This has been a strange two weeks. Some of the experiences I hope not to have to repeat. Some of them are hard to write about. I'd like to try, but not tonight.

Daniel had his squint repair surgery today. Last night I had a very disturbed night, and kept on waking thinking it must at last be 5am and time to get up, only to find it was only 12, then 1, 2.15, and so on. I was worrying about the operation and also about not waking up on time. It was a relief when 5am actually arrived.

We were at the hospital at 6.30. Luckily this time around we were first in line for theatre, so Daniel didn't have too long to be hungry (he'd had not to eat since midnight, which I confess to have interpreted a little casually, breastmilk being a clear fluid depending who you talk to). Anyway, he'd gone without since 2.53. so was not at his best. So I was glad that on the dot of 7.30 we were going in to theatre.

The part I hate the most is where he slips away from me into unconsciousness.

It was a very quick procedure and by just after 8 he was back in my arms. He was so distraught last time on waking, that I expected the same this time around. So I was surprised and relieved that as soon as I held him he started to calm down. He dropped off to sleep on the way back to the ward, and I tucked him into the bed where he slept for a while and then woke feeling very much himself after he'd had a drink.

There was a moment of drama when Dan decided he'd had enough of the needle still taped into his thigh. He was too quick for me. A rather alarming amount of blood spewed out of his leg. It was easily put right though. One of the nurse removed the offending needle and taped a dressing onto his leg. As soon as she had gone he smugly removed that too.

Peter popped in on the way to work at around 9.30. He'd not come with me as he had to stay behind with girls. Daniel was pleased to see him and gave him a big kiss and hug.

The other people in the ward were pleasant this time. Last time everyone was talking about how 'they' crook the reading on your electricity metre, 'they' never pay their TV licences, and 'they' get away with anything on the streets. I can't stand being assumed to aspire to be included in other people's prejudices.

The two other children in the ward were also patients of Daniel's doctor. Squints seem relatively rare, so it makes a change being with other families with children with squints. There was a two year old whose mother was totally blase about the whole procedure. She was in for her second procedure, as the first had put the two eyes in line, only now both eyes were operating to the side of the midline. So if the child looked at something straight in front of her, she turned her whole head to look at it at an angle. And then there was a girl, who must have been about 8, who had an extremely severe squint. I assumed it was maybe a condition she had to have repeatedly treated, until I heard her mother telling the woman in the next bed that they'd had her in glasses for the last four years hoping it would correct itself but now they had decided to have the surgery. There may be a host of other reasons why surgery was not previously an option for them, but I can't imagine how a squint like that could not have a serious impact on a child's socialisation. Still, she seemed like a pretty confident child. Maybe those things just make you tough. I wondered about it though.

We were home by 11, and Daniel slept a good part of the day. He was pretty unhappy at one stage, once the pain killing effects of the general anaesthetic were wearing off, but he was ok after more pain killers, more sleep, and lots to eat and drink. His eye's bloodshot but otherwise there's no bruising at all, and no visible cuts to heal either. I guess everything happens behind the eyes.

We'll go back and see the doctor on Tuesday to assess whether they got the adjustment right. It looks straighter to us, but not completely straight. I'm not sure whether that means another adjustment is necessary, or whether it will change more on its own over the next few days. It may be its enough of an adjustment to nudge the brain into doing the right thing.