Surgery

The Children's Hospital. They have fish everywhere. Murals, sculptures, aquariums, floor tiles. Fish. Every room has fish. Except the testing room. A vision test, a VEP brain test, computers, electrodes, one major breakdown-fit, and a lot of data.

At a time like that don't you just love graphs? I do. Plot the points and trace the curve. There's not a lot of guess work. The bad eye can't keep up. There's really only one answer.

Surgery. In January or February one of the best surgeons in our nation will remove the lens of a tiny eye, Lulie's. He won't replace it. Her eye is too small, still growing. In the months after we will teach a one-and-a-half-year-old to wear a contact lens. She'll patch until she's eight.

And then, perhaps perfect vision.





And after all isn't that what He's offering? Vision. What a gift.

Lulie

Little sweet. We've patched 6 hours a day for months now. A few weeks and we head for another check. May the Lord bless our trip.






Thanks for your prayers.

Patching

I found one of Janie's babies faithfully patching away. Do you think this counts for double time?

Okay, I had to put a silly picture up so I wouldn't feel so glum. Lucy's cataract eye is lagging behind. {Sigh} It's not A LOT, just an octave. It's actually called an octave. That is, Lucy could decipher a certain interval of finer detail with the strong eye. In this case, an octave. Maybe it's just a fluke. Then again, maybe it will lag more next time... or less.

In any case, it's on to patching for six hours a day on into November. {Sigh} I shouldn't feel sad. She's happy and healthy and spirited. Just wasn't really what I expected. Maybe it will be fodder for something extraordinary.

So, You're Going To AFRICA

1. Daddy where will you go pee and poop in Africa?

2. If you go to Africa do you turn black?

2. What does it look like if Africa people get a bruise?

3. How do Africa people get rosy cheeks?

4. Make sure you watch out for hippies (hippos) in the rivers, Daddy.

5. Why when people go to Africa they don't turn black?

6. [Pause.] God could do a miracle and do that. [Eyebrows raised.]

7. Why won't the lions eat you, Daddy?

9. Will a gorilla come to you, Daddy?

10. [Pause.] Cause I'm scared one will actually come to you, Daddy.

11. Are there elephants in Africa?

12. How won't the elephants get some water in their trunks secretly and spray it out on you, Daddy?

13. Where are the toilets in Africa?
























Just a few essentials.

Anyone think of something we missed?

Whorls

So here we go embarking on the task, the privilege, the mystery of patching a perfectly good eye until the child is eight or so. Who knew our elegant brain takes eight years to learn the expanse and breadth of the eye? I wonder what splash this obedience of patching will make in our path.

4 Hours a Day

Four hours. That's how long we paste a patch over little Lucy's eye each day. It's hard and easy all at once. It's an offering. Here, God, we'll patch like eyes were made for patches. I always feel sort of like I'm putting a band-aid on the whole affair. Sometimes I wonder if God gave me this tiny hand hold of control just to feel like I'm helping. It's sort of like the way I let Janie stir the cookie dough.

Our appointment was yesterday. Small black plots on a graph, so unimpressive, and yet so startling. Her bad eye scored 20/47, the tippy top of the developmental curve! The good eye scored 20/90. Her GOOD eye actually lags slightly behind the BAD eye (though still well within the range of normal).

So when something miraculous happens, what do you do? I have no praise grand enough, no heart pure enough. I guess in a way I fear the Lord more that he can so matter of factly give vision to my child. Even writing it sounds funny. Give vision?! Who does that? Nah, let's not bring flowers this time; let's just pluck a few stems of sight to bring instead. All the while the cataract planted in the middle of her glassy lens worships God. Who knew the very imperfection would be the glory of glories. Sight in the face of all odds. Oh to be so imperfect.


A Journey of Eight Years

The Panther

Ever have a week like this?



On a lighter note, a few weeks ago I started reading Little House in the Big Woods to Jack and Jane. Somewhere near the beginning Grampa is chased by a panther. As I read, they sat breathless, eyes wide. Then, the panther SCREAMED. I didn't know that panthers screamed so I decided to demonstrate. It was spectacular. A little too realistic though, I guess, as both kids spontaneously burst into hysterics. It took some time to calm them down and finally finish the chapter. Strangely, they still LOVE the book. For weeks now however, Jack, Jane, (or Craig) interject story time with, "Don't scream, Momma." At first, they were seriously concerned. Now they just poke fun at a momma in love with reading.

Normal?

Lulie making a grab for the patch.

Between cutting multiple teeth all at once, fighting a cold, and suffering terrific diaper rash she still performs amazing patch ripping stunts. Really it only takes a jiffy to rip, crumple, chew, or hide a fresh patch. Why use one a day when you can go through four or five? Plus, then we all get to feel part crazy each day instead of boring old normal. Normal is for sissies, I guess. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

















Love that girl.

Thumbie

Lulu cried a long time falling asleep. She keeps pulling the patch off. She sucks on it like a gauze flavored lozenge and, of course, can't tell me how much precious eye development she has she's frittered away. The drool and smiles almost make up for it - for now... I put her in a real long sleeved sweater that covers her hands. Poor baby, can't suck thumbie now. She makes her lip all wide and pouty, cries like the pope died.

The Good Life

Tonight Craig shoveled thigh-deep snow off our roof.
It took awhile.
We missed him.

Our accomplishments?

