The eye thing – part II
I think I just had an “aha moment.” I thought they were supposed to be light-shedding moments of clarity. This brought a little clarity, but not in a good way.
We spent six more hours at Oscar’s eye doctor on Wednesday. Six tortured, tear-filled hours where Oscar attempted to make sure we felt each and every moment in the same agony he did. It’s amazing to me that he knows that the waiting room is safe, but the moment we cross the threshold on our way to the examination rooms, he loses it. I think sixteen months of age is too young to understand what a doctor in a white coat means to a kid.
I thought we were going to the doctor to meet another specialist. We met far more than one. One after one they streamed in to see Oscar’s eye – pretty much only the right one, although they looked at the left to make sure it doesn’t do the same thing the right one does. The fact that only one of his eyes does this shaking thing is apparently fascinating to them. Makes it all the more difficult to diagnose and all the more interesting to discuss.
Still no conclusive diagnosis; just a determination that it really is time to do an MRI. The doctor we’ve been seeing since this summer has been prepping me for this. MRIs aren’t a big deal for adults; it’s just that kids have to be put under general anesthesia. I like that this doctor didn’t pressure us to do this immediately, but that he gave me some time to get used to the idea. It’s just that they really do need to determine whether there’s a tumor that’s causing the problems or if there’s another reason for his condition.
So, the reason for the aha moment? I just googled Oscar’s eye doctor (I did this before I first met him and I must have repressed what I saw) and something interesting came up. No, nothing salacious. Oscar’s eye doctor isn’t just an eye doctor. Actually, that’s not even his primary job – he’s not even identified as an ophthalmologist. He’s a neurologist with a certification in pediatric neuro-ophthalmology. What does this mean? I don’t know, really. I know it means that we really are not looking at something as “simple” as lazy eye or your basic nystagmus. I also realized that the “specialists” we saw weren’t quite as special as I had thought they might be (lovely as they were). They were the ophthalmologists. I looked them up – they’re top of the line pediatric ophthalmologists specializing in all of the childhood eye disorders. They were there to confirm that the irregularity isn’t strabismus, glaucoma, etc. before we move on to examining the possibility of a brain disorder.
I’ve had it backwards from the beginning. It’s not an eye thing. It’s a brain thing. I don’t think that’s a good thing.
Counting down the days
Nope, not until Christmas. I am counting down the days until the horrible deal I’m on closes. Each and every day I awaken at 5 am to see the red light of my Blackberry flashing. I dread picking it up and typing in my password because I know what will greet me. Hate mail from the loser associate on the east coast. He’s an actual bully. He’s made one of my junior associates so stressed that she broke down in tears in her office and now refuses to work with him directly (awesome – more contact for me). The other junior associate is so scared of him she plays dumb so I won’t make her do any substantive work with him.
I’ve tried all of my usual approaches to befriending opposing counsel and nothing works. It’s a bit surprising since I’m the one everyone refers to as “Switzerland;” I can work with anyone. Anyone but him it seems. It’s so bad that I can feel my blood pressure rising when I read his messages. I’ve had to stop reading them when Oscar is in the room because I don’t want him to feel my anger. This is just no way to live. Anyone have an effective means of putting a person in his place in a manner that isn’t going to reflect badly on you?
The child’s a genius
Two things. First, while we were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast, Oscar heard a bird and signed “bird.” Didn’t even see it and he knew what it was. Then, when I read him Goodnight Moon (it’s not just for bedtime, you know), guess what he did? I read the line “goodnight mush” and he said “mmm, mmm, mmm” as if it tasted good. He’s actually making connections between things he hears and sees. Brilliant.
A Secret Mountain Giveaway
I know, I’ve never done such a thing, but Team Mom sent me a bonus book and CD, so to kick off the holidays, I thought I’d give it away.
What do you need to do to enter? Simply drop me a comment – no need to subscribe to my feed or anything. Just let me know you’d like the book, making sure you leave a link to your blog or your email address so I can contact you. The lucky winner will be selected Sunday night, November 23rd.
