Rickets and Laser Surgery

Well folks....it's all bad news tonight unfortuately.

Jacob had his follow-up eye exam this morning and his eyes have gotten bad enough that they have decided to treat them. He will be having laser eye surgery tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 PM so please keep him in your prayers. Luckily, there are three different zones of the eye and his blood vessels grew out to Zone 2 before there were any issues. This means the laser treatment will not affect his direct line of vision. If it does affect anything it will only be his peripheral vision and this is not a definite. Over the next couple of years, we will have to see a Pediatric Opthamologist to see if his eyes were affected by the treatment and if he needs glasses.

The next piece of bad news is that Jacob has Rickets. Approximately 50% of very low birthweight infants develop osteopenia of prematurity (decreased bone density) with Rickets (demineralized bones with a predominance of uncalcified bone matrix) which may lead to fractures. The good news is that this is treatable by giving him Calcium and Vitamin D. Not terrible news, but certainly not good news. Our little boy will be as frail as an old lady with osteoporosis. No climbing trees for little Jacob!!!

I actually do have some good news to share. Jacob hit 5 pounds last night! He weighs 5 pounds exactly!!

Unfortuantely, that is all the good news I have. I will be suffering along with Jacob tomorrow because I am having all four of my wisdom teeth extracted (FUN!) so I will probably be laid up on the couch for a few days popping some pain killers. If you don't hear from me before the weekend is over, I hope all the guys have a great Father's Day!! Goodnight!