Paitence, Persistence and Positive Attitude

One of my parent’s good friends is a retired ophthalmologist.   My  mother was talking to him today and catching up.   He asked how my daughter was doing and my mother gave him an update from when she saw my daughter just a few days ago.   He told her he had some advice, and would she pass it on to me.  

My mother send me an email with his advice in it and I think the timing could not have been more appropriate.   Here’s what he said:

Patience — recovery will take time.
Persistence — Stay the course with the treatments the doctors are using.
Positive Attitude — this will be transferred to your daughter. She needs to sense a positive environment, not a negative environment.

I have been trying to have a positive attitude personally, and with anyone who asks how my daughter is doing, but it’s been growing more difficult.   It’s been weeks and her vision hasn’t gotten much better from what we can tell.   I understand things are healing and through that process her vision won’t necessarily show improved vision quickly, but it doesn’t help when I see her unable to do discern the most basic of things.

Several times recently I’ve delivered a less-than-positive update to someone who’s asked about my daughter.   Tomorrow, I’ll remember my parent’s friend, Gerry’s advice.

The Big Boy Update:  We were at the beach this past weekend eating at a Mexican restaurant on their outdoor patio.  Small birds were swarming at the periphery of the area, looking intently at our table.   My children discovered they could throw food to the birds and they’d come up to eat it.   My son loved doing this and nearly refused to eat his meal, he wanted to feed the birds so badly.   He said, “I named all of them ‘Cutie’.”

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My mother’s friend, Gerry, also suggested we don’t ask my daughter questions about her vision, and that’s something we try very hard to do.   My daughter did, however tonight, ask for a vision game.   She asked for the game I played with her that threw me into a tailspin of despair when I thought she couldn’t see anything out of her right eye.   She asked if we could play the game where she tells me the color of the jelly bean with one eye.    We did the game and she could tell colors of beans in my hand about six inches from her face in both eyes, which was a relief to me.