Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I Once Was Blind...

...But Now I SEE!!!!
Wow. Words fail to describe the sheer joy on Camdyn's face when she saw the world for the first time! She had everyone in Lenscrafters captivated by her inexpressible joy... Here's the story. After running the gamut with insurance technicalities, I took Shea, Kinley and Cam to the mall to "help" pick out Cam-O's glasses. They were so excited, and were all trying on glasses. Cam was having loads of fun. (Kind-of, but she was disappointed every time we took a pair off to try on the next ones) We picked out the frames, then browsed the mall waiting for an hour before we could pick them up. When we returned, Cam hit a wall. She was soooo tired, and would have nothing to do with the glasses. Hmmm... my mind raced for a quick mommy idea... Right out the store front windows was the merry-go-round (at $3 a pop, 5 kids- do the math- we never ride it). "Cam, if you put your glasses on and look out the window at the merry-go-round, I will let you ride it!" The smile immediately crept up on her face. (The three of them had already asked me at least 3 times each to ride it) She took the glasses from me, put them on, and this is when her whole world changed...her face lit up like never before as she looked at the merry-go-round through the window. "MOM!! LOOK AT THE LIGHTS!! Look Mom!!! Look at the merry-go-round!! Look at the animals!! Look at the lights! Look at the monkey!!"...on and on she went. It felt as if we all got glasses together in her little mind, and we all jumped on board. The girls chimed in..."Cam! Look at the tigers! Look at that pretty shirt! Look at mommy's face!! Can you see it now?" She was seeing the world for the first time! I knew she would be happy once she tried them on, but I really wasn't prepared for this!! We left the store (and a handful of well-rewarded Lenscrafters employees!) and headed down to the merry-go-round, two girls skipping with glee and Cam's eyes wandering all over the place. I held her so that she could look at everything she wanted to without tripping. It was like a movie- picture a child entering a fantasy world, eyes so wide, looking up at every store front pointing at things she had never seen before, looking up at the lights that now were distinct and crystal clear, seeing the merry-go-round animals for the first time, etc. When we got on the merry-go-round, her electric smile made me lose it! I was so caught up in the moment, realizing how blurry and distorted her little world had been, how clear it now was, and I got carried away in a moment of sheer bliss watching my little girl see the world. It was such a moment of joy and praise to God, my eyes welled up and I couldn't contain the tears! I felt a little silly exiting the merry-go-round past the workers...but oh well! Explaining to Cam how sometimes mommies get so happy that they cry- seemed to not make sense to her, but she was so happy in her new world that she didn't care! I am so thankful to the Lord for all of you who prayed for Cam, and am so thankful for the way He chose to answer those prayers. I want to learn all that I can from this trial, so will hopefully bring you along in the journey of this past week a little bit here and there. Praise the Lord with us!


This was just before Cam tried on the glasses. She was not excited. Can you tell?

This is her right after trying on the glasses. A little different, huh? (Cam's new best friend behind the desk) Everyone all around was smiling!

This was Cam's excitement while Cam's new best friend adjusted the glasses a bit. This is sheer joy.

The glasses immediately correct the eye-crossing, praise the Lord!!

How's that for a big smile! She is the happiest girl in the world tonight! We Love our Cam-O!!

Praise the LORD!!!

God is so good!! We are so thankful. We know that many people have been praying for Cam, and we thank you for those prayers!! Kurt and I are overjoyed right now, and are literally springing around the house as we continue to talk about the news that the opthalmologist gave us this morning. In a nutshell, Cam's vision has been very poor for some time now, and the eye-crossing is simply a result of her tired eyes. You can stop reading here, or continue reading for all of the details, which I am thrilled to give!
As many of you know, we were scared (really) that the sudden eye-crossing was possibly a symptom of a great problem- a tumor (worst case scenario, but quite possible according to some medical web-sites). There was no way to know, and since the pediatrician was all over it, we were concerned. He had done a skull x-ray and had ordered an MRI (which is now unnecessary- Praise the Lord!). This morning we went to UCLA to an eye institute, and met a wonderful crew of people, including Dr. Demer. I was amazed at all of the equipment. We spent all morning there, and had a series of tests. I was so sad when Camdyn couldn't see even the simplist pictures that were relatively large. Neither of her eyes could focus to see across the room. Apparently, she is really far-sighted, and has been over-using those muscles for quite some time. I guess they sort-of gave out, and hence, started crossing. Oh how sad to realize that she has had poor vision for who knows how long?!?!
The Lord also made space for us to get in today to see the doctor. The first available appointment that the receptionist gave me was for October 9! Upon pressing just a little, she gladly gave me an appointment for next day (today). The doctor commended the fact that we got her in so quickly, and said that it was extremely important for her eyes to be corrected quickly.
We will get her glasses today or tomorrow, and Kurt and I can't wait to see the expression on her face when she can SEE!! Thank you so much for your prayers, and we will post pics when she gets her glasses! She is so excited to wear glasses, and she doesn't even recognize how nice it will be to see the world clearly!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Camdyn

Thank you for your prayers! The Lord has answered and we have an apppointment at UCLA tomorrow morning. Our family pediatrician called this morning and told us he is ordering an MRI for her as well, possibly today (I haven't heard yet). We are hoping to have some answers soon, although I need to remind myself what I told Camdyn last night when I was tucking her in- that God is the greatest doctor and knows exactly what is going on with her little eyes... Pray for the strengthening of our faith! Thank you so much for your support and prayers.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Cam-O


Our sweet Camdyn is doing relatively well, though seems to be having a little more difficulty dealing with the eye "doing funny things". She is demonstrating "the squint", which she seems to be resorting to as of this morning. She's still being a trooper, but tonight she did complain of her head hurting. I would only imagine that the vision problem would cause a headache... Please pray that we will get in tomorrow to see the specialist! Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.

Beauty Contest

Shea was busy trying to "organize" a family event and approached me a minute ago with this idea. "Mom, can we have a beauty contest? You can be the judge." Hmmmm. My well thought out response: "No, we don't do beauty contests. How about we do a 'godly' contest and see who's the most godly?" (I'm the judge, of course) The disappointment on her face was painfully obvious. It was a sort of "hmph" attitude. Then her response, "that's way to hard!!". Wow, (she's only 7) she doesn't even know exactly how true that is!

Nichole Greene

Please pray for Nichole Greene! I have posted an update on her blog- and the link is in my friends list (left column). Her cancer seems to be worse now. Please check her blog and pray for her and her sweet family!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

A Saturday at Home


Water Wars are always a blast for these big kids...

The girls had loads of fun with liquid chalk, including the hair color changes...

Girls just wanna have fun!

They finished the afternoon with dinner on the lawn. I didn't want them tracking their wet, colorful bodies into the house! I'm not sure who ate more of their dinner- the flies or the kids...yuck.