Thursday, October 23, 2008

Through the Blurry Eyes of a Child

It's a pretty safe bet that anytime we're in the car going anywhere Sarah will say something along the lines of "Look at the beautiful word (translate: world) God made!"

She just loves the beauty of the trees, sky, even the local Kroger. I'm not kidding. It's just so stinkin' cute.

Well, today we found out that her vision is absolutely terrible. I mean terrible. It's worse than mine (and I am blind as a bat without my contacts or glasses!) I didn't see what the final prescription was, but it was somewhere around -7.00 in each eye! In the words of the doctor, "This is not normal. Nearsightedness normally starts in early elementary kids and progressively worsens." He did assure me, though, that she looks healthy and it appears to just be nearsightedness, and nothing more serious. We have a follow-up appointment scheduled in about two months and then we'll determine whether or not she needs to see a specialist.

Okay, so on to finding the bright spots in all of this....I have two.

First, Sarah reminds me how important it is just to celebrate with our imperfect bodies our perfect Creator God. How amazing is it that despite her apparent inability to see much of anything, she still sees His beauty in this world, and with such ease! I am reminded that we need to continually seek out the bright spots from the blur and mess of the world we see. Truly inspiring.

And second, I am so grateful for good medical care. I'm saddened to know that her vision is so poor, especially at such a young age, but I'm so grateful that it's been caught and that we can get her the help she needs.

Along those lines, though, could you just pray for her? Pray for her vision to not get progressively worse. (Our fear is that if it's this bad now, what will it be like as an adult?) Also, pray that there is nothing more serious causing these vision troubles. And can I just be real with you? I'm struggling with what she'll look like. I'm afraid the glasses will be quite thick and she is just such a cutie pie. I know it's silly, but I'm just bein' real...

(While you're praying for Sarah, please lift up a few for Megan, too. We're a little concerned about her development. I'll post more on that later to fill you in, but she just doesn't like to roll, sit up, or bear weight on her legs.)

As a parent, you just want the very best for your kids! Thanks for caring about ours, and for your prayers!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I could be there when Sarah puts on her glasses for the first time and sees how beautiful God's world really is!!! She will be amazed!! Kids are so resilient - she'll be fine with her glasses. My bet is that at least one of her little friends (or her brother or his friends) will think they're so cool they wish they could have glasses, too. How fortunate you are to have found out her vision was so poor - you don't want her to have to go through one day more than necessary not being able to see clearly. And little Megan - when she's running around a year from now getting into everything, you'll wonder why you ever worried!! And why did you worry?? Because that's what moms (and grandmas) do!!!

Love you all lots,

Mom

Becky Branch-Bullard said...

Missy - I told went through the same thing when my oldest had to get glasses. Her friends really did think she was the coolest, and she loved them! (and still does) :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Misscouscous!
When Allie got her glasses in 2nd grade she said "wow, everything looks like 3-D animation!". i had missed the signs of her vision problems (my keen diagnostic skills) and didn't really believe her when she said she couldn't see the board. Her vision ended up being about 20/200. her friend Emily was so jealous of her glasses that she got some fake ones and insisted in wearing them in her school picture! Emily even tried to fake it at the eye Dr. because she wanted glasses!
I totally understand your feelings about the glasses. thankfully there are so many medical advances and ways to deal with it in the future. She's a precious little punkin and will look adorable in them!!
Allison didn't crawl til she was 10 months old and walked at about 13 months. Lindsay didn't get any teeth until she was 15 months old (remember old "gumby"?!) There is SUCH a range of individual differences in development. Its good you're on top of it though.
We love you guys!!
Aunt Laurie and the gang

Sarah said...

Hey Missy...
it really is a bright spot to think about how beautiful sweet Sarah thought God's creation is...and she couldn't even see much of it. Just think about what she will see and think now. awww! I can't wait to find out what she says when she puts on those super cute glasses and notices every detail! And I agree with "mom" when Megan is running around here very shortly (cause a year in kid time is like a blink of an eye) you will wonder why you did worry. But it is our right to worry...mom's do that best.

We will say a prayer for your sweet little girls! see ya Wednesday!

Sarah said...

Aw sweet Sarah! I remember last year watching her during HH and she always wanted to be right in front of the book. That explains it. Cutie pie was hogging everyone elses viewing space so she could see it.
My left eye is -6.5 and my right not far behind. Bill's are both -7 so we can sympathize with not being able to see a thing w/o glasses. Both our glasses are pretty thin (or mabye that's just in comparison to the pop bottle glasses we had when we were younger :). You do have to love technology! I will say a prayer for both kiddos.

I don't remember when Zeke crawled, but he didn't walk (alone) until 15 months. He was the oldest kid in the creepers class! He would run around the play table or couch as long as he was holding on. He did not want to be free and let go.

Monica said...

I will be praying.

I am so glad that she is getting glasses now, though. Hopefully with correction her eyes won't get worse as fast as they would otherwise (does that make sense?) My vision was horrible as a child- I didn't get glasses until I was 7 and it was like a whole world opened up to me. She'll love it and you will, too. For those of us who wear glasses, they are just a part of our wardrobe, like putting on shoes.