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 -- update

The Good news although there is still some prayer concerns. The first doctor who performed the surgery said there was no cancer in the lymph nodes! The second doctor said it was late stage 2 cancer and things chemo will be good. She is bleeding from the surgery and had to have a blood tranfusion. That was the update yesterday.

Also from yesterday Melanie did some walking, laughed at a silly TV show, was in pain but it was intermentant. The bleeding was light but she has continued to bleed and is in tremendous pain so say a prayer for the bleeding and pain to stop and that she might be able to avoid Chemo...

The last update from 11 hours ago says she is still bleeding its lighter but hasn't stopped yet and she is still in pain. There are signs her colon is working so Praise God for that! She's not getting much rest due to the flurry of activity of the goings on in a hospital. She's not accepting vistors or phone calls. I sure hope someone is feeding her daughters who stay with her so they can avoid the cost etc of the hospital food.

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.

William Update

William had an appointment today.
His first well baby appointment.
He is one month and 6 days old. He weighs 10 lbs even and is 22 inches in length.
He started smiling on September 2, 2009. He's been holding his head up really strong just not as steady yet.
He's been obviously doing pretty good with nursing I guess like all things we just hit rough patches.

Updates on the Family

Rick returned to work. Monday he had Peridontal Surgery and was on rest for three days. He's still hurting a bit and not able to chew correctly. Poor baby. My sciatic nerve is still hurting. I woke up at 1 am with a knot the size of a softball in my back. Rick literally fell asleep with his fist putting pressure on it and I could go back to sleep for a little while. Now my hip is just stiff and sore... Ugh its going to be a rough 100 days... I am doing Love Dare http://bellaslovedare.blogspot.com/
Alex sent a brief email to let us know he was still alive and got yahoo messenger. James has the day off today and he's still asleep he was a bit grumpy yesterday. Skylar went on a field trip today to the Railroad Museum and I feel HORRIBLE about not being able to go with her. Little William is still cooking away I went to the OB on Wednesday and he is measuring two weeks ahead and his heart rate is 150 heart beats per minute. http://anotherrecruitontheway.blogspot.com/

News and New additions

On Wednesday Skylar's New Little Mermaid Bike Was delievered. Rick put it together then off to Birmingham. I didn't sleep well on Tuesdaysand had a realllly long day Wednesday. Wednesday, Rick had a recheck in Birmingham since he had surgery on his ear. They called Tuesday to tell us they needed to move back the appointment 15 minutes. No biggie of course but I knew it was a bad sign. Birmingham is a hour and a half to two hour drive from RSA. We got there 15 minutes early and he signed in. They did not call us back till FIVE o'clock! I was furious. Plus keeping Skylar entertained and just everything wasn't going right! We finally got out of there a little later. Rick's hearing wasn't getting better they cleaned his ears out and its not as clogged but there isn't a huge noticeable difference in his ears. Its going to take three months by that time he will be in Kansas for training *sigh* lovely. I won't get to enjoy it.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v396/Sntfrmgod4me2lve/Personal%20Pictures/2007%20Pictures/May%2030th%20Bike/

Thursday we went with Jess and her boys to the NASA Space and Rocket Museum. That was pretty neat. The Museum for the most part is a waste for the kids since its just a big history lesson but they had rides and different things Skylar was interested in.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v396/Sntfrmgod4me2lve/Personal%20Pictures/2007%20Pictures/May%2031st%20Space%20and%20Rocket%20Museum/

Today as in my blog before we went Kitten Hunting and we have a new fur baby. 6 week old Tinkerbell. Her Birthday is April 17th. She's a mostly lovey kitten who just wants to cuddle with Lightening and Lightening hisses and runs away and hides. Lightening is pretty mad at everyone but James and won't let me pet her. She ran into our closet and Tink just sat at the door way and just looked at Lightening like aww I wanna be friends. Lightening just sat back and rumbled. I gave her the new treats. So Lightening will calm down in the next few weeks I don't think she will be mean to Tink though. Tink does seem to be adjusting some what. She likes her bed and right now she is cuddled in my office chair beside me. She is starting to learn the litter box and is chowing down on food. She's skiddish and shy but thats just to learn her place. She will play with Skylar at times but Skylar's very Elimirish.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v396/Sntfrmgod4me2lve/Personal%20Pictures/2007%20Pictures/June%201st%20Tinkerbells%20New%20Home/

James working his second day at the on post Burger King. He likes the new kitten and is worried about him over all its a mood change for him Good THINGS!