tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978Fri, 01 Nov 2024 06:26:01 +0000childrenCoats DiseaseParentingCoats UpdateCryopexyvitrectomyTantrumsworking momChildhood ScenesCoates DiseasePrayerVision checklaserEpiretinal membraneHolidaysMilestonesArt andCraftBeach VacationChristmasCold and CoughIllnessMy MotherSchool HolidaysSummer Campchildren's movieseye examfancy dress competitionjittersmacular puckershoppingAccidentAnesthesiaBangaloreBorewellCoats PhotoExudatesFeverFinding NemoFirst crushGrowing PainsHairstyleHeroesKidQuotesKnock knock jokesMahatma GandhiMoviesMumMunnabhai MBBSOutsmarting MommyParenting ChildrenPhotographyPixarPizzaPregnancySmartKidSpectaclesSports DayStage FrightSubhas Chandra BoseThank youTiger EyeUnusual ActivityWedding anniversaryWinningZitsautorickshawbabieseye pressurefloatersfriendsgrandparentsjob changemilk teeth get loosepost-cryo swellingquestionssex and violence in the mediaworking mom's guiltMy nine-year-old son is the center of my universe. This is the story of his childhood as it unfolds. Please read the first post, "Why I started this blog," to know more.http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)Blogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-602710271570594243Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:59:00 +00002011-09-15T18:41:28.381+05:30Coats DiseaseHolidaysSchool HolidaysIt's been nearly a year and a half since Munchkin's last two surgeries (a cryo and laser in April 2010 and a vitrectomy in May 2010). We have an eye exam coming up towards the end of the month. And already, the dread is starting to build. Why? Because we've never gone so long without surgery ever since his condition was diagnosed back in July 2007. He's nine now (tenth birthday coming up in Jan) http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2011/09/eye-exam-coming-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-8009180803284833851Sun, 07 Aug 2011 09:22:00 +00002011-08-07T14:56:30.892+05:30Coats UpdateThings went well, otherwise I'd have posted earlier (I think!) The swelling (macular pucker) has totally subsided (the vitrectomy took place in May 2010) and it's taken that long for things to return to 'normal'.It's been one long year since then. Possibly the worst year yet for our family as a whole. But the silver lining has been that Munchkin's Coats has been stable for over a year now.The http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2011/08/late-update-on-april-2010-eye-exam.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-1911292336163018872Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:04:00 +00002010-10-15T22:57:08.308+05:30Coats UpdateSpectaclesWe went back for the follow-up eye exam last Saturday. Munchkin got slightly irritated as usual with all the waiting. But after I agreed to Chinese for lunch, was not just well-behaved but was more or less stuck to me like super glue.The doc said the condition was stable - and for the first time in the 3+ years that we've been seeing him - said that there was some evidence that Coats tended to http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/10/some-more-relief.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-6752310303522164595Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:16:00 +00002010-07-25T21:49:33.407+05:30Cryopexyeye exameye pressurevitrectomyWe weren't able to meet the Glaucoma specialist last week, so there was little choice but to spend another Saturday morning at the eye hospital. Thankfully, there was no dilation of the eyes involved. And after a bunch of other tests (refraction and eye pressure) the consultant finally said that Munchkin didn't need the eye drops any more. :o)We go back in September for a regular follow-up.http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/07/eye-pressures-ok.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-2090358621255485149Sat, 17 Jul 2010 16:19:00 +00002010-07-17T21:58:03.637+05:30Coats DiseaseCoats UpdateWe had another follow-up exam at the hospital today. (The last one was on June 19, but I couldn't post right after - too much going on.) They did an OCT and progress seems good. The pucker is not so bad and 'high' any more. It seems to be subsiding. But the doctor says it will take time for it to go back down completely. Which means that Munchkin's vision is still a little blurry. But thank http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/07/post-vitrectomy-update.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-2115837293722092095Thu, 20 May 2010 17:12:00 +00002010-05-20T22:48:05.069+05:30Coats DiseaseEpiretinal membranemacular puckerParentingvitrectomyI'm stopping the posts on this blog after last night. A lot happened that shouldn't have. But it did. I will post updates on Munchkin's Coats condition. And I will reply to anyone who wants to know more about Coats and cryo and laser and vitrectomy. (He's recovering quite well, thank God.)The centre of my universe - the raison d'etre for this blog - well, let's just say the axis has shifted, http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/05/pause.