We have now been home since Wednesday night and already we are falling back into our regular routine. Maya is doing fantastically well. There is no better way to put it. She is laughing, smiling, hugging, running, jumping, playing and eating like a champ. Role-playing has taken up much of our play-time as she has pretended to be the doctor, the nurse, the patient and the mommy. Through her role-playing, she is healing herself. It has allowed her to come to terms with what happened and to put it into words. See the attached picture to see examples of all the healing she has performed. There have been broken arms, booboos in eyes and a broken back.
We have watched as her eye turned from shades of black and blue to red and purple and now to yellows and greens. The swelling seems to have disappeared overnight and today, her eye is open. This was a moment I was anticipating with some butterflies, but I'm relieved to say that it's really no big deal. She has a large clear contact lens in her eye to make sure the tissues keep their shape until the prosthesis is put in. She spent many minutes looking in the mirror this morning and she seems quite pleased with the result.
We went out as a family to run errands for the first time this morning. Again, I had butterflies wondering how others around us would react to what they saw. We ran into people we knew and she explained the whole situation to them: "I had a booboo in my eye and the doctors had to take my eye out. Now my eye is starting to open up again!" So simple and concise yet filled with so much wisdom for such a young child.
Little sister Ella, who I have failed to mention in my past posts, is doing wonderfully as well. The most difficult part for her this week was being away from us for most of the time. When she first saw Maya after the surgery, she looked at her face for a short time, heard Maya talk to her and probably figured "Hey, it's still my favorite big sister". She hasn't seemed phased by the changes at all. Her biggest preoccupation in the days that followed our homecoming was getting lots of hugs and snuggles from us...and of course tearing the house upside down and touching everything she is not supposed to touch (that was our first clue that she was just fine!).
What Maya and Ella have taught us over the last two weeks, as well as all the sick kids we saw, is this: Live in the present moment. Children have this natural and magical gift of living in the now; not in the past and not looking to the future, but now. This is what Robbie and I are now attempting to do. We are enjoying this time as a family and this quality time with our girls. Last week is over and tomorrow is not here yet. Although it's sometimes difficult to do, it sure brings us a lot of comfort.
Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning: Maya and her animals and dolls, and Tino, a little blue bear friend that the hospital lent us. Tino, just like Maya, lost his eye and now has a prosthesis that can be taken out. The girls really like him and enjoy the book that comes with him. This is a product that comes from France and is almost impossible to order. It is given to all retinoblastoma patients in France before they go home. Sainte-Justine hospital has only one and they generously lent it to us until we go back.
Thank you again for all your thoughts and candles. I personnally thank you all for all the kinds things you have said about my posts. I am honoured that so many of you feel inspired by our story. I will continue to write as inspiration hits me...
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