Here is a link to the first phase...
The eye: a timeline (1)
Feb-April, 2011
Obviously the surgery was a success, as Dr. Cogen is wonderful. We had to put drops in Anderson's eye every hour for a week or so and then gradually scale down from there. I was so glad when the hourly shifts were over! We went back to Birmingham 5 times during the next 2 months with one trip consisting of there and back in one day. We spent a lot of time with the fam, so that was nice. We spent a lot of time in the car, which wasn't as nice.
March, 2011
Anderson got his first pair of glasses! Dark blue Miraflex. Precious from the start.
March, 2011
Anderson got his first pair of glasses! Dark blue Miraflex. Precious from the start.
April, 2011
Some punk kid pointed at Anderson & laughed. Crushing. Later this month a kid at the playgrund said, "Oh, he must be the pirate!" We quickly began learning lessons on perspective.
May, 2011
Anderson started saying, "Gyasses"
June, 2011
Some punk kid pointed at Anderson & laughed. Crushing. Later this month a kid at the playgrund said, "Oh, he must be the pirate!" We quickly began learning lessons on perspective.
May, 2011
Anderson started saying, "Gyasses"
June, 2011
Dr. Cogen told us that we are "Better than most" with the patching and we can come back in 6 months! I was excited at the time because that sounded like progress. But, I was also bummed because I scheduled his next 2 visits and one of them was over a year away. It is just so constant.
Summer 2011
Keeping an eyepatch on a sweaty toddler who just wants to play in water was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Very hard, but we did it! My motto at the beach was, "It's better to have vision in the future than a patchless (easy) vacation now." I complained multiple times a day to anyone who would listen. My mom has yet to complain even once.
August, 2011
Anderson recognized the difference between "real" pirates (with eye patches) and those fake ones.
Fall 2011
Anderson recognized the difference between "real" pirates (with eye patches) and those fake ones.
Fall 2011
Anderson started Mother's Day Out where his teachers sometimes went through 2 patches & sometimes go through 2 packages!
Thanksgiving Weekend
I'm pretty sure that I was the only person who was dreading a long weekend. I sort of dawdled at a bit at the end of the day, dreading the idea of 4 days trapped with the Patch. Yes, I now admit that I am terrible mother. My own mother had to deal with the patch basically all week and NEVER complained. And, here I was, dreading what should have been a fun extra few days with a Bug.
For whatever reason, that weekend was the turnaround weekend. For the 11 months prior to Thanksgiving, Anderson took the patch off multiple times per MINUTE. I'm serious. It was miserable. On Thanksgiving I noticed that I actually was able to walk out of the room and the patch was still on when I came back!! Revolutionary. Mom & I didn't actually talk about it for a few weeks, living in fear of the patch gods seeking revenge.
December, 2011
Dr. Cogen said we can patch all but TWO hours! This was amazing because we look at the one hour off as covering all of the minutes here and there where we are putting on a new one, bath time, times when he wakes up, etc.
Winter 2011-2012
Things went much more smoothly than last year at this time. He wants to pick out his own color and tells us his patch is dirty a lot as an excuse to take it off. He is much easier to bribe now, which makes everything easier! If he gets mad at someone he blames them for getting his glasses dirty, which is hilarious. We are really working on letters so he can read a vision chart soon. Also, perspective has set in because nothing really seems hard anymore. Potty training isn't really smooth sailing and I swear it doesn't even bother me!
Yay for Eyes!
I'm pretty sure that I was the only person who was dreading a long weekend. I sort of dawdled at a bit at the end of the day, dreading the idea of 4 days trapped with the Patch. Yes, I now admit that I am terrible mother. My own mother had to deal with the patch basically all week and NEVER complained. And, here I was, dreading what should have been a fun extra few days with a Bug.
For whatever reason, that weekend was the turnaround weekend. For the 11 months prior to Thanksgiving, Anderson took the patch off multiple times per MINUTE. I'm serious. It was miserable. On Thanksgiving I noticed that I actually was able to walk out of the room and the patch was still on when I came back!! Revolutionary. Mom & I didn't actually talk about it for a few weeks, living in fear of the patch gods seeking revenge.
December, 2011
Dr. Cogen said we can patch all but TWO hours! This was amazing because we look at the one hour off as covering all of the minutes here and there where we are putting on a new one, bath time, times when he wakes up, etc.
Winter 2011-2012
Things went much more smoothly than last year at this time. He wants to pick out his own color and tells us his patch is dirty a lot as an excuse to take it off. He is much easier to bribe now, which makes everything easier! If he gets mad at someone he blames them for getting his glasses dirty, which is hilarious. We are really working on letters so he can read a vision chart soon. Also, perspective has set in because nothing really seems hard anymore. Potty training isn't really smooth sailing and I swear it doesn't even bother me!
Yay for Eyes!
Cannot believe it's been a year. Insane! You guys are doing amazing!
ReplyDeleteI've never put a timeline of "the Eye" together... might have to steal your post idea?! ;) Looking back at how much you've come through always makes it look easy, amazing what perspective can do! ha. But I know each and every one of those months took a lot of hard work to get through! Yay for Eyes!
ReplyDeleteI love the timeline! (I hate the rude kid in April!). I have totally felt the dread of the long weekends of patching- with less stimulation at home (compared to multiple other kids and activities), I think patching at home is hard! I am so glad to hear that patching becomes... well, less hard (never easy, right?) as they get older and easier to bribe.
ReplyDelete