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-2418866586935415995Wed, 19 May 2010 15:47:00 +00002010-05-19T21:30:19.016+05:30Coats DiseaseTantrumsvitrectomyIt's the one thing I was dreading...the most natural instinctive action first thing in the morning is to rub your eye - especially one that's had ointment kohl-ed into it the previous night. For all my hawkeyed monitoring, I couldn't grab the kiddo's hand in time to stop a solitary rub of his eyelid (yes, the one that had been operated on). An hour later, the eyelid was swollen and I was http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/05/swelling-scare.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-7595597285193082461Tue, 18 May 2010 16:42:00 +00002010-05-18T22:39:55.678+05:30Coats DiseaseEpiretinal membranevitrectomyOkay, so maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic here, what with the over-the-top post title. But really, it does seem that way. Let me take a step back, though and continue from where I left off.Last Tuesday night, a couple of hours after he went to sleep, Munchkin woke up and started throwing up every hour or so. From around 1.30 am to around 6.45 am. There was nothing to do but reschedule the http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/05/life-in-aftermath-of-vitrectomy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-2311474129050976159Sun, 09 May 2010 14:52:00 +00002010-05-09T20:44:18.871+05:30Coats DiseaseCoats UpdatePrayervitrectomyThe laser and cryo (very little) that Munchkin had on 7 April did nothing for the membrane. So the doctor wants to go ahead with the vitrectomy (scheduled for 12 May). The good news is that they have some new equipment - finer needles, more accurate readings/images, etc. Which means that the scarring will be minimal and recovery should be faster.I'm still pretty terrified because this is an http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/05/vitrectomy-due.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-2532065818179155885Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:37:00 +00002010-03-28T21:13:33.931+05:30AnesthesiaCoats UpdateCold and CoughWhen we took Munchkin to the doctor on Saturday, he had a very very mild dry cough. The anesthetist said we would be a better judget of how bad the cough was, or would get, and advised us to check with his pediatrician whether it would be okay for Munchkin to have general anesthesia on Wednesday.When we got back home in the afternoon, he saw kids playing in the swimming pool in our apartment http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/03/slight-cold-and-cough-im-worried.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-8990795185027396374Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:51:00 +00002010-03-27T21:30:09.219+05:30Coats DiseaseCryopexylaservitrectomyI'm going to be really quick about this, because frankly, my mind is really numb. It's not just that the Coats has become active again, it's just a whole lot of stuff around the house and the little fellow's tantrums, especially at sleep time.Munchkin had an angiogram today. He did cry a bit - more because he was just plain scared rather than the actual pain of having a needle injected into a http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/03/vitrectomy-on-hold-laser-next-week.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-4689223978065879258Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:43:00 +00002010-03-20T21:28:37.669+05:30Coats DiseaseCoats UpdateEpiretinal membranemacular puckervitrectomyTwo weeks back, I took Munchkin for his six-monthly eye exam. And for some strange reason, I had this weird feeling in my gut that something wasn't right. It was that 15-month period again and I thought I was being superstitious or just plain idiotic. Unfortunately, we didn't get to hear that the disease was stable. There's now a membrane formed over the retina of his affected eye - the doctor http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2010/03/epiretinal-membrane-due-to-coats.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-9022411264741064373Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:51:00 +00002009-10-04T21:23:25.659+05:30Coats UpdateI can't apologize enough for not having posted this 6 weeks back when we first got the news - which tells me I was doing too much and not thinking straight.Munchkin's Coats is STABLE and our poker-faced, near-reticent doctor went to the extent of saying it was "better" - which must be true, because he's asked to come after SIX months! :o) Now that's what I call GOOD NEWS!Thank you, dear God.http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-still-stable.