Skip to main content

Tuesday Update: 12/12/06

Well, it has been another crazy couple of days…where to start!? Friday – We both got to spend some time with friends! Matt had several guys over to hang out, watch movies, and eat pizza. He was pretty tickled that they were all able to make it! He even called up two of them to invite them over and talked to them on the phone…which was a big deal for Matt! He said they had fun, just hanging out while I had dinner with a couple of girlfriends for some much needed catch up time! It was a good night for us both!

Saturday – Matt wasn’t feeling the best, started to come down with a nasty cold. So, we stayed in most of the day. We watched a few movies and generally took it pretty easy.

Sunday – Matt was feeling a little bit better and agreed to go shopping with me after church! We headed out to the mall, ate some lunch, and shopped around for a few hours. He didn’t complain too much when I dragged him around the various stores and departments he would normally NEVER be seen in! After a while though, we were both pretty pooped…but it was quite a successful shopping trip and I was so happy to have him go with me!

Monday – We headed to Iowa City for yet another follow up on his eyes, after surgery. The doctor he had been seeing, who performed the surgery, became seriously ill and has left the clinic…so we had to see another doctor this time, and probably will continue to see him going forward. He mostly just confirmed what Matt had already decided, that the prisms weren’t really doing much good. He did give us some good information though, that was helpful: He said the biggest difficulty for Matt will be the fact that one of his images is tilted, and that can only be corrected through surgery…the other dr never said that. He also said that before surgery the tilt was off by 30 degrees, now it is off by 5 degrees when he looks straight ahead and 7 degrees when he looks down…so that is definitely better. He said that they don’t like to do repeat surgeries until 6 months past the first one…so we are scheduled to follow up in 4 months to see where we’re at. He said that there is still healing going on from the first one and his measurements are still changing. They need to be stable before proceeding with surgery, which makes sense. So, he can go back to using the tape and won’t have to suffer with the prisms, which he was happy about. Nothing he does can hurt or help the situation. It’s actually kind of nice to know that we can put that on the back burner for a while and concentrate on other things, rather than going back and forth to IA City every few weeks! Overall, we were happy with that conclusion. It wasn’t anything too different than what we were already thinking, but now we have more detailed information on the issue, the treatment, and the timing – so that helps.
Tonight is my work holiday party, so Matt’s dad is coming down to pick him up after therapy and take him out to dinner. I’m excited to go to the party, since I missed the last two years’, and I think Matt is looking forward to dinner with his dad. It should be a good night for us both!

Everything else is going pretty good. We’re both looking forward to all the fun, family get togethers we’ve got arranged in the coming weeks, and to celebrating this wonderful Christmas season. This past Sunday, we lit the Love candle for Advent. The family who lit the candle read from 1st Corinthians 13…the love chapter. We’ve all likely heard these words repeated at every wedding we’ve ever attended…but they seemed to really resonate with me more than ever before as they were read this weekend. Specifically… ‘love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things’. Love endures all things…I wrote it down and passed it to Matt…I wanted him to remember, that when he’s feeling down and worries about the future…that our love endures all things…

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Carrie Anne - The Beginning of the Story

So, I’ve been trying to sort out how to start this story. It’s been difficult to articulate. Difficult to pick which details to share, and which to hold close. But it’s a story too good, too beautiful, not to share – so here goes! When Matt and I first became parents, we thought our family was complete. We envisioned raising Ethan surrounded by loving friends and family – just the two of us. Given all that we had gone through to finally become parents, we felt content with just the one child. The most adorable boy in the whole wide world. Our Ethan was the apple of our eyes – the most amazing gift. We marveled at all of his accomplishments, soaked up all his love and personality, and celebrated the joy of parenthood at every exhausting, wonderful turn. Along the way, we’ve built a strong and loving relationship with Ethan’s birthmother. We visit yearly, and stay in close contact with pictures, emails, and texts. I have attempted to describe my feelings for her many times over the

A Glimpse Into Open Adoption

If you had been a customer of the Longhorn Steakhouse on Highway 19 in Palm Harbor, FL last Sunday night, you may have seen two couples walking through the restaurant, oogling a sweet baby boy on the way to their table. You may have commented on how cute he was. You may have thought he looked a lot like the woman carrying him. You may have wondered about the man in the wheelchair. But you likely would not have assumed you’d be witnessing this baby’s biological parents sit down to dine with his adoptive parents. It’s a scene I’ve been playing over and over in my mind as I recount the wonderful experiences of our trip to Florida. The magnitude of that moment, that evening, will never be lost on me. It was incredible to be a part of – and I’m so very grateful we had it. We had met up with Ethan’s birthmother, L, earlier in the day. She hadn’t seen him since he was a few hours old and was anxiously waiting for us outside a local mall. As soon as we saw each other the tears welled up in o

Carrie - The Wait and the Big Arrival!

We arrived in Florida midday Saturday and made our way to the hospital where we met up with Ethan’s birthmother and her mother. We spent a long afternoon in the waiting room while the doctors and nurses put L through a myriad of tests. Finally, they verified the need to induce labor and proceeded to admit her to the hospital with plans to start the induction process Sunday. Exhausted, we left to check in at the hotel and ate what we thought may be our last supper before the baby came…but…. Sunday we arrived at the hospital mid-morning to see how things were progressing. The nurses gave L a medication to help start the dilation process around 12:30 PM…and told us it would likely take 12 hours for things to progress. We stepped out to enjoy the Florida sunshine for lunch for a bit, then settled in for the long haul at the hospital. We spent all afternoon, evening, and night together – holding watch over L as she slept. As we sat there, listening to the baby’s heart beating on the mon