Seeing the World Through New Eyes

Iris got her patch off today and she couldn't be happier.  At first she just stopped and looked at my face like it was the first time she was seeing it (maybe it was).  She was in shock for a little while.  She just stood there and laughed and laughed.  After dancing around the doctors office looking at everything she had to get drops in her eyes and then put the patch back on.  She was not happy with that in the least. 
Iris has an appointment next week to check the eyes again and maybe start patching the good eye to help strengthen the weak eye or possibly glasses.  So we will see.  All in all she is doing extremely well.

Added humor from last night, Iris received a new eye patch to wear home and to wear at night to help protect the eye.  This new patch is metal with a cloth attached around the outside.  The patch has many little holes in it (as seen in the above photo).  As we prepared Iris for bed we put the patch on her eye.  Elliot saw this new patch on Iris for the first time and asked, "why does Iris have to wear a speaker on her eye?"

Another Day, Another Surgery

Iris had her second eye surgery this morning and did really well all things considered.   They didn't take her back for surgery until 10am so she was not happy about having nothing to eat. 

She doesn't like having the patch on her "good" eye so she tries to pull it off a lot.  It is really sad to watch her walk around.  She walks with her little hand out in front of her and steps very cautiously with her foot.  Iris is anything but cautious!

After sleeping it off she is back to her old happy self.   Enjoy this video, see how Iris bounces back.  

Iris is scheduled to have this patch removed tomorrow morning.  We are hoping for great improvement in her "good" eye when the patch is removed.  The other eye is very limited and we pray for improvement in the coming days and weeks.  The doctor will start a "patching" routine to force Iris to use this eye.  Iris is an amazing little girl  and we are so happy that God placed her in our family.

Where did she go

Where did my sweet little baby go?  Why do they have to grow up so fast?  I know, I know, it's not like I didn't know this would happen.

  Yes, that is Ansley putting on makeup!  Who said she could grow up so fast?  The funny thing is she still needs a step stool to reach the sink.  God love her.  She puts together some pretty outrages outfits.  She has on her boots with shorts, go figure
And here is the final  product.

Beautiful.

After the patch comes off

They took the patch off Iris's eye yesterday and she did great.  She was not able to see as much as they had hoped she would.  The doctor said she has been 2.5 years with no sight in that eye so it might just take her some time to get the brain and eye working together.  We are praying for sight to kick in before the 10th as she has her left eye surgery on the 10th. and if she doesn't start seeing out of the right eye by then she will be without sight for a few days while the left eye heals. 
If you are the praying type we would welcome as many people praying for her and her sight as possible. 

The First Surgery

This morning Iris had her first surgery to remove the cataract and put a new lens in her eye.  The morning started early as we had to be at Children's Mercy at 6:00am (remember - no food or drink after midnight the night before).  We worried she would be a "bear" with no food but she did great.  I think all of the distractions made her forget that she was hungry.

Around 7:30am we had to walk with a nurse to a junction in the hallway and from there the nurse took Iris and we had to watch her walk away.  It was awful and we do not understand why one of the parents can not be with her until she is out.  Other than that the process was great.  Children's Mercy is so good with kids and families.

Another awesome thing was that the surgeon actually called the house last night to check on Iris and see if Mom and Dad had any more questions.  What great service!

After the surgery the doctor came out and told us everything went great and she thinks Iris will be able to see from that eye tomorrow when the "patch" is off.  The eye they operated on today was the worst of the two.  This eye has very little vision if any.  The doctor thinks she will see something tomorrow but it could improve over the next several weeks.  Speaking of the patch - the first thing Elliot said when he saw Iris was, "I thought the patch would be black" (like a pirate).

Iris is currently sleeping and will hopefully sleep most of today.  Tomorrow will be very exciting.  We continue to pray for vision and healing.

Another quick update - I just spoke to Melissa and she informed me Iris is awake and playing just like normal.  She is running around laughing and playing.

Attached are some pictures from this morning and one with her new hat.

Just an average day

Her are the girls princesses

little Storm Trooper

A big box is sooo much fun

somersaults at the ball park

This is just a typical day with Iris.  It is never dull.

Taming the Wild Beast

Iris has finially decided to make friends with "Kookootine" aka Clementine.
Now poor Clementine has no peace. Iris just runs after her yelling "Kookootine come here" "Kookootine, something in Chinese" I of course can't seem to catch her and the wild beast together. So this is the best picture I can get.