Twists and Turns

All I can say is that we are seeking wisdom from the Lord with all of our hearts. Our visits with the Chiropractor are going well and Andrew seems to be showing some signs of improvement. Not specifically an improvement of visual acuity which is what the ophthalmologist is looking for, but some improvements in other areas.
We were talking to our Chiropractor about where we were at with Andrew's vision and Andrew's patching regiment. Dr. Ky again suggested that we consider vision therapy. We talked more in depth about our experience with the optometrist and vision therapy. We thought, well that was that, and didn't think too much about it. But at our next visit Dr. Ky told us that he had talked to his brother in law who is one of the partners at the Child and Family eye clinic that we had taken Andrew to for an evaluation. We were shocked to find out that he had a brother in law there that was one of the partners. We were even more surprised that Dr. Ky of his own initiative spoke to Dr. Moffatt (the brother in law) on our behalf. Dr. Moffatt was interested and told Dr. Ky that he would personally look into Andrew's case. When Dr. Ky told us about this we were so blessed by his actions and believed that the Lord may be re-opening this door of vision therapy. Even more strange is that we later found out that Dr. McMain's whom we previously saw was no longer with the practice and that her emphasis was on the learning therapy...which was what turned us off as we were looking for vision help--not play therapy, because we wanted to do that at home!

So, we decided to schedule an appointment with Dr. Moffatt specifically and will be seeing him tomorrow to re-evaluate Andrew. From Andrew's file he said that he would never have recommended that we stop patching unless we were doing vision therapy and that he felt he would likely still need surgery. He was also puzzled as to why it took us 2 months to complete the evaluation. So, now we are cautiously, prayerfully reconsidering the possibility of vision therapy. Please join us in prayer as we seek the Lord's wisdom . In the end it is His will that we want to be done. I can't help but think about so many providential events and people that the Lord has placed in our life over the past few months, when it seemed all hope was gone and that we were to just accept that we had accomplished the best for Andrew's vision. Seemingly, out of no where, a door has opened that the Lord may use to accomplish healing in Andrew's life to "restore to you the years the locusts have eaten" -Joel 2:25

Providential Postponement

We were two weeks from surgery, but have now decided to wait another 2 months. Over the past week and half we have been working with a Chiropractic Neurologist. This began as a search to help alleviate some back and neck pain that David has had chronically for years now and that I have started having 4 weeks ago; I think pregnancy related. Anyway, in the course of evaluating and working with Dr. Ky we decided to go ahead and have the kids evaluated also. As it turns out Andrew was off the chart in an area in the neck that is considered critical to a healthy central nervous system. This particular area is known for affecting the eyes as well.
After much prayer we decided to postpone Andrew's surgery a few months to give Dr. Ky a chance to work on Andrew and just see if he improves. If nothing else we believe it will help Andrew to be in better shape for the surgery.
I am not quite sure why this surgery thing has been such a difficult process for us. Everyone we have talked to who has had the surgery says it is a "piece of cake" as far as surgery goes. It seems just as we have dealt with it and moved forward with plans for surgery something providentially steps in that causes us to postpone. Maybe we have just needed more time; I do not know, but we prayerfully weigh what is best for Andrew and desire for him the very best outcome for his vision. I never knew how hard it is when there are so many varying opinions of treatment to single out what is the best one for the whole kid. I feel like I am constantly coming back to focus on what is best for Andrew as a whole child not just a pair of eyes. That may seem strange, but over the course of 10 months David and I have desperately tried to keep that perspective because Andrew has been changing so rapidly in so many areas one month it may seem like there is a problem but it resolves itself the next or because of the severity of trying to "fix" one thing it throws other areas out of whack. One thing is for sure it has kept us on our face before the Lord in Andrew's behalf causing us to trust the Lord more with each new challenge.
I should also note that Dr. Mazow gave us the option of waiting until summer anyway to do Andrew's surgery it was only because we believed nothing else could be done that we pursued surgery so quickly. We have now moved surgery to May 27, 2009...Lord willing. For now we will continue to patch 6-8hrs daily to "hold" his vision and begin tomorrow with Andrew's first adjustments at the Chiropractor.

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

A Second Opinion for Andrew's Eyes

After much prayer, a providential meeting and research we find ourselves seeking a second opinion for Andrew's vision issues. Sunday we had a providential meeting as David and I had the opportunity to speak with a dear family in our church who dealt with the issues of strabismus years ago with their daughter(who is now grown). As the Lord had planned the Wilkin's daughter, Lydia and her family were visiting our church (this past Sunday) and it was such an encouragement to speak to her. She got us thinking about looking into having an evaluation by an optometrist and looking into the possibility of vision therapy. I had heard of this before, but when our eye Dr. didn't bring it up for Andrew I (incorrectly) assumed he was not a candidate for it. So, off I go researching all of these new terms.


In my research I found a wonderful site for amblyopia, strabismus and vision therapy called Vision 3D . This was so helpful and even has an online network referral service to find an optometrist who specializes in vision therapy in your area. So, I plugged in our info and out popped a place called Child & Family Eye Care that is based in the Woodlands and Magnolia. Wooohoooo!! right in our backyard. It gets even better though...when I called to talk to them they were so helpful friendly and the office we needed to go to is literally 10 minutes away! Amazing!!! I am so very excited I can hardly contain myself. In my heart I just knew we needed to go another direction but I did not know where to look and the Lord so graciously opened the door through a blessed encounter and a little researching.


My dear husband reminded me of proverbs 11:14 that says "there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors". I have to say no matter where this second opinion leads us I have such a peace in at least doing something rather than sitting and waiting out doing the same thing with the patching for another 2 months. We may still need to have surgery, but I am so encouraged by the aspect of stregthening the muscles and training them through therapy rather than just "have surgery and wait and see".


We have our first appointment Fri Oct 10th as this was the first available since we are out of town this week. I have lots to research from their website. I also mentioned when I set up the appointment about Kathlena and they will also take children as young as 6 months old so we will likely have her re-evaluated before we take her to her follow-up with Dr. Coats.