Tag: vision issues

children, eyesight, gratitude, happiness, health, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, self-discovery

Limitless Sky

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Life hands you challenges sometimes. When you are faced with these, it is often difficult to understand why.

I have two young boys that were born with a rare genetic eye disorder called ectopia lentis.

I don’t know exactly why this happened.

All I do know is that it has put us on a path in life that is beyond anything we expected. We have been connected to amazing people we never would have met otherwise. We have had to test our mettle over and over each time victorious in the knowledge that as a family, we can overcome any obstacle.

So, I may not know exactly why vision challenges came into our lives. At least now I’ve had time and growth to realize some of the amazing lessons that have gone along with it.

If we can do this, we can do anything.

Think about any challenge you have lived through or are living with right now. If you can do that, you can do anything, too.

The sky’s the limit.

This is a pic of the boys being introduced by the director at the Vision is Priceless annual fundraiser. We are very thankful to this organization for all they do. Check out their link in my blog roll.
children, eyesight, gratitude, health, mommyhood, parenting, surgery

Smooth Sailing

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T.Puzzle came through his second surgery and all looks well with both his eyes.  The doc checked the first eye while he was under and it appears his prescription improved a couple diopters (yay!).  She also said that as he grows his prescription may improve even more.  Imagine that!  More good news about my child and/or children and their vision.  We’ve come along way from ‘legally blind‘ and ‘your baby’s vision is worse than his brother’s’ type of information sharing with medical professionals.  Hooray!

This is what 'happy juice' looks like.

The overall surgery experience was much like I expected.  He was absolutely miserable during the eye drop portion (as was I) and he woke up madder than a hornet’s nest from anesthesia.   Nothing a solid nap (for Mommy, too!) and Cheerios couldn’t solve.

He is so brave.

Love you, T.Puzzle!

T.Puzzle checks out his awesome surgical cap situation.
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children, eyesight, gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

The Climb of Progress

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There is a positive side to having active boys with vision issues. It makes them more cautious especially at great heights and forces them to slow down a notch. Anything that slows down my always-in-motion boys at looming heights is a plus.

The downside is that when they were smaller both loathed to swing, they cried and screamed when introduced to a new climbing apparatus and they generally caused a scene if they felt unsafe. Through the years I have learned to adapt and so have they. I’ve learned when to push, when to back off and when to throw my hands up in defeat while taking a long draw of drink from my handy travel flask. Of course with time and age, the boys learned by doing that they are safe at the tops of a slides and Full Speed is now fearless (lucky me???).

Little T.Puzzle, well, he’s still a work in progress.

So, as I approached our outing to the play area at Chik-fil-a, I had very low expectations. T.Puzzle started out very cautiously and when he went down the slide he screamed and wailed. I was just about to wrap it up when he did something unexpected. He kept going. The more he went, the more confidence he built and by the end he was circling the climbing apparatus in a happy loop.

This kid is growing by leaps and bounds. I might just be able to retire my travel flask sooner than I thought. Most likely I will always hold onto it for sentimental reasons (at least that is what I will tell Mad Dog).

Way to go, Little T.Puzzle!
children, eyesight, mommyhood

The Conference

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Mad Dog and I attended Full Speed’s year in review at his school. We have been lucky in terms of his placement with a teacher who can appreciate him. She has a son that is very ‘active’ as well and therefore finds Full Speed’s antics to be quite charming.

At the end of the session I asked her point blank if she felt his vision was impeding him in any way. Until now I have never asked this directly. I never wanted to make an issue out of something if there wasn’t one there. I also know that Full Speed being Full Speed, he would voice out loudly if he couldn’t see something well. Over time, I did notice when I picked him up during storytime he was always seated up front. I figured it was so he could see better and let it go at that.

Turns out he’s not placed in the front to see better, it’s so he doesn’t get ‘distracted’ way in the back. Apparently he needs to be right under the teacher’s nose when the class is gathered on the carpet. This is to help prevent some of Full Speed’s aforementioned charming antics.

Maybe I should worry less about his vision and focus more on behavior modification.

eyesight, gratitude, mommyhood

A Little Something Extra

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If you have read my recents posts, clearly I may not be excelling in the realm of motherhood at the moment. That’s why, as a Mom, it is imperative you have other outlets to help build you up during your children’s ‘difficult phases’. Of course the boys’ ‘difficult phase’ pretty much started at birth and has yet to diminish, but that is another matter for another day.

Anyway, I make valiant attempts at being a well-rounded mother. I belong to a book club so I am forced to read at least one book a month. I write this blog to prove to myself that not all of my brain cells have left me. And, I volunteer for a wonderful organization called Vision Is Priceless (for fairly obvious reasons).

This past weekend, Vision Is Priceless held their annual fundraiser. It is western-themed and BBQ (which is awesome) is served. I helped the staff set-up and did what I could at the event to lend a hand. I had a fantastic time. I met great people, had actual adult conversation (with several people no less!) and shared some of my story of our family’s  vision adventures.

I am grateful my boys have had stellar eye-care from the on-set of all of their vision issues. Vision Is Priceless is working hard so that everyone who needs it may have the same.

Thanks to VIP for making me feel needed and useful. I like knowing I am helping with the bigger picture. That way on days when I am up to make neck in tantrums and smack-downs, I have a little something extra to get me through.