As parents, I know that Andrea and I will do our best. We'll roll up our sleeves and dig in for the long haul doing whatever it is we can to help ensure Megan's vision develops as normally as possible. Could it resolve itself over the course of a few months of patching? You bet, and that's everyone's hope. The hard part is that this particular eye problem doesn't have a solid known reason or cause, so the treatment is simply "best guess". Megan has entered into that grey area of the medical realm where the problem is studied, documented, and examined, but there is no known 100% guaranteed solution.
On my way to work after the doctors, I contemplated and tried to process all this information. I realized that I should count my blessings, and that there could be much worse conditions to have. I then started thinking about my childhood, and I couldn't help but stop and notice the potential for similarities. I grew up seeing specialists, going through unknown number of tests, under a microscope, and ultimately many surgeries for my ear problems. Not only that, but my ear problems were also in that medical grey area, where there was no 100% guaranteed solution. In fact, my doctor ended up doing experimental surgery at one point that he wrote about in medical journals! (the procedure involved grafting skin from my inner ear onto my ear drum)
Seeing those similarities really calmed me down. I thought about how there must have been times when my parents were convinced I was going to go deaf or something worse would happen. Somehow I made it through all the years of ear doctors, surgeries and what have you. Looking at it in that respect made me realize that we too can get through this, no matter what it takes. Whether it's a few months of patching or a few years of various things that help Megan's vision.
4 comments:
That's a very healthy attitude to have, Shawn. I remember counting my blessings many times as I sat in the waiting room of Children's Hospital, waiting for you to come out of surgery and the other parents waiting who had much more serious issues to deal with. This isn't meant to minimize the worry and concern that you and Andi face, but it does help to keep things in perspective. Kids are much more adaptable then we adults give them credit for. She's thriving, happy and soooo sweet. NOt to mention smart as a whip.
Shawn, it's great that you have it in you to rationally think about the situation and be able to put it into a positive light. That will definitely help both Megan and Andrea get through this time. I think that pediatricians are quick to use the word surgery and it is scary to hear. Both my kids have had common conditions that the Ped. used the word surgery with and it put a little panick in me. In our cases the problems self corrected as the children grew. But I think Peds. just give you all the options right away even if it is a remote posibility you will ever have to do it.
I guess I just assumed the dr was mentioning surgery to scare us a little so we're follow through on all the patching. It worked too...
the last boss i worked with at my previous employer has an older daughter who is a freshman in college this year. he told me once that she had surgergy when she was younger because of the eye wander thing. he made it seem like it was no big deal (not that we talked about it a lot, but he mentioned it once).
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