Luke the Brave

I am a mom who tortures my kids with taking pictures...so you might think this is Luke "smiling" for yet another picture. But it is not. He hurt his eye.

We had a brief moment this week of warm sunshine so I sent the boys outside. Carter, Luke and the dog were on the trampoline. I heard a cry erupt from outside and I found Luke. I assumed he was tired. About an hour later his eye was swollen and he was complaining about it (he never complains). He even asked to go to bed at 5:30 p.m. so he could close his eyes.

He went to bed at 5:30 p.m. and woke up the next morning still with the eye problem. He was squinting and would not even open his eye.

We went to the pediatrician who saw a scratch on the cornea. They sent us to the ophthalmologist. He had something in his eye, they got it out. He also scratched it so they gave him some ointment. We will go back on Sat to have him checked again.

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Luke was barely bothered by any of it. He knows the routine. He has been to so many of Brayden's appointments that he knows what to expect. He knows the pediatrician and the nurse (really well). He has been to Brayden's ophthalmologist a few times so he knows. Doctor offices are just a part of our life.

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A couple of weeks ago, Luke came with me to another appointment for Brayden and the receptionist suggested Luke not come back and stay in the waiting room with Brayden's attendant. Little did the woman know that Luke has sat through so many doctor appointments that he knows what behavior is acceptable. Luke (and Carter some too but he has been in school) has been to the pediatrician so many times, neurologists, two different GI offices, ENT, cardiologist (he likes to see the echo cardiogram), geneticist, orthopedist, many labs for tube replacements or scans, 4 different hospitals, the ER for himself and Brayden...he knows the routine and it doesn't scare him. He has preferences about which places he likes best based on availability of cafeterias, video games, movies and TVs.

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He also knows how to work the system. He knows which places have stickers or lollipops. He got a sticker at the pediatrician for his eye and a lollipop at the ophthalmologist. And tried to push his luck when he asked for another lollipop at the pharmacy (we are there almost once a week and they know us by name).

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His big treat for being brave during his eye adventure was to pick where to have lunch...he picked Costco. He told me, "We can go through the store first for the snacks then get a berry smoothie."