Just RK

(Backstory here … if needed.) We saw Dr. L on Monday.  He decided that although there IS Manifest-Latent Nystagmus present with Braska , it is not the primary concern that needs to be repaired first. He feels that the strabismus/esotropia (Left eye crossing inwardly) can be corrected first, hopefully making improvements in the head tilt that Braska consistently has.  (That’s the tilt toward her right shoulder.)  The tip up, chin up in the air looking down her nose at everything, is mostly likely still related to the MLN, and we will be looking at a second surgery to correct that, probably in September. So for now, we’re planning on surgery #1 on May 18 at StL Children’s.  We appreciate your prayers for health between now and then, a successful and uncomplicated procedure that day, and a swift recovery with as minimal a level of discomfort as is possible.

We had a very nice Easter. Good visit with family and fun for the girls.  Braska will be sharing more details about the day sometime tomorrow… if you’re into the back story. Just a couple pics that sum up the day… My girls, who will NOT look at the camera when asked. Of course. But this is a great shot of the faces I get many times a day. “Come on, Mom.  We are SO over this camera action.” And my sis, the host for our Easter festivities. Gotta love that straight-from-Mexico tan.  Darn her little jet-setting self.  For real though, we always have a blast hanging out at her house… cooking and eating and talking about all the latest stuff. Good times.

Edited to add: No, I'm not contacting the beings from out there somewhere. Just getting a little hair spruce-up. Ya know, sprucin' for summer.

We had a nice morning, church with family, then down here to my sister's house for lunch and egg hunting.  The girls have been good and seem to be enjoying their first actively-easterish Easter.  More pics soon on Braska's blog... For now, the girls are napping in their rooms, as they claim the extra rooms at Auntie's house.  It is time to just relax...

If you’re a local around StL, you’ve probably been watching the coverage all day. If you’re not around here, you might have heard a mention here or there. The St. Louis metro area was beaten pretty badly by a very persistent tornado. There are still official reports to be made, but it appears to be one tornado, bolstered by some of the craziest and roughest storms full of hail the size of softballs and inches upon inches of rain. The airport, Lambert-St. Louis International, was hit and is closed. That’s new. And strange. But more upsetting are the dozens of houses all the way through the area, in a line West to East, damaged severely. Many, people are displaced from their homes today. People in the city always seem to think that these storms don’t happen in the suburban and urban areas. It’s always in the rural areas. It’s always somewhere just outside of our area. It can’t happen IN the metro. But it did. Over and over and over. ( Link to many photos.) We’re o...

Today was the appointment with Dr. C to discuss (again) the issues Braska has had for almost two years now.  The head tilt and tip.  For lack of a better description.  I wish I had time to find pictures, but if you’ve been around long, you’ve noticed that she looks down her nose at everything, literally.  (I just peeked at her blog and saw that the picture posted earlier today of her at the Eye Center’s front desk shows the tip and tilt, both.  If you look, she’s looking into the desk area, but her head is aimed as if she’s looking up at the ceiling. Her eyelids look closed because she’s always looking out of a little space right above her cheek.  The pictures of her scraped up face and head from last week show it as well. Rarely do we get a look with open eyes straight ahead through the glasses.) She tips her head way back and almost faces the ceiling to see something straight in front of her.  She also tilts her head to the right shoulder as well....

Just because it was a long week doesn't mean it was a bad one. But with an all day training tomorrow for volunteers in the new parent program of the DSAGSL, it is going to be a short weekend. And that makes me a little sad. I would love to have a day to catch up on the house and a day to take the girls out for errands and playgrounds.  We will just fit it all in. Or not. Maybe we will just enjoy the down time we DO have and I will not dwell on what I don't get done. Easier said than done. But I will sure try. Make it a great one.