June 30th into July 1st

Going into 2 years post eye shooting seems nuts! Where did the last 2 years go? So much has happened! Drake is alive and kicking. His next procedure to laser his eye and remove scar tissue is July 3! That's right around the corner. Drake still has his normal struggles and got up about 5 times lastnight. I resorted to just lying on the couch and he slept on the floor. He's been worried about this procedure. Now that he has a cellphone, he's able to google his procedures beforehand! He's freaking out! I keep trying to reassure him everything will be ok! So say a little prayer for him or send him some wishes. Even with a fractured elbow, we are doing this procedure! 

Light sensitivity is a beast, headaches, a little PTSD and just an ongoing battle to stay positive! Drake is a tough kid! He's been through a lot! Here's to hoping this works! 

Trying out for a play!

Its a great day! Drake has made it to the second round of auditions for Peter Pan! It's so great to see him being himself- goofy as can be! Here's some recent pictures of him, his dad, grandparents, brothers and cousins!

He's also in love with our new dog, Chief!

New school year!

It's the beginning of 5th grade and Drake has continued to struggle but persevere. He now has a prescription in both eyes, and he just got his new pair of glasses! Thank you to Necia at Alpine Vision for always being so sweet to Drake. She's just a sweet gal! She makes sure his glasses are just right! 😄

We continue to work thru the emotions of what happened and we try to remember the other sick children during times we struggle. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the parents and families who are in similar or worse situations. Don't give up and always have HOPE!!

And the show must go on...

It's been 1 year and 16 days since my son's accident. He continues to be stable and has slowly accepted his new image.

Sorry for the delay in posts. I guess I've missed documenting his progress, I've just had other life changes occur since my last blogging attempt. 

It looks like his eye is getting more gray. So we go back to see Dr. Hoffman next week. You know you are at the doctors a lot if he remembers your son's name! 

As we understand, our next adventure in this journey is for Drake to get his eye cold lasered. I'm assuming given his coming and going of eye pain, this will be sooner than later. He's also wanting new glasses. He's sorta sick of the same ole pair and wants to be "stylish".

Life with the other person involved in this incident are much better and it's helping so much! We are so happy to have them back in our lives and would like to continue on this road together. 

I will post pics and updates after his next surgery. Also, keep his little cousin in your prayers. He was shot in the eye by a nerf gun and it tore his cornea. These guns are just a bad idea in general for kids. It seems no matter how innocent it may be, you always hear of a freak accident like ours! 

Here are some recent pictures!!

Til next time...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Thank you to all who have loved and supported us during this year. Words will never be enough to thank you!

Thank you Traverse Elementary

On another note! A quick thanks to Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Stephenson at Traverse Elementary School. In the spirit of giving, Mr. Stephenson (principal) and Drake's teacher had me come in one day and teach his class how to make HOPE bracelets. We made 31 bracelets in about 2 hours. I didn't take pictures of the children as I don't know their parents, but the kids were great and we are very appreciative of their kind acts and giving their time to help other children out. What a great group of 4th graders. I am grateful for all the support we receive from this school. Go Tigers!

Christmas and an update

Have you ever felt like you are in 2 different worlds? Our you are torn between 2 people? My emotions during the holidays have been mixed as we are surrounded by love, forgiveness, peace, hope, etc. I want to be nice and loving to the person who hurt my son, but she shows no remorse. How do you forgive someone who shows no sadness? Who yells at you on the phone and tells you your son is just fine? How do you tell someone who's child you've hurt these things?? This is even more complicated because she is a close family member. We love her and only wish she would love our son back. We wish she would show something, some type of love or care towards him. She's not volunteered to do one flippin thing with him. He is sad to watch and hard to understand. If she is as sad as she says to everyone else, why not go to counseling with him? Why not rebuild that relationship and cope together? I just don't understand... I watch my son struggle emotionally and I'm angry but yet at the same time, very grateful for just how blessed he is. There are days when I call my husband crying because I'm upset about the entire situation. My brain wonders...... I think of the future- will he pass a driver's test? Will glaucome cause him to be blind in 10 years? How will he play sports? Why do the glasses have to fog up in the cold? Why the PTSD? Why hasn't the person who shot the gun, come over to love and support him? I get on the why treadmill and I just want to scream and hit like a child. Being the shooter happens to be a family member, it makes Christmas hard. We love that person and we wish things would just go back to how they used to be. How do you show that love when they show no emotion? She has NO IDEA the trauma this has caused. If you don't believe me, call his therapist! We've nicknamed Drake the traveling sleeper. He moves from his bed, to our floor, to the couch to the floor all night long. He is now napping in the late afternoon. He wakes up telling me something just oozed out of his eye, to turn on the lights to find it was all just a dream. He also had a dream where someone cut him up into pieces but he was a piece of paper. Dreams that are never peaceful or calm but distorted and wrong. My husband decided to make a fire out in the backyard pit while it was snowing, just to see how it felt. Drake told me that he didn't want to go out to the fire. I asked why- he stated that smell reminds him of, "you know what...". I was so sad. Then I made breakfast and he refused to eat it. I made eggs and bacon along with some sausage. Drake loves sausage, or should I say he used to. Now he won't eat it. The pure memory of breakfast the morning he got hit and vomitting non stop has caused him to develop classical conditioning. He wants absolutely nothing to do with anything that morning. It breaks my heart... I had to make a decision as a mother to either 100% put myself into my employment or pull myself out. Financially, sanity and insurance reasons, made me decide that I had to re-dedicate myself to my job. I have a lot of opportunities coming up and I've worked hard to get. It would be foolish to get discouraged and walk away now. It's like giving up half way in a race. Plus sitting at home would do Drake no good. It would only show him that giving up is an option. Behavior wise, Drake has been pretty out of control Drake has started a medication which is helping his ADHD. His ADHD went thru the roof when this happened. He's constantly agitated or bugging someone. We've had to find coping mechanisms to make this manageable. Christmas was great. We went to Dr. Hoffman on 12/12/12. Must be a lucky day. We bought ourselves 4 months until we return. We have a few possible surgeries within the next few years. They will cold laser the cloudiness in his lens and they will also reconstruct the pupil due to the constant light sensitivity. Nothing like the thought of a knife to your son's eye. Sports are going to be a challenge. Drake was cleared to play the next sport, which is soccer. He's refusing to wear the sport goggles as he does not want to be teased. There's another 500.00 in glasses. I guess emotionally, I can not fathom what he must go thru or think about himself. He hates getting hit in the face or head with snowballs now. He comes in crying and his glasses fog up. It is amazing how much trauma to an eye can derail you. I wonder how I do it (and how he does it!) and I'm sure when I look back, I won't have a way to describe it. I read other parents stories and challenges and it helps get me thru these times. I read a story today that hurt my heart. We decided to help this little boy in the story and make him a HOPE bracelet out of LEGO's. http://gma.yahoo.com/world-unites-dying-boys-wish-come-true-215547551--abc-news-topstories.html I can only hope that people who read this story, send positive thoughts and prayers to not only my son but all the other little children out there struggling to survive from a disease or sickness in which they didn't ask for. Until next time....