Day +211....a little bump in the road

Hey guys! These are always the posts that I do not like writing; bad news posts. This past week Dylan's eyes have been 'leaking' almost all day long. This has been something that we were used to, but it seemed to get worse this week. Along with the extra tears, came redness in his eyes. We attributed these symptoms to allergies, because it seemed like everyone's allergies were out of control. Then, yesterday, his left eye seemed to get worse....really red. I put him down for his afternoon nap hoping that it would go away a little bit and tried not to make a big deal of it. When he woke up, it was worse. I called Dr. G and told him about the redness. I only got worried because that is how Abby's leukemia came back. And it started as a redness in her eye. He told me to try to get an emergency appointment, just in case anything was going on, but he did not think that it could be anything bad. I called down to the pediatric opthomologist and told them about D's past with cancer and they promptly got me to see the doc for the last appointment. I really believe that the Lord gives mothers an intuition that only he could give. Before his nap that day, I was not really worried or even too alarmed at his red eye. But then everything changed...and I FREAKED OUT! And I know that was at God's prompting...maybe NOT the freaking out, but the wisdom to get him checked that day!
When we got to the doctor, we had no idea what he was going to find. These days, we never know what is going to happen. The only words we were yearning to hear was....ITS NOT CANCER. After his examination, he had a very concerned look on his face and I held back the tears as much as I could, even though they were already streaming down my face as kissed Dylan's head over and over. Then the words came, "It's NOT the Leukemia!"....PRAISE GOD!!! Well, if it was not the leukemia, then what WAS it? Why was he so concerned? He then began to tell us that he believes that Dylan has Glaucoma, and severe nearsightedness. Glaucoma?? I never even knew kids could get that! Glaucoma is caused from pressure in the eye, causing it to swell. He described Dylan's eye as a tire that has been pumped up to the max. If it goes untreated or is caught too late, then it can cause blindness and also severe nerve damage. We are still unsure if Dylan has had this from birth, or if it is a side effect of the steroids he has been on for 7 months. The steroids can cause the eye to swell, but he has been on very small amounts for the past 2 months, so they do not know if that is causing it. The doctor that saw us was not a glaucoma specialist and he did not have the tools to measure the pressure in his eye, but he was convinced by what he saw and Dylan's symptoms that glaucoma is the diagnosis. We are going to see a specialist this week and will hopefully be able to get some more information on what we need to do to help Dylan. They may have to put him under anesthesia (nothing new to D) in order to get the measurements they need, and get a final diagnosis. At this time, nothing is for certain and we do not know specifics. We hope to get more answers this week. Please pray for us as this is just another setback in our efforts to "live a normal life". We know that the Lord has a plan in everything, and He is leading us and with us, on every step of our journey. Please pray for our family as we take this little detour on our road to recovery. It is hard not to think ahead of what 'could happen' or 'worst case scenarios'. We need to focus on today, knowing that God will take care of tomorrow. Please pray for baby D that he is not in any pain or discomfort. We thank you all for continuing this journey with us and we will update as soon as we find out any new information! We love you guys! Oh, and one more thing.....Dylan is going to be a year old next friday!! CRAZY!! We are so excited to celebrate with everyone!

Walking by faith,
The Praskins