vision

I see clearly now.. because I graduated!

September 16, 2016by Sheridan Johnson4 Comments

graduate-eye

So let me first start off by saying that God is so so good! We can’t believe what has truly happened to baby girl, and all the healing that has taken place.

If you don’t remember my first post, explaining her Retinopathy of prematurity, this post should help you understand it a little bit more.

We have brought baby girl to our church for them to lay their hands on her, to pray over her healing, all throughout her body, and to restore her body from within. God just keeps blessing her with all the little things, that are going to make such a big impact on her, as she grows.

It’s amazing. And we will have to follow up with her eye doctor in 1 year, and from there, they will test her eyesight and see where we go from there!

Thank you for all the great prayers, and the goodness from the Lord! Hopefully her vision will continue to get better, over time! 🙂

After 5 doctor visits, SHE HAS GRADUATED!! (below is a picture of her eyes and the results from the zones and stages)

20160916_134706

Adoption, growth, milestone

I can see clearly now..well at least better

August 20, 2016August 20, 2016by Sheridan Johnson3 Comments

see

When baby girl was born, she had to be put on the ventilator to be able to breathe and sustain life. Eventually, as her lungs matured, they weaned (decreased) her off the ventilator and on to high flow oxygen (CPAP). Since she was only born at 24 weeks gestation and only 1 pound 3 oz., they had to give her lungs a lot of oxygen (help) to be able to function properly. They were able to eventually put her on regular nasal cannula and able to completely wean her off the oxygen 2 weeks before discharging home.

When a baby is given too much of anything, it can be bad.. and that was the case for baby girl. She was on oxygen for too long, causing damage to the vessels of her eye. Here is a textbook definition of her diagnosis:

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding disease caused by abnormal development of retinal blood vessels in premature infants. The retina is the inner layer of the eye that receives light and turns it into visual messages that are sent to the brain.

Basically, she could have been blind. There are five different stages in which the doctor is able to determine if her eyes are getting better or worse at each visit and draws a picture for us. Here is a description of the five stages:

Stage I — Mildly abnormal blood vessel growth. Many children who develop stage I improve with no treatment and eventually develop normal vision. The disease resolves on its own without further progression.

Stage II — Moderately abnormal blood vessel growth. Many children who develop stage II improve with no treatment and eventually develop normal vision. The disease resolves on its own without further progression.

Stage III — Severely abnormal blood vessel growth. The abnormal blood vessels grow toward the center of the eye instead of following their normal growth pattern along the surface of the retina. Some infants who develop stage III improve with no treatment and eventually develop normal vision. However, when infants have a certain degree of Stage III and “plus disease” develops, treatment is considered. “Plus disease” means that the blood vessels of the retina have become enlarged and twisted, indicating a worsening of the disease. Treatment at this point has a good chance of preventing retinal detachment.

Stage IV — Partially detached retina. Traction from the scar produced by bleeding, abnormal vessels pulls the retina away from the wall of the eye.

Stage V — Completely detached retina and the end stage of the disease. If the eye is left alone at this stage, the baby can have severe visual impairment and even blindness.

Baby girl had stage 3 when we took her home from the NICU. They were VERY concerned about her and wanted to make sure we did NOT miss her first follow-up appointment, because she was only 2 stages away from having her retina detach, causing blindness in both eyes.

We prayed, and prayed and prayed more over baby girl. Even our pastor prayed over her for complete healing in her body. God is so good (even in the bad times), because let me tell you at the first follow up appointment from being released, the Ophthalmologist thought he was looking at a different baby. He called her a “miracle” and how her eyes have gotten so much better, so fast!

Let me show you a little of what we were looking at in the beginning from her first appointment from when she was first born, to now. Her eyes are not completely healed, but we are getting so close and know it’s in her future!

20160820_165423 — She left the hospital at Stage 3, zone 2

20160820_165441 — 2nd appointment Stage 1 zone 3 (getting better!)

20160820_165522 — Same result at 3rd appt. no major changes

All I can say is, wow! She is doing amazing and she is able to follow without straining of any vessels and she really works hard to listen to everything going on around her!

**Please say a little prayer for complete healing of her eyes, and the damage that was done due to being so premature, to be gone and have no lasting effect!**

daily prompt, poetry, writing101

Graffiti

December 16, 2015December 16, 2015by Sheridan Johnson5 Comments

You know that one topic,

that people can either love or hate?

That would be graffiti.

There really is no fine line.

∴

For me, graffiti is a form of expression.

It can be used to express emotions,

such as hope, love, anger

and even tragedy, and loss.

∴

For me, this is powerful.

To be able to see the final product,

of something that was just a mere thought,

a picture, or words on a piece of paper.

∴

For me, graffiti will always be a form of art.

And I will always be that person,

to notice it on a wall, a train,

or on a sidewalk.

∴

For me, graffiti is the unknown.

I may not understand the full

meaning behind the image itself,

but I do know what true beauty is,

when it is right in front of me.

∴

GRAFFITI2

Artist: Unknown

Photos taken by me.

beauty, nature, photography, poetry, writing101

Reflection

December 8, 2015December 9, 2015by Sheridan Johnson11 Comments

On a warm sunny day

there was a woman standing 2 feet

in front of a large oak tree.

The wind was making her long dark hair

sway a little to the left,

making the tips of her hair come off of her shoulder.

While holding her camera in one hand,

she couldn’t help but stare,

at the deep-blue pond that lie 10 feet below her.

It appeared to be that she was looking

at the reflection of God’s creation.

There were four beautiful emerald green trees

standing tall above the water.

From a distance, all she could see in the water,

was a reflection of four trees.

But as she looked closely through her camera lens,

she could now see the life that was living among the trees.

She could see the reflection of the two squirrels running quickly,

jumping from limb to limb chasing each other.

She could see the reflection from a bird,

pecking on wood in the middle of the tree.

If she looked really close,

she could see the shadow from the flock of migrating ducks,

flying slowly across the sky.

Once the woman was done taking her pictures,

she packed up her camera,

turned around and gave the pond one more good look,

gave a soft smile, as if to thank God

for showing her that true beauty still exists,

and then opened up her car door, started the engine, and drove off.