Surgery

Friends & Family,

Riley had an appointment this morning to have the cyst next to her eye examined. Because it has continued to grow over the past 6 months, the doctor told us that the best course of action would be to have it removed. We have known since last July that we would eventually be having this conversation, but we really thought we still might have several more months to make a decision.

However, that is not the case. The surgery has been scheduled for January 22. Yes, that is less than 2 weeks from today!
As of right now, I don't know the exact time. The Surgery Center schedules the times and I will probably not hear from them until the day before the surgery.

The doctor is confidant that Riley will do very well. She's very healthy and hasn't had any medical complications so everything looks pretty good. Of course she will be put to sleep (with a tube down her throat) so the doctor told us about all of the "potential hazards" of anesthesia. Those "potential hazards" are what make me so nervous!

The surgery is more intense than I thought it would be... we got a list of those potential hazards as well!! It's not as simple as going just under the skin and cutting it out. Apparently there will be a rather deep incision in order to get under the cyst. She will have 2 sets of stitches. One under the skin and one on the surface of the skin. Both sets of stitches will dissolve. That helps us avoid an appointment to have them removed! There will be blood work done after the cyst is removed to confirm that it is, in fact, a dermoid cyst and nothing more serious.

Chandler is not really sure about what is going on, but she knows something is going to happen to Riley. She has already started asking me questions. She's a smart girl and we know she would want to know what's going on so we'll probably sit down and talk with her in the next day or two.

Please keep Riley and our family in your prayers over the next few days.

Jennifer