So, the next day after crying myself to sleep, we arrived at Will's Eye (me, my mom, and Eddie) to hear the most unexpected news. ALL THINGS ARE STABLE! Stable is what we need to hear. and to top that off, no treatment (laser) was needed. He basically just had an eye exam under general anesthesia. Could I really believe this? I totally tricked myself into believing that we were going to hear bad news that I was speechless. Dr. Shields looked me in the eye and said, "Mom, it is time to start enjoying toddlerhood." When she said that I immediately burst into tears. I have a toddler? I thought I just had a baby with cancer! Oh yes, we DO have a toddler! Anyway, both tumors were STABLE, meaning there was no re-growth or seeding (seeding is when the tumor produces and spits out baby tumors within the eye). Both things I was expecting to hear. I absolutely could not believe this news. Now, here I go again on my pessimist/realist outlook, that we certainly could here that news in the future, but as of right now, we are stable. We received a 2 1/2 to 3 month pass from Dr. Shields, meaning we do not have to come back until mid January. Can u believe it? She did get on me about patching and Eddie wearing his glasses. Both the patching of his good eye (to make his brain use the muscles in his weak eye) and the wearing of the glasses (for protection of the good right eye) are worthless moments at the Johnson household. He screams, yells, and rips off the patch or the glasses within a nanosecond of putting them on....... We have some work to do.... Time for some tough love Edward.
Also, Edward survived his first cold and horrible cough of the season, and he even recovered on his own without any medications (don't worry though, it's not like we didn't freak out! I had Michael check his lungs everyday, as well as Papa Johnson when we were in Augusta, and I propped up his mattress so he was sleeping on an incline, and I bought a Vicks Vaporizer that we used for a week straight! Overall, we were surprised, and relived that his little immune system was able to recover on its own.
On another note..... NO. MORE. BOTTLES!!!!! What a milestone. I don't know who is happier, me, Eddie, or Mike!!! Ahhh it has been a somewhat smooth transition so far, and we have been bottle-less for a week now, and little man has not even asked for one. So, pumped! NO. MORE. FORMULA! Enfamil Enfacare, you did your job for many months, but I am not sad to see you go.
So, the last two weeks were spent traveling. We spent a week in Doylestown with my parents for his eye exam. Then, Eddie and I drove back to Charlottesville, only to spend one night sleeping in our own beds, to then pack up and leave the next day (this time with Daddy!) to go to Augusta, GA for a week to spend time with the Johnson side of the family. Eddie had a blast! Here are some picture, hopefully in order including Doylestown pumpkin patch, playing with his cousins in GA, Halloween with the Johnson clan, and topping it off by enjoying Aunt Christine and Uncle Conrad's wedding.
Reading with Uncle Danny before bed!
Me, Eddie and Daisy!
GOoooooooooooooooooo IRISH!
"Mom, I want this one!" Ummmmmmm no!
Oooooooo scarey!
CHEEEEEEEEEEESE!
A tractor and a giant pumpkin, just what a little boy wants to see :)
Whoa! PUMPKINS!
Farmer Eddie!
Walking Daisy all by himself.
So proud of himself!
Trying to hook her leash on her tail! haha
Awwww!
Pet number 45 of the day! He loves her! And she tolerates him!
Hi Grammy!
Hanging out on the front lawn.....
Haha!
Again, he is hooking her leash to her tail! Daisy you are sooooo good!
Holy pumpkin!
"Mom, why did you make me sit here?"
SCARECROWS!!!!!!!!
Mmmmm! Yummy! Mini-pumpkins!
Walking with Grammy....
AND, here we are in Augusta, GA........ Two cousins riding around. Cameron was so sweet and held Eddie's hand as he drove around! Sweet boys!
Michael and Conrad, the excited Groom!
AND, the wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eddie is thinking "Give me that crown of flowers!"
Me and Granga :)
Cheers! Happy Wedding Day!
Happy Parents!
The Bride and her bridesmaids........
Michael, being sweet enough to hold my flowers :)
The prettiest flower girl around town.....
Michael trying his best to keep Eddie quiet during the ceremony......
Johnson boys, the flower girl, the ring bearer, and the alter server! What a crew!
Anne Marie and Stephanie, 2 pregnant bridesmaids, toughing it OUT!
The Johnson girls...................
What great news for Eddie and the whole family. Patching can be the pits. Abby had to start patching when she was three. We found some nice cloth patches (since she was afraid of bandaids) at Patch Pals. http://www.shop.patchingpal.com/category.sc;jsessionid=E753E3B6F52F7E65D34AF5DA9BBA434E.qscstrfrnt06?categoryId=10 They may be a bit big for Eddie, but there are lots of fun patches to choose from. It took a while to get up to our full 6 hours a day, but I wasn't above bribes. A favorite show helped keep her bad eye open and focused on something she really wanted to see. He's conquered so much, he'll be able to tackle this too. So happy to hear good news for you guys.
ReplyDeleteKEEP CALM AND Oh who are we kidding!
ReplyDeleteis how the sign should read.
I'll wrap all my mushy and/or encouraging words into GO EDDIE!!! I am so very proud of you-you rock!
But seriously, he is old enough-and smart enough-to understand a reward/consequence system for his glasses and patches. Remember, even when he doesn't want to do his homework he has to...so tough love Mommy and Daddy! You can do it!
~Mrs. Chelsea