No Wonder Ruthie Can't Read!

Okay!... I think I'm finally up and running. Miss Ruthie is doing absolutely fantastic and was ready for action (or so she thought!) within a day of being home. I, on the other hand, am realizing that I do not bounce back like I did in my 30s or even the early to mid 40s! I felt like I was the one who had the nephrectomy. I was so tired that for the first three days back home, I just tried to maintain on an even keel. I still haven't caught up on what's been going on in the lives of all of you. Thank you for all your prayers and kind offers - it meant so much to Bob & me!

While helping Ruthie with her homework, I made a discovery that both embarrasses and makes me feel like an awful mom. We were doing some worksheets that involved counting money - pennies and nickels. They were just mimeographed copies (my sister says I date myself when I use that word!!), and so there was no color involved. I had a handful of pennies and nickels, and I asked Ruthie to match the faces and backs of the real coins with the printed ones. She absolutely could not do it. She is a smart little girl, and I was very surprised at this. I showed her the Abraham Lincoln face and the Thomas Jefferson face, but she could not seem to get the idea of how to match them. I chalked it up to a mental block, and we put them away for the time being. Later when we tried to do her little reading book, she kept putting the book closer and then trying to push it farther away. She was so frustrated and kept saying, "I just can't see it." She has NEVER done this before, so I wondered if this was just a ploy. Nonetheless, since I have transcribed for an ophthalmology group for almost 23 years, I set up an appointment for her, thinking it would be good to rule out a vision problem. You can't imagine my surprise when I learned that Ruthie is extremely farsighted and is about as blind as a bat, which is probably not the politically correct terminology to be using! She has always passed the school eye exams because they are geared for nearsighted children. I asked the doctor how we could have missed this, and he chalks it up to her being very good at accommodating. He used little pictures instead of letters for her eye exam, and Abby was hilarious. When Ruthie would say, she couldn't see the picture, Abby would say, "Ruthie, it's a cake!" or "Ruthie, it's a ..." At least, I know that Abby can see!

So many of you are in bifocals, and for most of you, your add is no higher than a +2.00. Ruthie is a +4.75 in her good eye and a +5.50 in her bad one. I told Ruthie that this is probably why she has been struggling to read. Her doctor looked at me and said that without a doubt this is why she has been struggling to read. She has a little pair of glasses on order, and I can't wait for her to get them. Unfortunately, being farsighted, they will be coke bottle lenses, and Dr. A says they will be such a difference that she will struggle for the first week or two until her brain pathways learn to rechannel. It makes me wonder if they are any other things I am missing.