Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Surroundings

Over the next 2 days, after Charlotte woke up and we were ready for the day, we would make our way over to a huge open field (with a few trees) and an extremely large playground. There we spent a good portion of the morning burning off some of that energy that she had saved up from all the sedation of the MRI and surgery. Each and everyday her eyes started looking clearer and clearer, but still blood shut in the obvious places (as you can tell in the photos below, if you look close enough). But the sweet little one started to finally notice her surroundings. She spotted a huge gorgeous tree that was perfect for some shade, and all of it's beautiful leaves.


and that the roots were sticking out of the ground... made for excellent jumping hurdles for her...


A friend pointed out "Touch Me Nots" to us, and we spotted them everywhere in this field. Such an interesting plant... you need to read up on them. They turn inward, just from the brush of your finger. amazing...truly amazing...


she loved running around in the field while we received a sunshine sprinkle....


and even enjoyed a rainbow...


next stop, time to explore the island... and get away from the hospital and it's surroundings!
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Monday, February 27, 2012

Noticing the Unnoticeable

Our second day in Hawaii... was an early one. We headed to the Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit in the morning at 6:30, for Charlotte to be admitted for her sedated MRI. Oh it was a tough day having to wake up the little one to be there that early... and then sit through a 2 hour procedure... to have my sweet little one wake up as a complete and utter monster. Crabby as can be, as soon as she was able to tolerate fluids, we headed back up the hill to our lodging, where she slept the entire day away. They said her body had tons of metabolizing (of the sedatives) to do, but boy, I didn't think it was going to be ALL day. In the late afternoon, I woke her up, and we spent a bit of time outside... where she was still wobbly and unable to walk straight and by herself. We did manage to play in the grass for quite sometime, and I was able to "take in" the sight of her sweet little "silly/crooked" eyes for the very last time. It's amazing how attached to them I've become... how I have LOVED them, and how they gave Charlotte some sort of weird quirk that was unique to her....


You see, according to the ophthalmologist, whenever Charlotte's eyes would "cross", depending on which one, she would see whatever it was she was looking at, "split"... yes, half of me would be in one part of her line of vision, and the other half of me, in a separate part. So, when looking at me, for instance when I would have her "say cheese" for the camera, it has always looked like she would just stare passed me... If she stared RIGHT at me, one of her two eyes, or both, would certainly be crossed. As you can see in the picture above, and below.


So to deal with this... so that she wouldn't have "crossed eyes", she would raise her head slightly and peek at me... and this allowed her to look "straight" at me, without "crossed eyes"... as pictured below... and as you've seen on SO many of my blog posts.


This poor little one has been living with these eyes for over 4 years... and although I've grown to LOVE them, I knew that this surgery was a much needed one. Her brain is awfully confused, and doesn't always know how to process what she's seeing. One of the things that this surgery will do, is leave her with eyes that can focus on objects more clearly. If we were in a new environment, that she doesn't know, we could walk by a playground and it wouldn't even phase her... she could walk by a bowl of lollipops and not even notice them. She would be so concentrated on just walking carefully without falling, that she couldn't focus on anything else.



Usually I would have to point things out to her... for instance while playing outside, I showed her these beautiful yellow leaves (yellow has become one of her favorite colors these days), and how they look like pinwheels... and she didn't even "see" them, until I passed them over to her. She wasn't sitting right beside them, and yet they went unnoticed.



Once noticed, she played for over an hour with them, and thought they were the BEST thing ever. Everyday following that day, she wanted to stop and say "hi" to the leaves... because she knew they were there... they were noticed.




The next morning, we had to check into the Surgical Admissions Center at 7:30 am (we got to sleep in for 1 hour longer than the previous day). Once checked in, Charlotte was given her "pajamas" to change into...so thankful to Tripler Army Medical Center for having YELLOW colored ones for her. She was ECSTATIC to change into them. We had to wait until 10 am... which was probably the toughest wait we've had yet. Charlie kept asking me for water and breakfast, and I kept having to say, " later sweetheart." I took some last few photos of those sweet little eyes, to remember them one last time... I'm pretty sure she was really annoyed with me at that point.



Thankfully the anesthesiologist came in at just the right moment... she was so sweet, and told Charlotte that she was going to go to sleep for awhile... to which my little bug took the sheets on her bed, pulled them up to her chest, and stated, "Okay everyone, it's time to hibernate... like da bears." Yup, she pulled out a Sesame Street "Word of the Day" from one of her favorite episodes (about Little Bear trying to hibernate), and it left EVERYONE in the room with side stitches from laughing so hard. We rolled her into the operating room, where I stayed with her until she "fell asleep". As I was leaving, the doctor ordered me to get some coffee, get something to eat, and then to rest as much as I could with a nap in the family waiting room. But who can rest while their little one is being operated on? I did not get coffee (until well later)... I did not get anything to eat (even though my stomach was growling)... and I certainly didn't take a nap... instead I went to my Heavenly Father for rest, and spent the entire 2.5 hours in prayer over my little girl. It was the BEST rest I could have asked for...


She slept another 1.5 hours after the surgery was completed. Charlotte's doctor said it "went well" and that we would have results of her MRI by her follow up appointment (a week later)... and that today when she wakes up, it was going to be a whole new world for her. Charlotte's exact words when she woke up to me rocking her in a chair, were, " Oh wow, look at 'dat"... and then she fell back asleep off on for the entire rest of the day. We were discharged later that afternoon, and had a lazy day in our room, and an early night. I sat outside all that late afternoon, while she was sleeping, and just praised God for the work He had done (and took in the beautiful view of Pearl Harbor)... not just for the doctors and that they healed her eyes, but for having opened my eyes, and my husband's eyes to the "unnoticeable"... the orphans... If our eyes hadn't been opened, we would NEVER have met our daughter... and she might not ever have been noticed.


