Cleared to go under

Anesthesia that is. On Jan. 8th, Gabe will be put under for an eye exam that will measure his pressure levels in his eyes and give us a better idea of how far he can see. I have never had a child go into the hospital for more than a quick ER trip for ear infection type stuff, so I am nervous. I know God's hands will be on him and the team of Drs. Yesterday Gabe had to be seen by our doctor to be cleared for the procedure and we asked that they do a few tests on him to rule out Giardia, tape worm, etc. He has had very loose stools on and off since our FF day and we just want to rule anything like that out.

Will update again after his procedure. Have a blessed Christmas.
Happy Birthday Jesus!!

What special need??

That is what I think some days. Did we really adopt from the 'special needs' program? Tim and I were talking the other day and on a daily basis we just don't think of Gabe having a SN, glaucoma, or any vision loss at all! It is just a non-issue. So, he wears glasses-so does Tim and many other people we know. All I can think is that we have been so blessed-absolutely blessed! Thank you God for choosing us to raise this sweet boy for you.

Thanks Amy!

Our friend and adoptive mom herself Amy, was able to make Gabe a spare pair of glasses. I am so happy that we now have a spare if we have another accident. I really like them and we may alternate between the two pairs.
We are just so blessed to have such a wonderful friend.

Uh Oh!!

Yup-they are broken! Ughghghghg! It was bound to happen-right! Thank goodness the sweetest online friend and recent adoptive mom Amy has offered to make us a spare pair and they should be on their way. Going to get them fixed at Tim's ophthalmologists office-I just can't be driving and hour and a half to get these fixed every time!

Apointments Galore

Flu Shots are scheduled for next Monday late morning, Gabe goes to the dentist on Nov. 5th, and his eye pressure procedure under general anesthesia will be Jan. 8th. I am really hoping they are able to increase his prescription for his glasses as I really think they could be stronger. We will have just returned home from Christmas in Florida.
Yes, we are getting the H1N1 vaccine. I am just not going to take the chance as yesterday our district had 20% of its kids out sick! Another 5% and they would have closed!!

pediatrician appt.

Gabe's pediatrician appointment went really well. Gabe didn't cry and let the doc check him all out. Everything looked great and for the most part the doc felt that his immunizations were up to date (well they had to be to enter the US). He is about 27 lbs which puts him below the 3rd percentile for weight and I am not sure on the height, but he was around the 13th percentile for that. We have to go back in a couple of weeks to get his second flu shot and probably the N1H1 and one other one that they don't do in China, but we do here. It will be a fun day as I will take Jordan and Jay in for their flu shots as well-let the screaming begin!!

Are they working?

That is a good question. We really think so. He is getting better are running, walking, and sometimes not holding things so close. He seems to have a lot of confidence in hitting buttons on things, but there are times when he still holds things close or still stands right in front of the TV to watch it. However, when he is watching TV this close he usually is looking over the top of the glasses. He knows when I say, "Gabe look through your glasses." to push them up, but if I move him away from the TV he just stops watching? The question that will take some time to answer is-Is this a habit (holding things close-watching TV so close) or if his prescription needs to be stronger? Only time will tell. This week we have started doing a learning activity a day. The past 2 days were playdough (see the picture above), and today is puzzles. Tomorrow we are going to get some color and shape flash cards as he has begun to repeat what we say quite a bit. I don't want to push him, but as long as he enjoys it we might as well get going.

Gabe's new eyes!

Here they are! He is doing so well with them! I can't even believe it! We had to drive 1.5 hrs (one way) to pick them up. I have decided that taking Gabe alone is not the best idea, as he still has some car issues to work through (mainly, mom can't get you anything you want as she is driving!). The eye glass lady put them on him and he kept them on. On the way home he took them off once, so I pulled over and put them back on and once he pushed them down below his nose (because he knew I wanted him to keep them on!), so I stopped and put them back up for him. He is getting the hint and has kept them on really really well. He was a cutie pie before and now he is double cute!