***Update – Sarah’s the lucky winner (#14)! Congratulations – just wish I had one for everyone.
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The Secret Mountain – Team Mom Review
One of the reasons I joined Team Mom was that I’m a bit overwhelmed by all of the choices out there when it comes to shopping for Oscar. There are so many products, and let’s face it, between the expense of the toys and simply not wanting to overwhelm him (or me for that matter) with too many objects, I have a hard time choosing what to buy. I typically only buy things a friend (IRL or bloggy) recommends. In the hope that I can help someone else out, I have not only a product review, but an actual recommendation for you.
We recently received three books from The Secret Mountain. I had never heard of them, but their product is fantastic. Lovely, illustrated story books that each come along with a related CD. Sure, we’ve all seen this sort of thing before, but in this case both the books AND the songs on the CD are fabulous. We’ve bought a lot of books and a lot of kids’ CDs. Oscar loves the books, but the CDs to date have left him cold. Not these. Within seconds of hearing the first track, he started his little bop that he saves for the Latin-American music we play in the house. The books themselves are beautifully illustrated and the stories are clever.
Take a look at the video here if you’d like to see and/or hear a little for yourself. I’m off to buy A Poodle in Paris.
Two boys in love…
Eight days after grandpa’s quadruple bypass surgery.
The $3000 cup of tea
One of the things I love about traveling is how my favorite memories, the ones that really stick with me, almost always are things that I never could have anticipated. At least for me they tend to be the little moments in my travels. Tasting guava sorbet for the first time in Bali, having a rhinocerous approach me on safari, walking the side streets in Chartres on a religious holiday and hearing scores of children chanting. It’s never the big things that I’ve flown so far to see that define my trip. It’s nice to have seen the Hermitage et al, but that is not what I take away from the trips.
What I find myself remembering lately is the ginger tea I had in Vietnam. We stayed at two Evason resorts – one on a secluded island off Nha Trang and another in the mountains in Da Lat. Both served this amazing, spicy ginger tea. I’ve been ill lately and have been attempting to recover by drinking lemon and ginger tea. Must say that it is a pale comparison to what I tried while traveling in Vietnam. No kick whatsoever.
These memories have kick-started my desire to travel back to Vietnam. Crazy, really, as I want to return to Nha Trang and have this tea. I think instead it might be better to go to the grocery store, buy some ginger and steep some on my own. Well, maybe not better. Definitely cheaper, though.
Tis the season
I saw my first Christmas tree in a house the other day. That officially marked the beginning of the season. Last Christmas was sort of depressing for me. I was waiting for Oscar, with no clue when I would get him home. I had hopes of traveling to Vietnam by Christmas time when I got my referral. By Thanksgiving I knew I was months away from even filing the documents I needed to file to get his visa. As a result, things were a bit dreary.
This year, though, Oscar is home and while I know I’m not supposed to overwhelm him with objects, I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m going to have a hard time controlling myself. For the first time ever, I’ve already bought gifts weeks before Thanksgiving. I am the queen of procrastination when it comes to gift buying. Sometimes I even buy the gifts after the holidays. I really don’t like shopping.
Since we worked so hard all weekend to try to get our deal signed, and things died down in the middle of the night, I had some downtime today while we waited. I used that time to do some Christmas shopping. I am getting Oscar one of those shape sorter toys, probably one of those toys you hit with a wooden hammer, two dvd’s (for me, really, as I’m growing tired of the ones we’ve been recycling at home) and that new Elmo Live thing (he’s obsessed with talking toys and even I found that thing adorable, albeit pricey). I’m betting I shouldn’t buy any more gifts than this, but you know I’m going to.
So, my question for you is this, do people honestly not buy their kids very many gifts at the holidays? When we were growing up we really only got toys at Christmas and on our birthdays. We don’t buy a lot of toys ourselves so far. Oscar has a decent collection, but nothing like what my friends’ kids have. I’m not talking about spending many hundreds of dollars on toys - not even remotely close. What’s an appropriate number of toys for a 17 month old? Will I truly be doing him harm by putting a few extra gifts under the tree?
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