So on to Brody's eyes... his vision teachers and I have been wondering what his lower fields of vision are and if he has any. To put this in prospective for our readers, basically when you walk, you see the ground without looking at it. We've also wondered what his peripheral vision was as well. The answer is simple, he has none. Now this isn't great news but it's a reality when a child has laser eye surgery. His window of vision is probably about a 45 degree angle all the way around if that makes sense. Basically if you put your hands in front of you in a 45 degree angle you would be able to see what Brody can see as far as his fields of vision. Some crappy news is that she wouldn't have done laser eye surgery on him for his ROP back when he was in the NICU. She would have done injections in his eyes which wouldn't have destroyed all his nerves. She did say that we made the best decision out of the choices we were given and that Dr. Coats (the doctor that did the surgery) only does the laser and won't do the injections. She said she won't do the laser and only the injections so the patients she sees that parent's won't do the injections have to go else where for treatment. If only we knew then what we know now... but you can't live life full of what if's.
His glasses RX is actually a little too strong from the last visit which was six months ago. She doesn't think his vision has improved but he has adjusted and learned to use his vision a little better. She also firmly believes that he will never lose his vision and that it will continue to remain stable. AND!!! the vision he does have is actually pretty good vision. MEANING she does not truly feel he is legally blind but we won't know more until he can really comprehend what is going on and being asked of him. She is confident that his nystagmus is due to his brain bleeds.
Before we left she told me this, "Whatever you do, do not allow the school to put him in classes with retarded children. He is not retarded and if they do this he will begin to mimic the other children's actions. He is very smart. He does not need a white cane and do not, do not, do not, let them even mention braille. He does not need this. He is fine. He will be fine." Her words were powerful to me and that little boost of confidence I need as we start the process for PPCD (school for special needs kids that starts at 3).
We won't need to go back until his 3rd birthday which is amazing! A lot of the unknown was answered today and my goodness, all I can think is how amazingly blessed this little boy is. I am so very thankful for all the heartbreak and unknown we've gone through though because I've learned so much that I would have never given a thought to. How many times do we take our vision for granted? I think we go our entire lives never given it a thought but this has taught me so much in that you can see without your eyes. It may be your thumbs or ears, etc. but your eyes are not required to SEE. It goes hand in hand with FAITH.
This journey my little family and I have been on could have only been written by our Creator. I am so lucky I can't see where our path will go and what we will face because if I could know, I know me and I would miss the most important things, the little things, big things, the things, just to get to the finish line. I would never wish the pain the kids have gone through or the struggles they've each faced on them. As a matter of fact, I hate the things they've gone through but my goodness the miracles that have come through it all. We are at a point and have been for a while where the news gets better and better. We don't have the worries and the struggles and can step back and look at where we've been and where we are now. I can never express how grateful I am and I don't think anyone besides Ricky can really know where we've been. We are so very lucky.
Anyway, that was our day and what a wonderful day it was.
KP
