The Fairy and the Mermaid

Today was another exhausting day for the girls, and her parents. They both had eye exams this morning.

Two weeks ago, Hazel's eye were considered immature. Now her right eye is classified as Stage 3, Zone 2, Plus with Threshold Disease. Her left eye is Stage 2, Zone 2, Plus. It is very hard to explain what all this means. It is very confusing. Basically a Stage 1 or 2 can heal itself. A Stage 3 has a 50% chance of healing itself, 50% chance of needing treatment. A Stage 4 and 5 range from treatable to blindness. The stages refer to the amount of extra blood vessel growth on the back of the eye at the retina. The plus refers to how the blood vessels grow. A plus means the vessels are growing in a wiggly pattern instead of straight. This is a sign of a more progressive disease. Threshold Disease refers to how the abnormal (wiggly) vessels are located consecutively on the eye. Think of the eye as a clock. Hazel has abnormal vessels growing from 7:00 to 11:00. It is better if the abnormal vessels are spread out than in a row. There is no way to know how this will turn out. It could all be gone in a couple of weeks or it could progress. Another eye doctor will examine Hazel's right eye in the next day or two. Her current eye doctor wants a second opinion before treatment is discussed. Everyone is shocked this was found today. She is not showing any signs of blindness. When you speak to her, she looks right at you. She seems so aware of what is going on around her. We will have to wait and see what happens. On another note, she is doing great with her feedings. We cannot feed her fast or long enough. Two of Hazel's feedings today had to be stopped because she was so excited about the bottle. Instead of slowly drinking, she was gulping down her milk. We stopped before she could choke. Her final weight for today was 3 lbs. 12 oz.

Cora's urine culture came back in the normal to insignificant growth range. She had approximately 4,000 colonies. They are keeping her on antibiotics until the bacteria is identified. We should know tomorrow. Her ultrasound was normal, no irregular growths and normal kidney size. Cora's eye exam was not great either. She is now a Stage 2 Plus in both eyes. Another exam will be preformed next week to check her progression. Hopefully there will not be any, she will heal herself. Several bottle feedings were tried today. The eye exam and yesterday's tests exhausted Cora. She showed an interest in the bottle but quickly feel asleep when it was offered. We will try again tomorrow when she has more energy. Cora's weight today is 4 lbs. 2 oz.

Tomorrow should be a day of rest unless the eye doctor examines Hazel. Vaccinations are on Thursday.