My Eyes

As a child I had (still have) Lazy Eye or Amblyopia. I know I wore a patch for some time with glasses. I remember being on my Papa Bears farm who owned an extensive amount of land (okay so it seemed that way to me and I remember walking with my sisters and maybe some cousins in the wooded part of the back end of his farm. They were doing some logging (possibly my mom and Papa Bear) and while we were walking I dropped my glasses. But you know when you take off your glasses (or a hat) you still feel like its still there? I got back to my Mother and she noticed my glasses were gone. She gave me a tongue lashing (from what I remember) and told me to sit in the car. When they found my glasses they had been crushed by a truck. So I didn't have glasses from that point on. Either she refused to spend the money on them or couldn't afford them.

Of course at the age of ten I became ill in other ways and a woman ended up getting custody of me and I became the ward of the state. If you've been reading my blog or have known me for awhile this is "Helene". Anyways I went through several treatments for other problems and when I went to an ophthalmologist at Scottish Rite (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta) they said nothing else can be done but she has unique shaped pupils or irises.. I don't remember which but they are shaped like footballs more than they are round. I didn't have another eye exam until I was pregnant with my second child (my only daughter Skylar). I only had an eye exam then because I was dizzy a lot and my eye sight tended to be more blurry. They said it was the hormones from the pregnancy... um k...

I had been to the eye doctor for the first time in 8 years three weeks ago when my handsome little man poked me in the eye on February 21st.  My eye had never hurt so bad. I had a corneal abrasion. First day I had an eye patch and the ophthalmologist seemed concerned that my vision was limited due to my Lazy eye being the only eye I could use LOL. No matter what I would do (or the lens he would use) my eye never got stronger. It was almost as if the brain didn't know it was there. I could see letters but it was like I didn't know how to read. My brain wouldn't process it! How frustrating it was. The second day of my abrasion I had an eye patch, the third day I had a contact lens to serve as a band aid. By the third day I was a little bit better and by the fourth all seemed well. Until I was sitting unsuspecting on the potty and BAM he hit me in the eye with the end of a broom stick! Can mom please not get injured or can mom just get some privacy? It hurt  like hell for the rest of the day and then I was fine. Well a few days after that Little handsome *err* Mr Temper punched me... I got a new abrasion. Its not as bad as the first as far as discomfort, but worse than the second. Most of the times just irritating and at night it gets pretty tired and I have to just keep my eye closed with a cold compress. Did you know a regular cloth diaper (clean of course) makes an awesome compress? I have had eye migraines for about a week and two days, Where the pressure is on the back of my eye (I've never felt that before), I am also sensitive to light and movement... Except its not a headache like the traditional migraine just in my injured eye... for the JOY of it

 LOL. 

I had scheduled a regular eye exam after the first eye injury and tried to endure it today and my cornea is just too sensitive. Did you know your cornea replaces itself every 30 days? How miraculous our bodies work eh? From what he can see my injured eye has 20/20 almost more than perfect vision. My lazy eye has 20/40 which isn't horrible BUT it cannot be improved using glasses or contacts. Its not so much a problem seeing its a problem with the communication from eye to brain. It doesn't "get it". There is not much of a chance it can be improved and if I did patch my good eye long term then I would loose my independence and it would be harder for me to take care of the children, drive... etc. It would be impossible to read almost. During the first eye injury I was using Windows Magnifier to make things larger. It helped.... but it didn't work totally. I couldn't use it long term if I couldn't use the perfect, perfectly, injured eye.

Prayers for Melanie

Melanie's week didn't start out a good one. I spoke and saw Melanie on Friday. By Monday she hit hard times. Today she had surgery and things are looking better.

Updates from her daughter. I am so grateful for them.

9/6/09

Posted Sep 6, 2009 11:06pm

Today was not a good day for Mom. She started experiencing pain in her upper left arm and weakness on her left side around 8 am this morning. She didn't tell me about it until about 9:30. We headed to the emergency room at 10:30. Her condition detoriated over the course of the day. She eventually was not able to smile or lift her left arm or leg. The doctors ordered a CT scan and an MRI. The MRI indicated that she was not having an acute stroke. It did find a benign growth on the covering of her brain. They told me it was not causing pressure on her brain.
Eventually, at about 9:30 pm Central Time, they admitted her to the hospital and placed her in a private room on the stroke unit. They will be giving her Heparin as a blood thinner and medication for hypertension because her blood pressure has been elevated.
She is in room --- at ------ Hospital. I'm sure she appreciates all your prayers and well wishes, but please do not visit her unless you call me first. My cell phone number is (---) -------- I am limiting her visitors. She is unable to get up from the bed, so she must use a bedpan to use the bathroom. She is exhausted. I would prefer that she rest and focus on getting better, rather than visiting with folks. I hope you all understand that my main concern is her well-being.