~I stepped on a tube of lotion and squeezed hand cream on the carpet.
~Lulu attempted to eat her eye patch half a dozen times.
~The children served her and themselves Cheerios on the kitchen floor.
~I kicked down an ill place Leggo tower.
~Janie prayed that Jesus will help our world go well.
~I wrestled a crumbly potpie crust in place after 45 minutes.
~The kids had a dance contest.
~Lulu and I busted moves across the living room until we were dizzy and giggling.
~Finally, we had dinner at bedtime and Daddy came inside.

Big Brother

This is the boy that says, "Oooh, Lulie, I lub Lulu."

Most days when I make it in to roust Lucy, Jack has already been in to check on her multiple times. She sucks thumbie and watches him, teases a little smile at the corner of her mouth. Once he was actually in the little cradle with her. When you're two, a hug and a full body super affectionate tackle are pretty much the same thing. She loved it. Whenever we go somewhere in the car, Jack sits and holds Lulu's little hand the whole time. Lots of days I find a special little toy tucked into the car seat from him.

Love that boy!

Let's All Shout!

Here's a shout out to Daddy's Momma and Dad!
Yay!! Ya-Hoo, Yippie, Hooray for Gramma and Grampa!














Way we see it, anyone who can grow a super-hero as great as Daddy is definitely worth their salt. Hope we all turn out so well, we've got a legacy to carry on. Family, what a treat to be a part of something bigger and better that any one of us alone.














You can see that little Lulu is an excellent judge of character.

Thank-You, God

Good news everyone. Doc says the patching is working!














Hooray, yippie, ya-hoooo!




















Another visit to the Children's Hospital. Vision has improved!! Both eyes are now well within the range of normal for a six month old. Next course of action: hold steady with patching every other day, return in four months for re-evaluation.














Hopefully, we will continue to see vision development according to her age.

(Also, if you click on the first picture you can get a better look at the cataract. We magnified it a bunch for our doctor who was super impressed with the picture clarity. He used the pic to measure the cataract opacity ~opaque part~ and asked Craig to e-mail the photo to him. The opacity is 1.2mm x 1.8mm. As long as Lulu can learn to see through the scattering that surrounds it, the opacity should be visually insignificant. Amazing huh?)

Patchin' It

What a little trooper Lucy is. I wore one of her patches around for about 60 seconds. By then I was seasick and keeled over on the couch. How I missed that third dimension the second eye creates! Lord, knows I'd be a complete hazard on stairs wearing one of those!














You'll also be glad to know we are faithfully treating all of Janie's babies who also have congenital cataracts. It is hard to have Lulu pass on enough hand-me-down patches for them all. :) What a great mother Janie is, delighting in caring for each one.














How tremendous, that the eye can actually learn to create a perfect image with a partly clouded lens. Perfection out of disaster, sounds like the life of my Savior. Maybe I should embrace each disaster with the expectation of tremendous glory, as a child awaiting a fireworks display. My God, we never know what he will do, or how his plan may explode in unexpected splendor. They always say, "No pain, no gain." Yes, the greater the cost the more spectacular the result. Oh, what a strange world where we are made better by all we endure.

Patch Day

Today is a patch day. I sure miss getting to see both of those big blue eyes blinking back at me.













Love that baby.

Cowboys!

Halloween. The kids are dressed as cowboys. Emma informs us she wants to use her gun for hunting. In her words, she wants to, "stick the gun in the water and shoot, so she can bring us back some fish." Oh, won't Daddy be proud.




















"Like this, Honey."















Jack can't get his gun to engage the caps. He tires of trying to pull the "treasure" and resorts to sucking on the end of the pistol between gun fights with bears and "bad guys". In Jack's words, "My see bear. Shoot. Shoot."














The safety, what?!


















































There's a new sheriff in town!














Let's load this puppy.














And, no, Lulu did not go as a pirate. She was the pretty maid the cowboys were all a-rescuing.

Lucy's Patch

So, I guess you're all probably wondering what Lulu looks like with a patch on.















Isn't shee cute?! I plan on smiling like this the next time I sneeze and accidentally let a little toot. Why is it that kids always think that's so funny? Okay, I do too.



















When Jack isn't poking Lulu in the eye trying to re-adhere the patch, he is covering her with stickers. Sometimes when she cries I say, "I know, I know, I know, honey." Jack has picked this up and yells, "I know that, I know that, Lulu," any time she makes a slightly distressed coo. His other public displays of affection include climbing into Lulu's cradle on top of her, picking her nose, sucking on her fingers, and giving her lots of kisses.



















Lulu handles it pretty well.

Cataract

October seventh is the day doctors discovered a congenital cataract in our Lucy's right eye. Turns out it can cause complete and permanent blindness in that eye!

When vision is obscured in our developmental years the brain actually turns off sight in that eye. Even if the eye is fixed later in life the brain continues to reject that eye and persist in blindness. Basically, you're totally blind, permanently. In essence all the neural connection associated with the weak eye were trimmed away making vision impossible.

Cataract means clouded lens. If you look closely (click on the picture), you can actually see a small smudge in the right pupil. A portion of the cataract is opaque surrounded by what they call scattering.

Doctors have had us patch her strong eye in order to force her to use the weak one as well as possible. This weekend when we visited Seattle Children's Hospital for the second time the weak eye had improved a bit. Yay! Weirdly, now the other eye was almost totally blind! The doctors seemed really surprised that I was so vigilant with patching. Apparently, there is usually not good follow through on the parents part. They assured us that vision would return. Even yesterday I could see her starting to track more with that eye. Relief! Can you imagine, in only ten days time a baby will go blind if they do not see anything?! We are backing off to only patching half time for six weeks. A little piece of reassurance for me has been Proverbs 20:12 "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both."