Now the verdict is out on how much they are helping him. I really think they are helping, but time will tell. He cannot tell us that they are helping and there are times when he will still look over the top of them. He is still pulling things close, but I think that is a habit that he is going to have to get used to not doing. Last night we read Good Night Moon and he was pointing to things in the book! Yay! Now we have to get a cheap spare pair in case of a glasses accident!

Glasses

Not sure when Gabe's glasses are due in. I forgot to ask! But, I would think they would only take a little more than a week or so. We are so excited for him to get them, even though I am worried that keeping them on may be a battle. I hope that because they should mark such a huge improvement in his sight that he will love to have them on. We are hoping that he will be able to enjoy a movie or cartoons with Jie jie and ge ge without having his nose pressed up against the TV!
Someone asked me why they wouldn't have gotten him glasses in China. Well, the orphanages are really strapped financially and many of them care for hundreds of children. If you think about how difficult our country has just financing schools and education, let alone full time care including clothes, food, medical etc. I feel as though Gabe was blessed just to have the surgery he did at 8 months old!

Here is a pic of the type of glasses he is getting. They are fisher price brand (who knew they made kids glasses too?!).

Great news

Today we had a really good appointment with the ophthalmologist. Of course in the rush to get us all out the door this am, I forgot my camera! Gabe was such a good boy! I still can't believe it. He did everything the doctor asked him to do, including putting his chin on the eye contraption. The doctor was amazed and thought when he saw that a 3 yr old was coming in, that we would just be chatting and would have to put him under to do any type of exam! He was awesome! Of course he captured everyone's heart.
I was very happy with this place also. It was very large and they had a section for the kids to wait with a large train table. So, that made waiting easier on all of us.
The good news is that Gabe's surgery seemed to be a success and his pressure is at a good place. He is very near sighted so if things are too far away from him they become blurry. The doctor really thinks that glasses will help him a great deal!
The negative is that it will not be 20/20 and he would have liked to see him have the surgery he had at 8 months earlier, so there was some damage done.
The ladies who helped to fit him for his glasses were so cute. They were amazed at how he tried glasses on and kept them on. When they saw the prescription they were so excited for him saying, "Wow! He is going to see so much!" I am thinking the prescription is pretty strong! They all want to be there when he gets his glasses. They said that that is why they do the work they do.
They were all very helpful and caring.
I also asked about certain medications. Before we left for China, I was looking at cold medicines to take for him (just in case) and most of them say not to use if you have glaucoma. So, I didn't take any. The doctor said that with some types of glaucoma you should not take those meds, but not with his kind. So, he is free to take some cold meds-which he needs as he has quite the cough and runny nose esp at night.
I can't wait to post of pic of our little man with his new specs! He looked sooooo cute. Here is a couple of pics of him-see how close he has to look to see things...



My next post will be pics of Gabe in his new cool dude glasses. The doc does want to see him in 3-4 months to get a better more accurate pressure reading. This will be done under anesthesia at the hospital.

Opthamologist appt

Gabe has his first opthamologist appt. tomorrow am. I have no idea what to expect from this appointment. I can't imagine they are going to be able to get much info from a 3.5 yr old who can't understand or speak a lick of english! I hope to get some of my questions answered. I hope they can tell me how his pressure is now and if he needs any medications to keep his pressure good. I would also like to know if glasses can possibly help his vision at all.

New Blog

Tonight I decided to start a new blog. My old blog will be family related and this blog is the one I am going to use to document life with Gabe and his vision loss due to congenital glaucoma. I hope this blog can help other with biological or adopted children living with this eye condition.

A little about our Gabe.
Gabe was born (or developed at a very early age) congenital glaucoma of both eyes. At 8 months old he received and operation of the trabeculum section of his eyes. Little is known of his other health or eye care since that time as Gabe was adopted on 9/16/09 by our family. As of right now we are confidant that Gabe's vision is very good, but there is some loss. He bends in very close to see details in things and is very slow to try anything new that he cannot see. He is very cautious of stairs and changes in flooring (ie different color carpet or going from tile to carpet).

We hope to find out what exactly his vision is or course of treatment on Monday when he has his first ophthalmologist appt. with a pediatric ophthalmologist and glaucoma specialist.