9/7/09

Posted 2 days ago

The neurologist has called in a vascular surgeon for consultation. The vascular surgeon has ordered more tests of her carotid artery. He has stated that he feels that the cancer tumor has caused some of the plaque to break off from the artery, and that caused the incident yesterday - which they are now categorizing as a mild stroke.
The vascular surgeon will review the test results and advise us tomorrow as to whether or not she can have the surgery on her colon, or if she must first have surgery on her carotid artery to remove the plaque. So, we are once again in a holding pattern. Once we receive more information tomorrow, I will add an update to let all of you know if she will have surgery on Wednesday.

Surgery time

Posted 1 day ago

Mom's surgery is scheduled for 8:30 AM Central time at Huntsville Hospital. I have been told that we will be in the 1st floor surgical waiting room.
She will be taken back for preparation at 7 AM. Please do not try to visit her before this time, as she may not be able to see people due to the preparations she must go through this evening.
She does feel the love that everyone is expressing for her. She continues to appreciate all your prayers, good thoughts, and well wishes!

9/9/09

Posted 2 hours ago

The surgery went really well today!!!!
Mom came through the surgery with flying colors and no complications. She is now in a private room and has even been able to eat some soup and jello.
The surgeon believes he has removed all of the cancer tumor. We do not yet know the stage of the cancer. That cannot be determined until the pathology results are received (which should be in 2 or 3 days).
The surgeon removed 1 to 1.5 feet of lower intestine. He was happy about the incision because it was smaller than he expected it to be.
Mom will be on aspirin to help remove the plaque in her arteries. Once she recovers from the surgery, she will also be placed on Plavix.
She is currently resting and on pain medication. I would like to renew my request that she not have any visitors - at least for a few days. Once she is feeling up to seeing people, I will let all of you know!
Thank you so much for your prayers. We really felt God's healing power today, and hope that he continues to bless her as she proceeds with her recovery.

Please Pray

This is our Therapist, our friend, Melanie.

We have been seeing her for over a year. I always have liked the idea of seeing a therapist or psychologist. I have been going to one off and on most of my life.

I wanted to take on some problems head on before they came out like my concerns for Rick coming home with PTSD, my concerns for James regressing which in some ways he did very much, I also wanted proper treatment and diagnosis for James which again I was right. Over the course of a year she has shown care and special attention and gone out of her way for us many times. James looked forward to going every week as did the rest of us.

    On the way back from Kentucky on Tuesday I got a call from Melanie and she told me the bad news that she had Colon Cancer and she would have to refer us to another therapist. On Friday we met with her and she seemed in good spirits. Her daughter who lives in Florida was there packing her office and taking care of her. James and I were both having a rough week so the news hit all of us pretty hard. Last night Melanie wasn't doing so well and was admitted into the hospital. She's due to have surgery on Wednesday. So if we could all pray or keep in our thoughts that the fine line between faith and science become one and guide the surgeons hands that will be operating and the doctors hands that are treating her. I pray that the doctors have the wisdom to give her full recovery and a long lasting life.

Please send your prayers and thoughts to her family and grand children as well who will be providing caring touch to help her through this time. She is always welcomed back in Huntsville by my family as well as others.

Whats up What's up What's Up!

Rick had a recheck for his ears in Birmingham. The ear doctor put a piston in his ear to replace something "not working" well months later guess what. Now another part isn't working and there isn't a damn thing they can do until he comes back so you know what. Months and months of driving two hours, waiting 5 hours before even being called, surgery etc for what? NOTHING lmao. Stupid doctors! Anyways we brought James with us because James complains we don't ask him to go anywhere and he mentioned he wanted to eat at a particular restaurant. So rick mapped out Birmingham and mapped out several stores that James would like that have gaming and war gaming things in it. aka totally boring for Skylar and I. First James bitched why would I want hamburgers when I work at burger king well BUTTHEAD you said you wanted it! Then he was pissed cause Skylar was singing to herself and just saying baby over and over again. I told her to stop she wouldn't listen to me either she knew she was grading James' nerves. He decides for some ungodly reason to unbuckle her. She freaked as she always does when you unbuckle her I guess he tried to put it back in and the belt was locked and he turned her seat and she screamed and cried then Rick yelled at her. I made him stop the car and I got out until things calmed down :( James can be so ungrateful. He whined we got to go the water park then when we asked him to go he didn't want to. He whined we got to go to fireworks yet when we ask him he doesn't want to go. I am really just pissed because he would rather get in his computer time before work than spend this week as a family or with his dad EXCEPT going to see Transformers. We came home for a short break and DROPPED James off then went to Sci Quest :)
Sandra runs a PSP group called PSPing Moms.
Olenka and I are moderators. I just changed my member email to this one so I could send more mail. Olenka REMOVED ME! She can't remove my moderator name but she changed it to not allow me to send mail so I changed it back! WHY THE HELL does she want to F*** with me! I am so tired of this stupid game! I got along better with my worst enemy than freaking Olenka!
Jul 15, 2007 9:20 pm bellaluvspsp Post status changed by mommy2mybaby
Jul 17, 2007 9:23 pm bellaluvspsp Post status changed
Jul 14, 2007 5:59 pm you_are_my_blessing Member changed email address by you_are_my_blessing via web
Jul 15, 2007 9:22 pm you_are_my_blessing Removed by moderator by mommy2mybaby via web
Jul 16, 2007 5:28 pm luvinmacknskylar@aol.com Removed by moderator by mommy2mybaby via web
I've been keeping this in for the most part of a month and I am not doing it anymore! I still won't talk to her in any way shape or form but I am not holding in my anger!



