Blue Belton Buck: A Glimpse into the Future

Wow, a lot has happened since I last posted! Our boy Buck had his eye surgery on June 17. All went very well; Dr. Burling removed the cataract from his right eye and replaced it with an artificial lens. To be honest, the first night was a bit anticlimactic. Buck was so drunk and disoriented from the anesthesia that he didn't really have much of an "I can see" moment. Regardless, we filmed his grand entrance post-surgery to share with everyone. You can hear Dr. Burling describe his immediate post-op vision as "a little funky" in the video. Here it is:

Day 2 was awful. Buck was uncomfortable, his eye was inflamed, and he required more assistance than he did before the surgery. Dr. Burling warned us this would be the case, so we weren't disheartened. Still, seeing him struggle so much was difficult. He barely opened his right eye at all. We went back for his first post-op re-check and Dr. Burling said everything looked fine, so home we went for more rest in hopes of a better Day 3.

Buck's right eye before & after

We didn't really see much improvement until Day 4. Buck's eye stayed open most of the time by this point and he felt much better. We could see how clear and beautiful his eye looked without the cloudy cataract (see the photo to the right for before & after). For the first 10 days after surgery, I gave Buck three different types of eye drops six times every day to reduce inflammation, exercise the pupil, and prevent scar tissue from forming. He's a trooper and doesn't mind the drops at all. Now we are down to three types of drops four times per day, but starting tomorrow we're dropping down to three times per day. Ultimately, Buck will only need one type of drop once per day. We'll get there!

Such a baby!

Last week we noticed some increased cloudiness, so Buck went back to Dr. Burling for a tissue plasminogen injection that dissolved the cobwebby fibers forming in his eye. No biggie! During this visit, Dr. Burling noticed a minor vitreous hemorrhage as well. This means there's a little bit of blood between the retina and the lens. Although this hemorrhage doesn't mean the retina definitely will detach, it's an indicator of heightened risk of detachment. It's something Dr. Burling will continue to re-check, but we can't guarantee that Buck will retain his vision indefinitely. She says that usually three-month post-surgery is the "out of the woods" marker for retinal detachment. So far, so good. Paws crossed for smooth sailing! Today marks two weeks since Buck's surgery and he's doing great. We've hit a couple minor bumps along the road, but overall Dr. Burling says everything looks pretty darn good. Buck had his third re-check yesterday and he'll go back for his fourth next week.

Buck & his Crinkly Cajun Croc!

We've seen a tremendous difference in Buck's quality of life since his surgery. He is happy all the time, gets excited about everything, and gets around with no trouble at all. He jumps up on the couch and cuddles up next to us while we watch TV. He doesn't cry and whimper when we leave the room anymore. He even jumped up into the truck all by himself to go to his check-up! Most exciting of all, Buck PLAYED with a TOY for the very first time since we've had him last night! It was such a cool thing to see. He'd never shown interest in toys before his surgery. Sometimes we could tell he was excited and wanted to play, but he didn't know how to play without being able to see. Well, Auntie Melissa sent me home with some new toys for my crew yesterday. On a whim, I introduced one of the new toys to Buck. Lo and behold, he chomped at it! Before I knew it, he was tossing it around and chewing on it like a champ. So awesome! THIS was truly a tremendous moment. Enjoy the video:

Buck also enjoys going for walks now much more than he did pre-surgery. He's a great loose-leash walker and he lets you know when he's ready to turn around and head home. To see how well he's navigating since his surgery and to get a glimpse of his spectacular leash manners, check out this video (sorry about the noisy wind!). That's all for now. Buck's walking into the next chapter of his life...never looking back!