Falling Apart

I'll put a *WARNING* label at the beginning of this post, just in case anyone is completely grossed out by nasty toenails or even just feet alone. You'll want to skip the first picture if that is the case.

A few weeks back, I had posted about Gaven getting his big toe smashed in the back door. It finally seems as if the toe is healing a bit and the nail is getting ready to fall off. It's really pretty gross looking. The nail is completely dead and you can see under it when you look at the right angle. (*see picture below).

On top of his toe, the million bumps and bruises all over his face and forehead, and bee stings, I think the poor guy is allergic to Kiwi. 2 days ago, I fed him some, and then yesterday I noticed this nasty hive-like rash ALL over his body. A little Benedryl before bed and this morning he's just like new.

Last, who would have thunk that these beautiful eyes could produce something nasty looking like this: (You gotta love the stuff caked in the eyebrow, too, he had rubbed his eyes and smeared it up his head)

Yesterday, I took Gaven in for an opthamology appointment. He's been having trouble with his right tear duct. Not only does it produce snot, it constantly waters and has goobies all stuck to his eyelashes. His primary Dr. was concerned that he might have a little bit of a blocked tear duct, and it turns out that he probably does. Apparently, clogged ducts are supposed to clear by around 12 months of age. When they don't clear by that time, they usually won't do it on their own and need a little help. Therefore, our little guy will have a minor surgery to open up that duct. I don't think it's supposed to be scary, but even just a minor surgery, especially when they put your little baby completely under, is a little scary.

Don't get me wrong, I can completely keep things in perspective. In talking with my mom yesterday, I mentioned that I can't imagine those parents that watch their little ones go through major surgeries and constant complications! I know this doesn't compare!

One of the symptoms of tear duct obstruction is excessive tearing, which he has plenty of. The tears run down the face because they cannot go down the tear duct and out the nose. Mucous, normally secreted by the eye, also does not go down the duct like it should, therefore, coming out the eye. This is a picture that helps to illustrate what they'll do. The picture shows a grey probe, but with Gaven's surgery, they will actually place a tiny, TINY flexible catheter through the duct down into the nasal cavity that will stay for a bit and help to open up the duct. They'll remove the catheter later (I can't remember whether he said 3-4 days or 3-4 weeks).

His surgery will be in about 6-8 weeks.

That's all for now.