Moving on to surgery

We knew we would eventually be at this point and now the time has finally come. Today we had Andrew's monthly follow up exam with Dr. Mazow. We have had no progress in two months so we are certain we have hit our plateau at 20/60 vision. We are thrilled though to have regained this much vision and praise the Lord for his healing and mercy on Andrew. We have scheduled Andrew's surgery for about a month from now; April 1st to be exact. It will be an outpatient procedure downtown at the Medical complex. Dr. Mazow only wants to do surgery on the left eye and not the right eye since it is in good shape. He will reposition the left eye to have a straighter alignment. We will likely have to continue some patching after surgery, but only a few hours a day. For now though we will have to continue to patch all waking hours until his surgery in one month. We are very pleased and thankful for Dr. Mazow and his staff. They have all been very kind and helpful.

I did notice in Andrew's eye exam today how much more confident he is in naming his letters and naming them quickly. I think he is becoming much more comfortable with Dr. Mazow and his staff. To their credit they work hard to make the kids feel at ease and Dr. Mazow is never in a hurry with us. He always takes time to visit with Andrew and us. This has been an added bonus in his eye exams to see how much he is progressing not only visually, but socially, cognitively and linguistically in a different environment.

For Andrew the patching has been challenging for him to continue to catch up academically in English and socially. With poor vision he often misses some of the nuances and social cues that he is so good at picking up on when he is not patched. I know that it has been a huge blessing for him to be home schooled as he is not having to deal with negativity daily from peers that is often an additional hardship for kids with vision issues who are in a government or private school environment. We have had a few encounters with curious and sometimes insensitive strangers of all ages when we are out and about going to museums, stores, parks etc. This has provided an opportunity to address how to handle other peoples rudeness and sometimes just innocent curiosity with the security and safety of those who love him nearby to coach him and help him talk through how to respond to those situations in the future. He is not being left daily to fend for himself all alone to retreat inwardly to cope or act out agressively to defend himself. I am also thankful for the precious kids that Andrew goes to church with that are so tender and thoughtful to Andrew. Looking out for him and making sure he is not left out or in harms way as he may not always see something coming at him. To God be the glory for all that He is doing in Andrew's life. Andrew is truly an amazingly resilient little boy whom the Lord is redeeming the time lost. He becomes more precious to me everyday and I could not imagine my life without him in it. The Lord has and continues to teach me much through Andrew's eyes.

Kathlena also had her first evaluation with Dr. Mazow today. She seemed as if eye exams were routine for her when she bounded into the chair with her ponytail wagging and her big smile. Her happiness is contagious...you can't help, but smile from the inside out when you are around her. Since, she has been to all of Andrew's eye appointments observing what to do she was quite ready and so glad to have her turn. It would seem that her nystagmus has lessened in frequency and Dr. Mazow commented that it seemed very "controlled". He wants us back in 3 months to keep check on it as we were unable still to get a vision test on her. She is not quite able to comprehend reliably what is being asked of her, but this is not unusual for her age. She will be 4yrs. old by her next visit and we have a chart to work with her on for next time. Dr. Mazow was in no hurry to talk surgery for Kathlena that as long as she is showing progress and the nystagmus lessening he wants to continue to observe her for now.

Sorting things out...vision issues update

We have completed the testing through the optometrist. While the optometrist believes that the patching will not produce better acuity and that perhaps this is lost and will not be regained, however she believes through therapy his eyes can be trained to compensate in other ways for it. She has recommended extensive therapy for both vision and a host of other issues. Unfortunately, we are not sure how accurate the findings are as much of the test weighs heavily on a concrete understanding of English. It would seem she is relying more heavily on his background and statistics in the recommendation for extensive therapy as she also commented on the English issue to the reliability of the testing. We continue to pray for wisdom and have decided to consult with a second pediatric ophthalmologist who specializes in strabismus and amblyopia...in fact if you do not have strabismus the Dr. will not see you. We have an appointment scheduled for Dec. 9th. We are so grateful for the Lord's provision as each time we "hit a wall" the Lord directs us to the new door of opportunity.

We continue to trust the Lord...believing his Word for all situations. Proverbs 11:14 tells us that "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in a multitude of counselors there is safety." This has been our prayer as we have sought Dr. after Dr. and test after test. Perhaps in all of these visits and "feeling" like we are doing something what we needed most was more time.

"You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works." Psalm 73:24-28

Dr Visit

Well everything went very well with our pediatrician. Both kids are doing great. As expected, we will be seeing a pediatric opthamologist soon for both kid's strabismus. Kathlena has also been referred to a pediatric neurologist just to rule out any neurological reasons for her neck issues...we still really think it is somehow related to her vision. Kathlena and Andrew had both put on some weight since the Embassy Dr. saw them, so that is good.

We hope to be in to see the opthamologist in the next few weeks. It was also suggested that we consider having Andrew checked out by a pediatric cardiologist a year from now for his heart murmur. When he saw the Embassy Dr. he didn't hear it but our pediatrician said she could hear a "swish" sound which could be the type of murmur that comes and goes and is not serious. In fact she said there are many people walking around with heart murmurs that do not even know it. So, if after another visit in 3-6months it is still there, we may be referred to the ped. cardiologist just to make sure everything is okay. All in all we were very pleased with their progress and know we are going to see huge changes in the next few months. PTL for their progress so far.