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THE GOOD NEWS:
About a week or so after our latest trip to Cincinnati, Aida
& I made our monthly visit to Vanderbilt.
At our previous visit we’d been told that if all went well in Cincy,
Aida would be able quit the last of her serious meds. Since all was
well, I took it upon myself to wean her from the miniscule dose that she
had been taking. I figured it’d be
better to be weaned before going to
Vanderbilt so if there was any change or cause for concern we’d know. But there wasn’t cause for concern. At least not in regard to this medication and
her lab work. In fact, we haven’t even
scheduled our next clinic visit. Since
our pediatrician & hematologist communicate (God bless Vanderbilt Health!),
we’ll just follow up with our pediatrician at our next visit.
***Applause Break***
The question that remained was whether she would be able to
stop taking her blood pressure medicine.
Hypertension was supposed to have been a side effect of this last
(significant) drug, but since the dose was so low, I was half expecting the
blood pressure to be an independent issue.
It was indeed a bit high that day at clinic, but it wasn’t as high as it
had been previously so we held out hope!
We saw our pediatrician a week or so later and had it checked
again. It was still high but better than
before. I was encouraged, but the doctor
at Vanderbilt was still concerned. If it
didn’t improve she was going to refer Aida to a nephrologist. Something to do with her kidneys. I don’t know.
I told her I’d stop by our pediatrician’s office again the
next week to have it checked once more before taking that step. Lo and behold it was normal. NORMAL.
Apparently the tee tiny dose had
been causing the high blood pressure.
Woohoo! So now we are left with
Pepcid & the weekend anti-biotic which should continue for a couple more
months. In my professional, medical
opinion we could probably go ahead and quit the anti-biotic too, but I’ll
follow the doctors’ orders. :)
***Applause Break***
THE NEW ADVENTURE:
A few weeks ago we went for our third visit to the
opthamologist. Just before going I’d
said I thought Aida’s eyes were looking better…but then I figured I was
probably just getting used to it. Maybe
it’s a little of both. Nevertheless, her
right eye (or sometimes left) continues to turn in. She’s farsighted, as babies generally are,
but for whatever reason (perhaps genetic, perhaps a side effect of meds) her
eye is turning to compensate. (It’s
called accommodative esotropia.) Her
vision isn’t really all that bad, and if the eye weren’t turning there’d be no
real concern at the moment.
But alas, it turns in.
The first option to correct the problem is glasses. The doctor said her eyes were straighter when
he held lenses in front of them, so we’re very hopeful this will be all she
needs. If the glasses don’t do the trick
we will likely move on to patching before ultimately discussing surgery.
***Boooooooooo
Break***
Like I said, I’m hopeful the glasses are all she needs.
***Prayer Break***
With the exception of immediate family, I waited several
days to tell people about this new adventure.
I wasn’t ready to talk about it. It
reminded me of when Aida was born. I
didn’t talk to anyone on the phone for weeks.
This was obviously less intense, so it only took few days to process. :) Anyway, I wasn’t ready to respond to what I
knew I would hear. “That’s gonna be SO
cute!!!” In fact, I had to apologize to
my brother after I responded to him (via text), “…said every parent (person)
whose kid doesn’t have to get
glasses.”
Cute was not what
I was thinking. I was just trying not to
bawl.
I had recently made my own cuteness comment to a parent
whose child (about Aida’s age) had gotten glasses several months before,
knowing Aida might have to get them as well.
Maybe I was trying to psych myself up.
I’m not sure, but when I talked with them more recently about what kind
of glasses he had, I apologized if my comments were insensitive. The truth is, the tiny little glasses on tiny
little people can be cute. And they’re obviously purposeful. But it’s not something this parent wanted to be a part of her little girl’s life.
Anyway, I’m adjusting to the idea, but I’m still not excited
about it. I kept saying how much I just
like her face. Then I wondered if all
her pretty headbands covering her still generally bald head would still work with
the glasses. And then there’s the hassle
of convincing a 15 month old to wear them.
Super fun, right? Also, it turns
out, they’re bifocals. Yes,
bifocals. That definitely detracts from
the cuteness a litte. I’m about as happy
as I can be with the frames we chose (they’re magenta), and I’m encouraged that
the bigger she gets the cuter the frames get. :)
We actually got the glasses just a few days ago, and they are cute in their own way. I’m getting used to them quicker than I
thought I would. Mark, on the other
hand, liked them to start. He said he was partial
to glasses and wished I’d wear mine.
Ha! Opposites and all that…
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| Aida LOVES to be outside. Mama sure could sure use a covered porch! |
I’m still in shock about Aida’s feelings about them. She pulled at them 2 or 3 times in the
doctor’s office then not again until she was tired. She always pulls her headbands off when she
gets sleepy, and so now she pulls off her glasses too. :) When she got up the next morning she spotted
them on the table and pointed so I could put them on. I didn’t think they were going to make such a
difference since her vision is not that bad.
Apparently they do.
So far, only one headband doesn’t work with the
glasses. Also, so long as we have these
magenta frames there will be no more red shirts. Burgundy maybe, but not red. I can live with that. Good thing.
We have no idea how long she may need to wear them. Age 8 or so seems to be the ballpark
estimate…which is about the age I started
wearing glasses. Everyone in my
immediate family has been in contacts or glasses most of their lives, but Mark’s
family can see ALL BY THEMSELVES. Here’s
hoping this resolves itself in time, and she got her daddy’s vision genes.
THE PERSPECTIVE:
As much as I have whined about these glasses…and even told
my closest friends they couldn’t rave about how cute they are when they first
saw them…I am incredibly grateful to be where we are. Terribly, terribly grateful. Of course, we’re still not totally out of the
woods. But as I gave the three sentence
version of Aida’s situation (I bet you don’t believe I can do that) to a new
doctor yesterday I was yet again reminded how far she’s come. I said just the other day that I have always
been so glad God gave Aida to us.
We are spoiled and continually amazed by the most amazing
little girl. She is incredibly easy (as
babies go), and is one of the happiest little people I’ve ever seen. EVER. She
radiates joy…the contagious kind. If she
can’t make you smile, you may be dead
inside. She has more personality than
Mark and me combined. She grabs our phones and iPods then dances to tell us that she wants to hear music…then
claps when the song ends. (I may have taught her the clapping
part.) She laughs ridiculously easily and loves to laugh so much that she fakes it if
there’s nothing to laugh at. She adores
her “dadadadadadadada.” If she’s not
already, she really wants to be your friend.
Rest assured, we’re not counting on any future siblings to be this easy
going. But then maybe God just likes
us. :)
