Remember, nobody or their brother better be working this weekend.

Posted by ksmoker at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Monday was a big day for Christopher and his eye. We had been managing his glaucoma with eyedrops over the past year with varying success, changing the prescription a couple of times as Christopher's eyes would develop resistance. Finally, we learned last week that the pressure was getting out of control and surgery was scheduled.

Our first option was a relatively non-invasive laser surgery which would create openings inside his eye to allow the intraocular fluid to exit. Unfortunately, Christopher's young age and the severity of his condition ruled that out and the doctor was forced to insert a tube that would ensure clear passage. Those with strong stomachs (fair warning!) can view a video showing a variation of the surgery he received. Another fascinating, but much older video shows a technique for operating on child-sized eyes.

As you might suspect if you made it through those videos, Christopher was pretty miserable for the rest of the day, a combination of swelling around his eye and the effects of his anesthesia. Still, a brief nap and he was back to one of his favorite pastimes. He perked up a little in the afternoon when Ben came home from school and since has been more or less back to his bouncy self. Yesterday's follow-up appointment confirmed initial success, so now we are just monitoring Christopher for infections and will learn more as we return for additional checkups later this week and next.

It's both reassuring and a bit scary how well Christopher is coping with all of this. Watching him squint through his half-closed lids at his cars on Monday afternoon just shows how accustomed he is to coping with whatever level of vision he has. Then, yesterday morning, after waking up with his eye crusted shut, he announced, hands on hips, in a supremely annoyed tone (but no worse than just annoyed), “Oh, great! I'm blind. Oh, great!” This of course took Kari's breath away, but it served as a reminder that we need to treasure what sight he still has.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Actually, it was a year ago last night that our family got just a little bit bigger, but a whole lot more exciting. It's hard to believe it's been only a year. It seems like we've been through at least four or five years worth of doctor's appointments, hospital visits, falls, scrapes, bumps, bruises, giggles, shouts of glee, hugs, and kisses.

We knew pretty much right away what we were getting ourselves into, of course. And we wouldn't trade a single minute.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So we ordered some delicious Thai/Vietnamese takeout tonight as part of a small celebration (more about that to come). At first, I thought that it was nice of the restaurant to provide the friendly, happy “Have a Nice Day” bags, but then after looking a little closer, we're not sure they actually meant it. As Kari said, “It's just not very convincing, is it?”

Posted by ksmoker at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)