February 17, 2011- Off Again...

     If you have been keeping up with my blog over the past few months, you may remember doctors finding a congenital cataract in my youngest son’s left eye which has made him almost completely blind on that side. Well, all the details for doctor’s appointments and surgery have been set up, and I’m off again to help my son on the backside of recovery. Flights were finalized today, and my son will be having surgery the first week of March to remove the offending cataract and put in a corrective lens to help him see something more out of that eye.  He is, of course, very nervous and does not want to go anymore, but it needs to be taken care of.  He tells me that me does not need to see out of that eye because he can see just fine with the other one, and he can. His reading has done nothing but improve all year long, and he plays in sports and games with his friends outside and in without any trouble. It’s quite amazing how he has adapted without one complaint or problem.  But, as parents, you want to give you child every opportunity in the world to succeed. Right now, his receptors appear to still be working despite the cataract. Eventually, if not removed, they will go dead, and he will be permanently blind in that eye, so why not fix it while there is still time? The doctor contacted in Alabama back where his grandparents reside is renowned for his work with children’s eyes, so that’s the good news. The only down side is that he will have to be gone six weeks, missing six weeks of school and his life here to make sure his recovery is successful. The doctor wants to check his eye every week for six weeks, and then have a final follow up before he will allow him to come back to the island.  So, his dad and I as well as the grandparents are splitting their time with my son, so we can each be there for him at some point during the surgery and recovery process. He will leave at the end of this month, and I’ll take off at the end of next month.  Giving me a little more than month to catch up and work ahead again before the next brief trip.  I’m glad it is all going to be taken care of, but I am also anxious to see my son through his first major surgery, hopefully the last, within his lifetime.