Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2009 already!! 2008 was filled with excitement, disappointment, pride, heartache, and above all....hope. I can't believe that in one year we discovered that there was hope for Brandon in China, raised the money AND spent 6 weeks in a Chinese hospital. Through it all, Brandon was such a trooper and for that, I am very proud to be called his mother.

First Christmas "AC" (After China). Brandon loved Christmas this year. He enjoyed looking at all the Christmas decorations and even helped decorate. (He was even disappointed when it was time to box everything up for the year). For Christmas he received....TOYS TOYS AND MORE TOYS! He got a new XBox and some other video games. He also got a glow in the dark drawing board. The list is endless and for the moment my mind is blank but he received several items to help stimulate his vision. Oh and he received a stack of books.......IN PRINT!! A couple of weeks before Christmas he received a CCTV which has been a wonderful aid. He can look at his books without straining with the CCTV.

New Year.... Now that that chapter in our life is over, we look towards the future with great optimism. We will always be grateful for everyone who helped Brandon. Now as we focus ahead towards a new life, we know that it can only get better for our family. Brandon has been thriving and we are so happy. Did the treatment make a huge difference? Maybe not a huge difference but it did help Brandon. He will never have perfect vision and we have accepted that. Over the next few years, we'll be able to understand more about what he can see and how we can help to make his life a productive one. He is able to navigate for the most part without a cane. In fact he does not use one outside of school. He is able to see steps where before he could not. For us that is a great improvement because it further helps him to navigate in his surroundings. The sky is the limit for him.

What's Next....We are currently trying to decide what is best for our family now. We are looking at relocating so John will be able to work closer to home without being gone for weeks at a time. We'll keep you informed on our decision!! Happy New Year!!