We had a rough night... I had to make sure she didn't "rub" her eyes, and had to wipe all of the bloody tears that were flushing out of her eyes throughout the night (from her ointment). But that next morning, Charlotte was fully charged, and ready to finally SEE Hawaii... and so was I!
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Sunday, February 26, 2012

That Start Of It.

Arriving in Hawaii, we were greeted by the beautiful 80 degree weather, sun, and a dear friend who helped us get settled in. We made our way to get some coffee, to check in to Tripler Army Medical Center (let them know we arrived safely, and filled out all of our paperwork), and then final stop was to check into our lodging. It was a super long day, with little to none sleep on the plane... but we did manage to head to the Waikiki Beach for a beautiful sunset, and some yummy American {comfort} food. Couldn't have asked for a better way to end our crazy long day.




The next day, we headed straight to our eye appointment at 10:00...I HAD to wake up the little monster, otherwise, I'm fairly certain she would have slept in until noon if I had let her.


During our consult, Charlotte's eyes were thoroughly inspected... they pulled out every test that they could to see what has been going on with her eyes. They even dilated her pupils, and did this whole inspection of her optic nerve, using these cataract clamps, and used some sort of scope to take photos. The doctor didn't warn me about how painful this would be for her, considering she was awake for it... but it needed to be done, and I had to pull a brave mama face the entire time my daughter screamed her head off (I don't blame her, it looked so uncomfortable/painful). After the pictures were taken, the doctor took a closer look at Charlotte's optic nerves, and noticed that her left one looked "weird". She then sat us down for the complete diagnosis...and stated that Charlotte's eyes were a severe case, that needed to be treated immediately. She didn't suggest that we stay in Hawaii to have surgery, but rather DEMANDED that I let her "fix" Charlotte's eyes. Also, Charlotte was to have an MRI to take a closer look at her optic nerves, and brain. So, this was just the start of our crazy 12 days in Hawaii...

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A blur

How is it possible to not hear from me for nearly 2 full weeks? No, I haven't been sick... No, I didn't have a broken computer of some sorts... No, I did not go crazy and land myself in the looney bin (although at times, I feel like I should have been checked into one)... Charlotte and I embarked on what was supposed to be a full 2 day adventure (to Hawaii for her eye surgery consult) on 13 February... and we just NOW made it back safe and sound. We packed for just 2 full days, and somehow (it's all quite blurry to me still), we were there for 12 full days. Those 10 extra days, were days I was not "prepared" for... not with our apparel, snacks, mindset, etc. But who needs clothes, snacks and a peace of mind while in Hawaii, right? Nothing that a trip to Target couldn't fix.

So instead of stressing and fretting over the words that Charlotte's ophthalmologist spoke at our consult (something along the lines of Charlie having a severe case of strabismus that needed fixing ASAP), we embraced every word, and prepared ourselves for immediate surgery. The first few days were a blur... jet lag, a last minute MRI, eye surgery and recovery... we spent countless hours at Tripler Army Medical Center...



all to say goodbye to these sweet little crossed eyes...


And after surgery, while recovery began, we started to finally take in our surroundings and enjoy Hawaii...

We saw countless rainbows throughout each of the 12 days...


indulged in plenty of YUMMY things...


ventured around the island to take in the sights...


took in quite a few breathtaking sunsets (each one so different from the previous one)...


and last but not least, enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation time...


So stick around... I have a lot of goodies for you over the next week...


after all, each part of our trip deserves a massive blog post for you with tons of photos... it'll help me get all the days of our trip "straight" in my mind... like I said, it was such a blur.
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

"8" down "4" to go

Dear Charlotte...

8 months have come and gone... wow... we just keep inching closer and closer to the 1 year mark. CRAZY!

What a month this has been... and how quickly it passed by... you've started school (Mondays and Tuesdays), you recognize letters everywhere we walk (except when you see Korean hangul and get confused...most of the time you think that is the letter "L"), you made it to the states yet again...and not just any state, Hawaii... you LOVE to play "pretend" all the time, and you are certainly starting to march to the beat of your own drum (no one else's)...

This month was the first month where it was just US ladies, and although you miss Dada terribly, we did just fine. You are reminded of him every day when I tickle your neck with kisses, or rough house you as best as I can. Every time the phone rings, you think it's him, and you get SO excited about the possibility of "talking" to him. We talk as often as we can, which often isn't often... but we take what we can get.

This month, you've hit a mile mark... you were able to fit into your 3T jeans (gifted from a sweet friend of your Mama's), and you LOVE them. Other than skirts, these are your "go to" pants, and they don't slide off your butt at all... in fact, they make your butt looks so cute (for now, not when you're 16...)


This month, you've started walking around the house, saying, "Quit complaining" or "Stop your complaining"...and I wasn't sure if you were talking to yourself out loud or to me... until you said the other day, "Quit complaining doggie"... in regards to the dogs next door that continually bark ALL day long (they're quite annoying). It made me chuckle...

Oh, how you make me laugh all the time. You're quite the personality, and life would be completely boring without you... you are so loved dear Charlie...

we LOVE you,
Mama and Dada (indirectly!)

I kid you not... the girl did all of these motions, without knowing what, "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil..." I didn't direct or anything... she's a genius!


to get these images, she might have been plugging her ears from a loud plane over head, might have been playing peek-a-boo, and might have been surprised by a huge burp that roared out of her mouth...
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