Above worrying about "Is this even going to work; is he going to see?" is the worry that this will bother him. That he will notice that he is different and it will change him in negative ways at too early of an age. So, when the conversation below happened, there was a moment. A long moment of "STOP WORRYING & LET THIS KID KEEP BEING AWESOME!"
"Mama!" he said, almost breathless, as he ran to me, "Did God make me with a spot on my eye?"
I hesitated in replying because I was not sure how to answer and I am so grateful for those few seconds of wait time because what followed almost made the last 5 year's journey worth it.
"Did God make me with a spot on my eye so I would get to wear glasses like you?"
So much in those few words. First, maybe we are actually teaching him about God, since He was referenced. Whew.
Second, "a spot" on his eye. We have talked in great detail on many occasions about his cataract and what it was and why it had to be removed and why he has to patch, yet he called it a "spot." Possibly a sign that I need to stop explaining it and just stick with the simple approach.
Third, "get to." Because wearing glasses like Mommy is a prize, didn't you know?
Speaking of the SPOT, we made an earlier visit to Dr. Cogen than we planned because Anderson had been commenting on seeing "bones" in his eye and other things that no imom can ever hear and actually sleep at night.
As it turns out, there were no bones. Or negative news because we are, yet again, winning!
His prescription has decreased, he is seeing better out of his left eye and he is "better than we could have expected" and "way better than average."
AfreakingHEM. Hey there, first doc that we saw. Hear that? The kid who "will never be normal?" Yes, the one who pooped in your office and destroyed a bottle of lotion in your chair? That's the one. Well, he isn't normal. As it turns out he is better than normal.
Our journey is not over, we still have years of patching ahead of us. Dr. Cogen reminded us that Anderson will probably mention not seeing as well out of his left eye because the lens IS fake. That was reassuring but also a very loud reminder that this EYE will never leave us. The spot is gone, but the hole it left will always remain. To be fair, the hole has been gradually filed to the point where we can easily climb out, but we have to dodge it, just the same.
I took zero pics on the trip, but Aunt Manda did get a cute one of these 3 at lunch before we left. Our visits now have to be on Tues because Dr. Cogen doesn't do Mondays or Fridays and driving down after work Monday and coming home Tuesday was not really the best way to start the week, but the news was so worth it.
*Super cute story-when we were at Nicole's during Levi's arrival, Max woke up earlier than Reese. He came up to me, put his hands out and asked in the sweetest voice, " Where Reesie Piece?" It was adorable and proof that you can, in fact, brainwash your kids into calling their cousin the name a of candy.
If he is good at the eye doc (during eye dilation, waiting, answering a million questions, etc) he always gets to pick out a prize. He is not really into a ton of toys but he loves animals and ACMoore has a teacher discount and everything is always on sale, so he got to pick out a new leopard shark. He was SO excited and I know my days of thrilling my kid for $5 are not going to be around forever. That is something I am going to miss!
Flash forward to a few days before the EYE visit and I will tell you a story that I know, without fail, I will be repeating to this Ferg about a million times in his future.
Anderson ALWAYS wants to hear about "the time he had to go in the ambulance" and "the time he broke his arm." So, part of me is a little relieved that we now have a story for this guy. You know, one less thing.
I NEVER sit down with my kids when they watch TV. I just don't. They watch very, very tiny amounts of TV (not by my choice) and the few seconds that they are sitting, I am doing the million chores that I need to do but cannot do when Max is pouring water everywhere, destroying ziploc bags or hoarding my makeup to draw on the walls when he can't find the hidden crayons. I know so little that I cannot name a character of a TV show unless it is in the title. Well, because these guys are obsessed with me, they always want me to sit with them. Mom Guilt always kicks in as I tell them, "I will be right back after I fold the clothes/let the dogs out/get your waffles/clean up Max's pee because he lost his diaper again/etc." and I never actually return.
Well, on this particular Sunday, I was feeling a little giddy because Max had rock starred a nap of ALMOST AN HOUR! Is that even a real thing?? Apparently it is, because happiness abounded for everyone. He asked me to sit with him in the big chair as he watched TV* with Anderson and I did. I gave in and LOOK WHERE IT GOT ME! If my son getting stitches because I gave into Mom Guilt is not proof that God wants Happy Hour to start earlier, than I just do not know what is. I am not sure how I just related that to Happy Hour, but just stick with it.
*He was watching a "fact" show about animals in the Arctic Sea and this bird literally went underwater to catch a fish. I was actually a little mesmerized and, now, this vision, is all that I will think about when I remember Ferg's stitches.
But I digress. Back to the story-Max was NOT sitting near me (it's a large chair) and he decided to jump up to join Anderson as he flew across the room. Max missed the flying part and got tangled in his blanket and sort of tumbled off the chair, using the knob thing on our giant coffee table as a landing pad. I immediately picked him up and his head was already bleeding. I tried to stop the blood, realized it was more than I thought and told Anderson to go get Brandon.
"Daddy!" he yelled, " Mama dropped Max & now he won't stop bleeding."
Awesome.
We decided pretty quickly that he needed to go to the ER so we loaded in the car & headed that way. After a few HOURS, it stopped bleeding but we had to keep putting some kind of numbing gel on it, so the blood kept smearing everywhere.
In what can only be called "My worst nightmare coming true," we spent 5 hours trapped with our kids & I had not prepared anything. I am always a snack/drink/random junk carrier and I had none of the above because we had left so quickly. Luckily, some weird sort of fate intervened and this book appeared on my seat after we returned from getting his vitals checked. A fire truck book (he loves fire trucks) and notice the top left (bottom left of the book). Twin Sisters. Some kind of Twin Sister fairy made this happen for us and I was very grateful for the few minutes of sitting still that this bought us. #itkeepsgettingmorefree
We gave up all attempts at keeping him still and clean. HOURS.
Maybe a few minutes, but it was appreciated.
He was SO good during the actual sewing part. (Is it called sewing? stitching?) He just sat on my lap while I became very excited about shapes and animals on the iPad.
A picture from GG the next day. I love his expression and I know I am going to love that little scar that reminds me that sitting down is overrated.
My husband has a little scar on his forehead from when he was a toddler and running away from his mom, who was trying to put a pair of pants on him. He smacked into a wall. It's a good scar! My mother in law loves telling the story.
ReplyDeleteAlso, one of my favorite childhood memories involves my sister crashing through the glass coffee table after jumping on it to escape the vacuum cleaner. She was afraid it was going to vacuum up her toes. I am cracking up just thinking about it! Ahhh childhood!
And congrats to Anderson!
Max had his first rite of passage with the stitches and handled it like a champ. I love the picture of him smiling in the ER. Of course he is :)
ReplyDeleteAnderson and his checkup is no surprise-of course you guys are rocking this out!