a very busy day for Elias on Thursday. He had two appointments: eye exam and star scan.

Eye Exam

We arrived at least 20 minutes early to make sure I could find the place.

If you've ever been in Children's Hospital in Winnipeg, you will know that it is a maze! On the floor level, there are three elevators beside each other, each going to different buildings. If you get on the wrong elevator, you can't get to your floor or you are half a floor too high or low. In fact, at least two of the elevators have a front door and a back door with different labels for each level.
I took a tunnel in HSC to get to the elevator, as the tunnels are faster than walking outside. When I got to the elevator it was out of commission due to maintenance.
So my options were:

1. pull the stroller up 8 stairs
2. go back through the tunnels and go outside to the entrance
3. try a different elevator to get to my floor.

So I back tracked to a different elevator, went up one level and walked back over to the elevator just one level up. There was a sign that these elevators were out of commission. Fortunately, a lady at the kiosk, close to the elevators, told me that if I pressed the button anyway, one of the two elevators would open and let me get to the level where I needed to go. Success!

 Once we found the place and checked in, there was at least 5 people called in before us. I couldn't figure out why Elias was not getting called and my momma bear instincts were running wild in my head. However, I did practice my best patience as we waited.

The appointment was very basic. After a short chat, the Ophthalmologist, Dr. Shuckett, tried to get Elias to track an object with his eyes. He was able to do it but not for very long. Then the doctor put eye drops into Elias' eyes. We had to wait for 30 minutes for the drops to dilate his eyes (which is why the others were called in before us as they had already waited the 30 minutes). When Elias' eyes were ready for examination. it was fairly difficult for the doctor to examine Elias as he didn't want to keep his eyes open. Once the doctor was able to look into Elias' eyes he told us Elias is farsighted, which is normal for children Elias' age. Dr. Shuckett said that he will be telling the surgeons that his eyes are fine.

Star Scan

The star scan is a 3D image of Elias' head. He will have to have another one after the surgery. The star scan is to help the helmet makers make the helmets for post surgery.

For the scan, Elias had to wear a little do-rag over his head with a sticker on each temple. He was then placed into a 3-sided glass box and what looked like a scanner light came across and scanned his head. It was very important that Elias stayed still for the scan as any little wiggle will make the image blurry. The picture is immediate and I wish that I would have asked to take a picture of the scan. I did glance at it but didn't think to ask to take a picture.

Fortunately, Elias was fairly sleepy for the scan and we only had to try it twice.

The helmet maker, Amanda, told us that Elias' helmet will be clear so that his incision can be seen from the outside.

#crazyhairdon'tcare

Our little gangster

just laying down some rhymes

We haven't received any further information about the exact time that Elias will be having his surgery but am assuming that it is on the 25th still. I asked one of the nurses at Elias' star scan about the time of the surgery and she checked into it. Apparently, it is the neurosurgeon's office who does all the scheduling. The nurse asked her contact to remind the neurosurgeon's office to mail out the letter of the surgery date and time. We will be waiting patiently by the mailbox. 

Prayer request

Please pray that the date of the surgery stays the same.

Next Up

Wednesday, June 19th - MRI

Friday, June 21st - Anesthesiologist appointment

Tuesday, June 25th - Surgery