The day of Zane's one year old birthday party I noticed something funny going on with his left eye. I saw his eyes cross, and it caught my attention, but then they uncrossed. There was so much going on that day that I didn't think much about it. The next day was Sunday and he was dedicated at church so it wasn't until lunch that I finally took a good look at him to see what was going on.
As you can see in the picture here his left eye is turned to the inside corner.
In addition, his head is turned to the left a few degrees. This seems minor but I knew it wasn't right or normal for him.
Side note: take a picture of your kids looking left and right just in case.
We were left with the diagnosis of Sixth Nerve Palsy. After I emailed the doctor with the pictures of Zane looking left he decided to admit him to the hospital that day.
Wednesday we were admitted to the hospital with the concern that Zane's chronic ear infections (he had one in his left ear at the moment) had spread outside the ear and infected the mastoid bone, therefore inflaming the sixth nerve (whose only function is to control eye movement). This is called Gradenigo's Syndrome and can be cured with IV antibiotics but if untreated would lead to meningitis. We were sent to get an MRI but it couldn't be done at that time of day so they thought about a CT Scan but then the doctor didn't think it was necessary.
Our poor boy is a challenge for even the expert nurses to get an IV in. They would get a vein but then it would clot and bruise and they would have to try again. It took them 45 minutes of deathly screaming to finally get the IV in his head. He was so happy to be back in Mama's arms. Chad and I can take some screaming but 45 minutes was breaking our hearts.
Thursday morning! Oh, were we happy the night was over. Sleeping, or rather not sleeping in the hospital is brutal and the time seems to go so slow. Zane couldn't sleep in the crib because of the IV in his head. So he slept in my arms sitting in the chair ALL NIGHT. But I would do it again (and I did).
Later that day our ENT ordered a CT Scan. I appreciated the doctors keeping us in the loop (we had Zane's ENT, Ophthalmologist and hospital Dr working as a team) and telling us each time they changed their mind or thought they had a different diagnosis. It just shows that in Zane's case it was a process of elimination to get a diagnosis. Thank goodness for baby cocktails-the ct scanner girls said he was the funniest patient in 20 years.
Since Zane was otherwise healthy we did a lot of playing in the days. We raced those halls like a Nascar driver! And big sister came up to visit and participated in an Easter egg hunt in the hallways. The hospital staff at Mission Hospital really was caring and friendly.
On Friday, after ruling out Gradenigo's Syndrome and having a clean CT Scan and blood work we were discharged from the hospital with an appointment for an MRI the following Friday. By ruling out most other "bad" diagnosis the only one left was a brain tumor which would be found in an MRI. We tried not to think about that and it was a long week of prayer. We felt so much support from our family and friends. We appreciate the prayers and the morning of the MRI I felt peace that God would be there for us whatever they might find.
Today is 3.5 weeks after the Sixth Nerve Palsy began and we have seen Zane looking left (all the way at times). Plus, as you can see his head tilt/turn has straightened back to center. Praise God. As fast as this palsy came about it seems to be leaving.
This situation has reminded me that as Christians we must be ready to trust God. Really trust God. We cannot do "life" on our own and our heavenly Father loves us, supports us, sends angels (fellow Christians) around us to lift us up. He has a plan for each one of us and I am so happy to see what he has in store for Zane.