This is Skylar's first time to the Water Park at Point Mallard. They also had an Olympic Sized Swimming Pool and some of it was roped off for all types of diving boards, a huge water slide, they also had a wave pool. Then you got to see the Toddler and baby pools. Of course its alongside the Tennessee River too which looked so pretty!
This week is Military appreciate week around these parts. So everyone is doing something. I enjoy doing patriotic and military pride stuff with Skylar I think its VERY important to teach her pride in the military and country. We went to South Hall at the Von Braun Center inside Big Spring park and watched an Army band from Ft Rucker play. Then outside for fireworks :)
Not to mention Skylar LOVES soldiers and we like to hear them chant as they march :)


Tinker Bell @ 3 months oldLightening chilling in the back yard her favorite pastimeTinkerbell outside before when I tried to put her out she would just scream now she is investigating. She didn't like the way her paws felt on the grass. Then she found a bug and was making noises at it. She swatted a piece of grass and she was surprised when it swatted her back lol. James Mowed the yard later. The gardeners haven't mowed the front yard in forever.

Tinkerbell finally decides to settle down at night. Before we got back from PCB she would attack us all the time. Now she is sleeping above my head
Skylar got SPOILED! I've wanted her to have this doll house but the house and the furniture are getting rare so I talked Rick into getting each piece LMAO.. You can see a corner of her toy box and her older bigger dollhouse near it. Skylar has Two families Mommy, Daddy, a little girl, a little boy she says is Rick, Me, Her and Mack... A pair of twin babies Then another Mom and dad and two girls and she says its her friends 'Nina, 'Nauna, Linda & Sgt Bean (who Rick will see next week)
Nina and Nauna are their nicknames lol
They had a house with a tree house just for the youngings and Skylar is propelling something in a basket on the clothes line from the tree house to the front porch lol Oh goodie its a box of rice krispie treats

Above is a chair of magnets its a magnet swing actually
Below is a water table that shows you how currents work you open streams and send a ball down them *shrugs*
water table that shows you how currents work you open streams and send a ball down them *shrugs*

Rick Built Skylar a bridge demonstrates how arches make better bridges lol
Little girl didn't quite trust Rick's construction
The two things sticking out are magnets and the sand is iron and it sticks like well it was just neat!
Yeah my husband has no butt in those shorts and no its not a circus mirror either that's really his ass HAHA just kidding skylar checking out Fun House Mirrors
Displaying how people burp they had one for vomit and digestion too LMAO oh and then there is identify the smell
Remember the game operation?

today

Sounds like your busy! Rick had a recheck for his ears in Birmingham. The ear doctor put a piston in his ear to replace something "not working" well months later guess what. Now another part isn't working and there isn't a damn thing they can do until he comes back so you know what. Months and months of driving two hours, waiting 5 hours before even being called, surgery etc for what? NOTHING lmao. Stupid doctors! Anyways we brought James with us because James complains we don't ask him to go anywhere and he mentioned he wanted to eat at a particular restaurant. So rick mapped out Birmingham and mapped out several stores that James would like that have gaming and war gaming things in it. aka totally boring for Skylar and I. First James bitched why would I want hamburgers when I work at burger king well BUTTHEAD you said you wanted it! Then he was pissed cause Skylar was singing to herself and just saying baby over and over again. I told her to stop she wouldn't listen to me either she knew she was grading James' nerves. He decides for some ungodly reason to unbuckle her. She freaked as she always does when you unbuckle her I guess he tried to put it back in and the belt was locked and he turned her seat and she screamed and cried then Rick yelled at her. I made him stop the car and I got out until things calmed down :( James can be so ungrateful. He whined we got to go the water park then when we asked him to go he didn't want to. He whined we got to go to fireworks yet when we ask him he doesn't want to go. I am really just pissed because he would rather get in his computer time before work than spend this week as a family or with his dad EXCEPT going to see Transformers. We came home for a short break and DROPPED James off then went to Sci Quest :)