Big News: Big Day, Big Eyes, Big Bed

Finally - every piece of anxiety, frustration, and curiosity has come to rest and our recent events have come to rest for a bit.

First: We got our surgery date! After five long weeks of waiting I called back again and because I was so impatient she let me schedule. We were given some options and picked what works best for our familes and our schedules! It was one of those "oh my gosh she called back, oh my gosh she is going to let me schedule, oh my gosh I'm about to hear the dates" kind of thing, and then it was all over. I ran around the work office telling everyone I encountered that has been asking, sat down at my desk and felt that - "well now what do I do now that I know? I was frustrated for that?" feeling. All in all we're glad to have a date and we're able to plan much more and know what to expect. Our date - JULY 28TH - falls at a great time and still gives us a lot of summer, works around holidays, family trips, etc. We do need to go down on a Monday prior to surgery to get an updated CT scan and meet with Dr. Denny. At that appointment we will look at all of his healing, plate placement, and skull symmetry to determine the plan of action for surgery and how much work will be done.

Second - Even BIGGER news. Brode got glasses!

When we began the process with his Cranio condition Dr. Denny asked if we have ever seen a wandering eye on Brode. It is something they have seen with other patients and often work with ophthamologists during surgery to correct it (as long as they are "in there"). We answered no but kept an eye out for it. Last summer his pediatrician had a concern that his right eye didn't track right and sent us to an ophthamologist here. This specialist had no concern but wanted to see him back in a year. 2 months ago I noticed his right eye looking strange when he looked far in either direction, getting it in the corners of his eyes. Then at his 18 month check up a few weeks ago his pediatrician again was concerned he could not track that right eye out to the side. We went back to the ophthamologist and her very first instinct was correct - "He looks severely far-sighted to me and that eye is trying to correct it" - sure enough. There are not any tracking problems (Dr. Denny's "wandering eye" concern), the eye just pulls in an attempt to correct itself and see clearly.

I wish someone would have been there with me and had a camera to capture the moment. I'm sure my face couldn't have been any more shocked. That is not at all the thought I had when I went into that room, it was not what I was expecting, and I ended up very upset. I wasn't upset with Brode's head surgery I just said we need to do it and get it over with, but this I just couldn't adjust to. I had glasses for all of one year (I don't think I wore them often) and my astigmatism isn't anything bad enough for glasses now so it just isn't something I'm used to. Everyone seems to have glasses, it is an extremely common thing, this isn't some freak phenomenon but I just couldn't answer the Why Brode? question. I had all the confusion of not knowing how we would keep them on, why this is happening to Brode and adding another thing to his list, and how we were going to keep from smashing them in the multiple sports we know he will play.

We picked out some cute little glasses, I battled my thoughts, wrote a large check, and here we are. We'll have to see how he adjusts (and how I adjust)! They are optomistic he will begin to like them when he realizes he can see better and if he wears them he will be out of them by the beginning of middle school!
(Pictures soon!)

(Yeah that was a whole other issue - my baby, in middle school? Come on doc can we just talk about him making it to the 2 year old room at day care, don't say those things!)

Lastly - this post is getting long so I'll keep it quick. We got Brode's big toddler bed today! You may remember me asking for any tips/advice. We've decided to get him a toddler bed for a bit. He isn't quite ready, but we want to be ready for the day we hear the "CLA-CLUNK" on the floor because Brode figured out how to get his leg over. I wasn't sure what kind I wanted but then I found fun bedding at IKEA with multi-color outlines of cars, buses, and trucks on it (pictures when it all gets set up) and decided it would look great in THIS:

(this obviously is just the ad picture because that is not Brode's room, his bed is taken apart in pieces, and that is not Brode - but you get the idea)

So Brode got a fun car bed to match his fun bedding and fun egg chair. His room will be perfect for a wild little boy!