ex machina
the eric update - day 1464: the long arm of prematurity reaches out and sucker punches us.
it was a sunny, beautiful morning and odin came into the bedroom.
"poppi, i see spots. i think i'm getting sick."
and so, that's how an otherwise normal day started. at first i thought he might be playing a game, but he was pretty specific and consistent with the details about the spots in terms of size and color and number.
i suddenly found myself attempting to not freak out as i recalled that the sudden appearance of floaters could be sign of retina detaching and, of course, most of you know he's at a higher risk for retinal detachment thanks to his history of retinopathy of prematurity.
so, after debating whether or not we were being alarmist, we scheduled an emergency eye exam and i found myself having a surreal lunch with co-workers about the odds of odin having a detached retina.
a few short hours later and we're in the doctor's office and odin is going through the pupil dilation routine and time is slowing down to a halt. dilation drops go in both eyes. and left eye checks out fine. right eye didn't dilate properly. doc thinks the nurse didn't put drops in, but i'm sure she did.
something feels wrong.
the doc looks into odin's right eye after putting more drops in and waiting 10 more minutes, pauses, covers his odin's left eye and asks him to identify the shape on the wall.
"i can't see it," odin responded.
time is slowing down more. odin is smiling, happy to be sitting in the cool eye doctor chair as i hear the doc say, "we have a problem," followed by phrases strung together loosely.
"detached retina"
"essentially no vision in the right eye"
"emergency surgery at the mayo clinic".
we won't know much about prognosis or probable outcomes until he gets evaluated by the experts. we expect that we'll hear bright and early tomorrow from the mayo about when he'll go in for evaluation and surgery.
needless to say, coming less than 2 weeks away from his fourth birthday, we're feeling a little sucker-punched.
it's been almost 1,400 days since rop surgery and i was really starting to hold out hope that we had finally escaped its grasp.
6/24/2008 10:05:00 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Wow, how scary! Sending good thoughts your way.
By 
veggiegrrl, at
10:34 PM
Odin has always been a fighter! He'll be strong through this too! How amazing that he came to you when he did! I'll be praying and thinking of you and your family. Stay strong!
my heart dropped as i started reading the post. i am so sorry. dee has said it all. our thoughts and prayers are with odin!
Hey there, I saw your link through Daddytypes' blog.
I wish things'll go better soon.
Sending out positive vibes,
Yvie
By 
, at
7:41 AM
delurking after years and years to tell you I'll be thinking about Odin and all his family today, tomorrow, etc.
By , at
9:43 AM
I've been lurking for a long time, but had to delurk to say that I'm thinking of you guys and praying that things turn out all right. Thank goodness he was able to tell you what was wrong and you didn't dismiss him and that you were able to get him in right away. I'll be watching for updates and hoping for all the best for you all.
By , at
10:26 AM
thanks all - just heard from mayo - we need to leave now with a capital n. not sure of anything else except that we'll be in rochester in a few hours.
Eric & Kris,
I still have chills going up my arms from reading the title. I'm thinking of you all, but mostly of the beautiful, original, magical Odin.
I'm a lurker, mostly, but when I brought home my own born-in-July 24 weeker in 2006 I started immediately on your archives and went straight through. I have returned many times since, both for reference and consolation, and I usually check in on the here-and-now of Odin every few days. Because my daughter has been basically on track with wherever Odin was two years prior, I've found it incredibly reassuring.
I've gotten enough of a sense of your family to know how special it is. And I'm hoping against hope that the Mayo Clinic will be a place of healing. Will be thinking of you all.
By , at
6:23 PM
I'm very sorry. Best wishes to you all.
By , at
9:42 PM
Best wishes to all of you guys, especially Odin.
By , at
10:24 PM
after a day of tests with odin being an impossibly fantastic trooper - good news (mostly)! he has a late vitreous hemorrhage with no apparent retinal detachment.
odin can't see because his eye is filled with blood.
I just checked to see if there was an update and read the news. I'm so happy to hear that it isn't retinal detachment and that the outlook looks good for his vision. Yay Odin! What a strong guy he is.
I've been an avid follower of Odin's story since a friend linked here from her blog (continuing adventures of super-preemie). When my daughter had to get glasses at 14 months (for a different reason than Odin), knowing that you had been through it with Odin, and that he wears glasses and is a adventurous, active kid at the same time kept me from being too freaked out about it.
Still sending lots of healing thoughts your way.
By , at
11:10 PM
This is a bad time for you good folks. . .we all stand by and send hopeful good wishes.
Have been following your blog since my 28 weeker was born in 2005 and it saved my sanity so many times in the NICU. My heart sank reading about Odin's eyes this week. Fingers crossed and hopeful wishes for no detachment. - Tiffany and Liam
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“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”
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this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.
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if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.
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