Friday, January 15, 2010

Perspective

I haven’t been here this week. I apologize for that. I owe you all of ton of comments and a post on what has been happening in our life. A few things happened this week that gave me perspective on life, I am about to share them with you.

The first thing that happened was that my son had eye surgery. He has/had a condition call Strabismus. A short definition on this is: Strabismus, more commonly known as cross-eyed or wall-eyed, is a vision condition in which a person can not align both eyes simultaneously under normal conditions. One or both of the eyes may turn in, out, up or down. Strabismus always requires appropriate evaluation and treatment. Children do not outgrow strabismus!

What did this mean for us? It mean that my sweet little 3 year old Cutie Bug had to have eye surgery. He was born with his eye muscles in the wrong place, the doctor had to go in and move the muscles to the right place… Patching would never help, glasses would never help, surgery was a must. Ignoring this condition would mean no quality of life for him…ever. No driving, no soccer, no walking to school, nothing.

I meant to blog about this before it happened, and just never found the time to do that, so I am sorry that I didn’t let you all know before hand. But I learned many things this week that I must share with you all, I learned a lot about perspective.

As we were sitting in the surgery office waiting for our turn I noticed a family. This family had a little girl with them and I noted that here eyes didn’t track right, so I figured that is why there were there right? After watching more, I noticed that this little girl had a tube in her neck, and about every 10 minutes her parents had to hook a vacuum up to this tube and drain stuff out of it. I started thinking how blessed I was to have a wonderful healthy 3 year old on my lap, and all he needed was his eyes fixed. After a short period, this family got up and went in the back, and all we could hear was a child, crying and crying, and crying. It took me a long time to figure out that this family, with the sweet little girl with the eye problems, and the trach tube, and the sparkle in her eyes anyway, was there because their second child had just come out from the same surgery that my son was about to have. They were there for the other child! Not the one I blindly assumed was the one in need of care. This family, who smiled at us while we were waiting with them, gave me a new meaning on perspective.

A second thing gave me a huge shot of perspective that day. After we got home, with my son who marched through this surgery like it was no big deal, I read a post. This post was from MckMama, you know Stellan and the heart miracle and all… Well MckMama put up a post titled I'm gonna miss this. If you only click on one link today, make it this one! I'm gonna miss this. To quote this post would make mine a mile longer than it already is. But you know I have to do it anyway: Here is what I learned from her:

I will not wish away their young years, always hoping to get more laundry done or other children dried off. I will relish each kiss, hug and song. I will leave their childhood behind with no regrets, no "I love you" unsaid, no cheek unkissed, no request to "Cuddle wif' me!" turned down. Even as the macaroni flies and the Sharpie stains my table, even when there are midnight wailers and globs of Desitin under my fingernails, I know...
...I know I'm gonna miss this.

This post gave me the best perspective I could have ever wished for.

Here is my Cutie Bug with crooked eyes. The next picture will be with perfect ones!

DSCN2029

Thanks for hanging in there with me all!

8 comments:

Michelle @Flying Giggles said...

MckMama really touched a lot of people with that post. Seeing what other people are going though puts our situation into perspective and makes us appreciate how fortunate we are. I am sure there is another family that can put the family you saw at the office life into perspective as well.

Michelle @Flying Giggles said...

Please update and let us know how your son is doing!

Alesha @ Full Time Mama said...

I hope your son is recovering well! Will be praying for him!
Thanks for sharing the link to McMama's post. I feel the same way, but it's good to have a reminder now and then. =)

Melanie @ Whimsical Creations said...

Hope everything went well. Definitely puts things in perspective doesn't it.

Liz Mays said...

I'm so glad it went well for him and I will pray that his recovery is quick. It's amazing how when we look beyond ourselves we can see just how blessed we are!

Leslie said...

I hope your little one is doing well and showing improvements with each day.

With a daughter that is 25 and "my baby" who is now 13, I've certainly seen first hand how quickly they grow up. Enjoy and appreciate each and every moment. We are truly blessed...

Colette S said...

I had no idea Strabismus was the diagnosed name. I learn something today.

A coworker 's daughter has this. She was told when her baby was a newborn that she shouldn't worry about it as her baby would outgrow it. Her daughter is now 14 and still has this. She realized she did not receive sound advice.

Oh thank you for sharing these perspectives! They are so very true and helpful in redirecting how we see life.

I'm so glad your son came through the surgery well!

Thank you for sharing.

*HUGS*

Serendipity is Sweet said...

Wow, what a moving post. Thank you for sharing your experience. Your cutie bug is adorable and I hope he's healed and well soon.

You are right, you are blessed to have him...them, as are they to have you!