The eye doctor looked at Matthew's eye today and was surprised at how much better it was than he thought it would be. On a happy scale from 1 to 10, before he saw Matthew, he was thinking he would be a negative 3. After the examination, he was feeling happy at a positive 8. So he was encouraged by what he saw. It looks like the retina did not detach or the way he phrased it sounded like there is a lot of attachment in the retina. Now whether or not the areas that he thought were detached really aren't, we're not too clear on. There was either more bleeding or the blood that was left in the eye just settled down so he was not able to tell if there is a confirmed hole in the retina. When he looked at the lens, he was also pleased to see that it didn't cloud up, so he didn't think it would be likely that he would develop a cataract, but anything can still happen.
Matthew was still completely out of it when we went to see him this morning and of course he is still on the ventilator. He has been up and down on the ventilator settings and the doctor called us about 7:00 tonight to tell us that he was having more difficulties on the ventilator. They took an x-ray and noticed that his right upper lobe has collapsed, so they are giving him medicines to dilate the blood vessels in the lungs to help with better expansion of air. In addition to the dilating medicine, they are giving him medication to help break up a lot of the secretions they are now getting since he has been on the vent for a day or so. This apparently is pretty common in babies with chronic lung disease, so they are trying to get him into really good shape before taking him off the ventilator. They are also trying to be careful about taking him off the ventilator too soon, just in case the eye doctor needs to go back in for more surgery later this week. It is better to leave him on the ventilator for one more day for the surgery as opposed to having to extubate, intubate, extubate, etc.
The eye doctor will be seeing Matthew again sometime tomorrow to look at the left eye to determine if he needs to finish the eye with any more laser surgery or if it is completely done. While he thinks it is still a home run, there was some bleeding that was still in the eye and he wants to make sure that he doesn't need to laser those areas that previously had blood in them.
Please continue to pray for healing of Matthew's eyes. Pray that there is absolutely no retinal detachment and that there is no hole in the retina. Pray for his recovery and that God gives him the strength for each new day and night. Pray for his comfort and that he is not in any pain. Pray for healing in his lungs. Continue to pray for the new doctors and new nurses taking care of him to have wisdom and discernment when making decisions about his care. Please continue to pray for us as this is a difficult and scary time right now.
All three of you are in our prayers. We know this must be an incredibly hard period to go through. We are glad that God keeps you strong.