Feeling Liberated!

Even though today is Thursday, I'm calling it a great end to an already great week and it has me feeling liberated! 

I'll start back with Monday of this week.  I had a good day at school and to my surprise, Kermie asked if I'd like to drive Ella and myself to Girl Scouts that evening.  Of course I said, YES!  I honestly didn't know if he'd follow through as he is the one who isn't ready for me to "be on my own" yet.  He definitely enjoys knowing where we are and that he was the one to get us there most days.  I enjoy it too (most days), but sure do miss being able to pick up and go wherever I want without begging for someone to come get me!  Oh, to be able to make a spur of the moment trip to Wal-Mart  without arranging transportation.  I sure appreciate all of my many "drivers" though :)  You're probably wondering why I haven't gotten a car yet if I'm ready to drive... well, it's a bit complicated.  For the longest time, it was because I wasn't ready.  Now, it's because there is a chance I may win a contest that my aunt nominated me for that will allow me to drive a car for free... for a year!  Kermie and I both agree that if there is any chance in actually winning, it would be a waste of a car payment each month to purchase another vehicle.  So, we are waiting to see the outcome of the contest which is supposed to end in April.  But, back to driving to Girl Scouts.  Ella and I both made the journey to town and back in one piece.  With it being my first time driving without another adult in the car, I was a bit nervous at first.  We stopped at McDonald's on the way and did a quick phone check in with Kermie.  The drive home was a little scary for Ella as it was dark outside so she talked to her daddy and nana the whole way home.  The moment I stepped out of the truck, a huge smile was made pretty permanent on my face.  Talk about a liberating experience!

Tuesday was another great day.  After school, my mom took me to Dr. Patel's office for another check up on my cheek.  He was impressed and went ahead with scheduling my scar revision surgery.  He said he was able to eliminate his first two options because of the profound healing and would only have to remove the scar and pull my cheek up to cover the spot.  Of course he used more medical lingo, but I think I got the gist of it.  He sounded like it would go smoothly and there would be little to no issues at all.  I'm pretty happy with my scars as is, so I can only imagine what it will look like when the worst place is removed.  Surgery is set to take place in a little over a month!  Spring break cannot get here soon enough.

Snow days are always good days in my book, so Wednesday was great!

On to today which, in my opinion, was the icing on the cake.  I had my first appointment with the eye muscle specialist, Dr. Stevens.  She was not only very informative and extremely nice, but scheduled Strabismus surgery for the first week of May!  I will have a straight eye by summer!  I know I've mentioned it before, but the one thing I really hoped would get fixed was the placement of my eye just because it is the one thing that is very noticeable.  Seeing with one eye is getting easier by the day, but seeing myself in the mirror is still hard no matter how often I tell myself it could be much worse.  The approach she will take is different from the ones I watched on the internet, but made perfect sense after she explained it.  She will borrow some of the "power" from the muscles/nerves that work the up/down motion of my eye and move it to the right side.  So, when looking at me head on, my eye will be straight.  I will continue being able to look left, up and down, but still will not be able to look right.  Just the thought of having a straight eye is so exciting to me!!

After the appointment with Dr. Stevens, I saw Dr. Timoney.  He was very excited about the condition of my eye.  He said the dryness had improved dramatically. He also mentioned possibly jumping in on Dr. Patel's surgery if he plans to do a similar incision.  If not, he will wait until summer after the Strabismus surgery.  I guess I should hear back from him soon about the possibility of the two-in-one surgery.    He also gave me the three pictures he promised.  One was of a CT scan showing the piece of wood protruding through the eye socket and nearly touching my sinus cavity/brain.  A second was the actual piece of wood he removed from my eye that measured 6 cm!  And, the last, was my face in the ER.  You could see muscles, tissue, removed bone, the piece of wood, and lots of blood.  I honestly had prepared myself for worse, but just seeing it made me a little sad because I know what Ella saw that day was not pretty.  It also makes me so very grateful for the progress I've made!  God and those doctors are amazing!  It really is miraculous how the human body works! (I'd totally upload the photos, but I'm not so sure everyone would appreciate them!)

Other than the exciting news about surgeries, Kermie took me to Malone's for lunch.  YUMMY!  I may have been slightly stuffed and sick afterwards, but it was delicious and well worth it.  Here's a picture I took really quick just a minute ago for you to see the latest healing.  Please excuse the messy hair and lack of makeup!  I'm tired and ready for bed :)