The Show Must Go On - and Blessings through it all

Friday we went to the eye doctor. What I thought would be the usual routine visit changed very quickly. First stressor: They dialated Aaron's eyes. It was a twenty minute ordeal to get him to take the drops and I finally resorted to bribing. Yes, I caved. The eye tech lady said it was painless so I parroted that over and over again as we struggled to get Aaron to keep his hands from covering his eyes. Then in swooped the new eye doctor who put the eye drops on his closed eyes and then told him to open up. Which to my surprise, Aaron did. Then he screamed. Evidently the no pain line given by the eye tech lady was a hoax that I unwittingly played a part in. The guilt.

Next came the appointment - second stressor. In about two nanoseconds it was apparent that something wasn't right with Aaron's vision. I sat there thinking - no, we have enough on our plates. With the cathing every two hours and medicine and the enemas every night. Nothing new... please. Then I heard the words amblyopia and eye- patch. I almost teared up right there. But, it wasn't too bad. Aaron can just wear it at home only and only for two -four hours a day. Ok, here was a silver lining that I can get my head around. After all he can play pirate. As I drove home, Queen played on my IPod and I heartened myself to the music of "The Show Must Go On".

Well, you try telling my strong willed, firefilled boy that he's a pirate who can sit really close to the t.v. when he doesn't want to be a pirate. The pirate thing was a no-go after he figured out that - hey...with a patch over his eye He Can't See! Ugh. So we tried bribing him with money, but evidently the supply and demand principal doesn't work when an eye patch is concerned. Toy swords, video games, special costumes or anything at the other end of an hour of patchwork also doesn't work.

By Monday morning I am feeling a little tired. After all the patch war has been waged at each usage for the last couple days and so far it is a stalemate. On top of this, Aaron's delicate internal balance was messed up by too much pizza over the weekend and a neglected enema on Friday night. I had to renig the swimming promise today due to this unforseen medical necessity. He was very upset at this and announced that "It just isn't fair". I agreed and felt the guilt/helplessness/frustration that comes sometimes with being a parent of a child with "special needs".

So, I left the room sat down in a chair and just started balling. Isaac is my silver lining in human form and he found me and asked what was wrong. I told him that sometimes it was hard to not get upset that Aaron has to live with Spina Bifida. Isaac looked at me and said he wasn't sorry. He has met lots of great friends that otherwise he would not have met.

I listened to Isaac and thought how Isaac sees the good things that have happened because of this part of our lives when I was only seeing the dark. His sincerity and momentary jump into an ultra adult like clarity made me warm inside. I love that kid. Over and Over Isaac has made us laugh when we needed it most. He is always ready to welcome a new friend. He is always ready to help out when asked. Isaac doesn't always get the most attention, but he doesn't complain. God blessed us with both kiddos, but Isaac was a special gift. The gift of laughter, understanding and the silver lining.

By the way, Isaac only has to wear his eyeglasses when he needs to see the whiteboard or a film at school. Nathan also wanted it noted that he made Aaron a very cool eyepatch out of leather. It was cut and tied by hand. My husband to do anything!

As soon as their way cute new eyeglasses come in, I will post pics.