Brandon turns 9

It's hard to believe Brandon is 9 today. This time last year was such a hectic and exciting time for us as we prepared to go to China. Brandon is doing quite well with his sight. A couple of weeks ago we were driving by a school and Brandon asked if that was his school. It was exciting because no one had mentioned we were driving by a school. It wasn't his school but it was A school. He can tell us the color of the vehicles that we drive by or park by. He rarely has a bad day which is great because those were horrible. I would feel so bad for him every time he bumped into a wall or tripped over something. He can play hide & seek with his little brother now (and actually find him!) Oh and he's doing absolutely incredible with his video games. He loves to race motorcycles on the game AND HE CAN BEAT IT! We are just so proud of him and his accomplishments that he's made. Awhile after we got back from China, I was a bit discouraged because I wasn't sure if the things he was seeing was new or if he could see them before treatment. I was afraid that I wasn't the best person to judge his sight. His eye Dr. wasn't being straight with us because he didn't want people to think the stem cell therapy actually helped. He encouraged us before we went to China then afterwards his attitude had changed. I believe the Dr. had received some heckling from fellow Dr's. We have not been back to see him since. I would like to see where Brandon is at on his sight but if the Dr. cannot give him an accurate examination, I refuse to take him back. I'm currently looking for another Dr so hopefully we'll have an update soon. Brandon is looking forward to starting school on August 16th. I'm sure once it starts he won't be so excited but that's normal.

A New Blog

First of all let me say that Brandon is still doing well. He gets out of school in 13 days. Everyday he marks it off on the calendar that way we won't forget :) Like he'll forget when school gets out. I've decided to change the dynamics of this blog. Instead of telling everyone the same old "Brandon's doing great". I've decided that since we're past the whole China experience, I'll focus on our family in general. Of course if there's anything new to report, I'll make sure I post it on here. So without further notice, welcome to "our family blog".

Spring is in the Air

I just realized how long it's been since I updated Brandon's Blog. I always thought that once we returned from China that I would keep it current and update regularly. Guess I was fooling myself. Brandon is great. Not visually but over all he's doing quite well. I would say visually we haven't seen much changes (if any) since the last update. I am disappointed in that aspect because I thought we would continue to see improvements for a year after being in China. However his bad days are less frequent than before. Before treatment he would have days where he couldn't see anything. He still has those days but it happens less often than before. He's still experiencing severe headache's and for that I'm a bit concerned. He has suffered from headaches for most of his life and they don't seem to be slowing down. We are thinking about taking him back to the neurologist but we know what he'll say. They want to check his cranial pressure by placing these bolt like things under his scalp in order to monitor the pressure for 48 hours. We really don't want to put Brandon through that but our options are limited. I'm sure we'll make a decision in the next few weeks. Other than that, Brandon is growing really fast. I think he's going through a growth spurt. He's looking forward to school being out next month and for his birthday in July. It's hard to believe he's going to be 9. Time really has been slipping by us. It still doesn't seem like it's been 8 months since we were in China. 8 MONTHS. Still doesn't seem possible.

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!!