I often am jealous of my fellow imom bloggers- everyone has such an amazing way with words, I am continually impressed with all of them (you!). I admit, sometimes that holds me back from writing any more on our journey. I bring this up now, because everyone else has seemed to have had at least one "awesome encounter" with some person who was touched, in some way, by a cataract or patching. I have one, but be fore-warned, it isn't eloquent or beautifully written! My husband was pushing Tommy in a stroller at Disney World and ran into someone who came up to him to tell him, "good job with patching, keep it up, my parents didn't and now that eye is all messed up". Really, that is all I know. When he told me (hours later) I asked "what did he look like", "what was wrong with his eye", "how old was he?", "did he seem happy, successful, normal?" And, as you all may guess, each answer was "I don't know!" So for this one, I blame it on the fact that the story occurred between two men, and no details were to be had. Disappointing, I know, but it is the closest encounter I have had! Regardless, he was sorry he wasn't patched more. Rock on imoms who struggle through patching! They may never fully appreciate it, but they will blame you if you don't!!!
Imoms- if you will, please share your encounters (or link to the post) in the comments, I'd like to remember them all!
For the most part, Tommy's eye has just been on a steady road. We are on a relatively easy patch road (much more economical than before!) and are struggling with keeping glasses on (insert mom-guilt here). Every once in a while I get a sucker-punch from someone who calls attention to the patch in a way that just hits the wrong chord. The other day it was a little boy in the church nursery. He was only ~3, so I know it wasn't intentional, but when he shouted "Hey, what's wrong with his eye!?" it hit me. Hard. Tommy will have to deal with that the rest of his life.... or at least until age 9, then who knows?
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| The boy can pose like no other... |
I just wanted to mention that we had an unfortunate young lady get really sick and end up in the ICU here. Her hubby wanted her contacts out for comfort. No nurse could do it. Everyone said they could do it on themselves but not someone else. I'm like...yup I got this one!! LOL. If I can do it for a fiesty 2 yr old I can do it for this girl! Never thought I'd be using my contact lens skills as a Respiratory Therapist but there you have it...you never know!!
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I appreciate your blog. I am interested in other imomma's experiences and perspectives... it fuels and comforts me on the hardest of days. Please keep writing, when you have the time and energy. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love your blog too! And the pics of Tommy. Such a cutie patootie. As for comments - the worst was a checker at wal-mart who said my daughter's eye was "freaky." The nystagmus was bad when she was patched and so her eye was jumping. I said "thanks" and booked it out of there! I think if I had stayed longer I would have hit her and I can't be a good imom from jail.
ReplyDeleteNow I mostly get comments about how cute her glasses are. But I never get those comments if she is patched - then I just get the stares. I have had several say "I patched when I was a kid for a few months" and I just smile at them. The worst is when you are walking through a store and your child is constantly trying to rip the patch off and you are trying to constantly put it back on and everyone stares at you like you are torturing your child. Love that.
And I love that Tommy still has a paci. Julia still has hers and I don't see it going anywhere in the near future! I figure if she has to patch, she can at least have a binky to keep her happy.
I LOVE whenever you update, but understand real life and demands of time, so understand when you don't!!
ReplyDeleteThere is clearly NOTHING wrong with that precious little face! Public is ridiculous, in general.
Here is the link to the woman: http://thegloverfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/beyond-weird.html
I love how well he poses:)
I love reading updates from you and all the other imoms. Don't stop. I am not eloquent, but it feels so good to write it down.
ReplyDeleteTommy is soooo adorable, and you can tell he knows it. LOVE!!!!
My daughter has a congenital cataract also, and is a little younger than Tommy, so I always am checking his progress to kind of see what is coming down the road for us. We have a blog also, more of just a family update blog, but we do post updates about her eyes and such whenever we have appointments. it is http://realharris.blogspot.com
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