Bye Bye Stent

Many of you may remember that Ethan had to have a stent placed in his left tear duct in October because the duct was moderately blocked and caused constant discharge and matting of his eye. FINALLY today we had the appointment for the stent to be removed-Hooray! I was nervous to take him by myself (Dan is traveling for work), because they are not put under anesthesia for the removal procedure, and I wasn't sure how traumatized Ethan would be. Thankfully, things could not have gone more smoothly! Ethan was surprisingly calm (even when I held his arms and hands down so that he could not grab at the doctor's equipment), and he did not cry at all during the procedure. He cried for less than a minute when I picked him up off the exam table, but then was back to his smiley, friendly little self. The doctor and nurse marveled at how calm he was and were amazed that he smiled and waved "bye bye" to them as they left the exam room. The doctor had answered all of my questions and done his paperwork before the procedure because he said kids are almost always crying and hysterical during/after the procedure so he can't even hear or talk with the parents afterward. Ethan was definitely a pleasant exception to the norm! :) Here is a picture of his eye this morning before his appointment (his last picture with the stent)! If you look really closely, you can see the reflection of the flash on the stent (it runs from the top lid to the bottom lid a short distance out from the corner of his eye. (If you click on this picture, it should enlarge).