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-8764876577090253036Mon, 18 May 2009 15:23:00 +00002009-05-18T21:02:23.758+05:30Coats DiseaseCoats UpdatePrayerThe Coats is stable!! Even better, some of the exudates seem to have been absorbed! :-)The wait for the appointment seemed interminable. The April 19th date got pushed to the 23rd, which got pushed to May 16, and then today, the 18th. We called ahead to confirm that Munchkin's doctor had actually come in and then set out to the hospital, a 45-minute drive from our house.When we got there, we http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/05/yay.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-7692414092411415051Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:29:00 +00002009-04-28T21:40:43.227+05:30Coats Diseaseeye examjittersPrayerLast week, I was prepping my son for his quarterly eye-exam (the doc told us on Jan 19, "I'll see him in 3 or 4 months.") and he finally asked the question I've been dreading ever since he was diagnosed with Coats in July 2007.He was fussing about the stinging he has to bear because of the eye dilation drops they put into both his eyes when he suddenly blurted: "Why did this happen to me, Mamma?"http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/04/why-me-question-i-was-dreading.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-7162742994070350676Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:43:00 +00002009-01-19T21:27:43.016+05:30Coats UpdateCryopexyParentingTantrumsI made a big mistake this morning. I told my son that his eye exam today would not involve dilation drops. I thought I was right because the doctor had never had his eyes dilated so soon after a round of cryo. But this time he did, and I was in the dock for my 'false promise'.Worse, it took inordinately long for our turn to come (which meant I didn't get to work until lunch!) during which time http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/01/post-cryo-eye-exam-back-to-school.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-7975959617451805577Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:41:00 +00002009-01-17T21:17:03.530+05:30childrenCoats UpdateCryopexyMy MothershoppingIt's been an awful couple of weeks in terms of endurance. The one bright spot has been that the swelling in Poppet's eye is so much lower now. He's going to have a black eye, though, now that the swelling is down.He's been very cranky - throwing tantrums and whatnot. He broke his spectacle frames a fit of anger last week and I've had to shell out a nifty sum for a new pair because the lenses werehttp://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/01/out-of-hazesomewhat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-7815252524871606803Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:27:00 +00002009-01-11T19:51:10.791+05:30Coats DiseaseCryopexylaserpost-cryo swellingMunchkin's cryo procedure finally happened last Thursday. He was taken in around 9.30 and was out by 10.30 - on a guerney with a dextrose drip and oxygen mask. A few minutes later, however, he started to thrash around and scream again. The scary memories of his first procedure came flooding back. At that time, he'd been only five-and-a-half. This time, he was nearly seven and it took his father, http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/01/cryo-and-scary-swelling.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-3314352452252984328Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:56:00 +00002009-01-19T21:29:45.523+05:30Coats DiseaseCryopexyParentingTantrumsMunchkin's cryo treatment got postponed last Wednesday. This time, he was aware that he hadn't eaten anything since Tuesday's dinner (late, at 10 pm) and worse, he wasn't the first in line for his procedure at the hospital. There were three babies - all under 2 years old - ahead of him.It was tough on him: the little tyke kept saying he was hungry every half hour. Only my mother had the fortitudehttp://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/01/cryo-cancelled-tantrums-extended.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-4229846110834060951Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:20:00 +00002009-01-06T20:55:58.300+05:30Coats DiseaseCryopexylaserPrayerThis morning, I was...well, not quite functioning. Now, just an hour before bed, I'm strangely calm. Tomorrow morning, we take Munchkin to the hospital for his third round of cryo - there's not too many you can do because cryo is destructive by nature.If you read this, please pray that my son's treatment is successful and the leakage never, NEVER recurs.Tonight, all I have is my son - the best http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/01/tonight-just-prayer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-6564894482992163714Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:53:00 +00002009-01-04T21:28:45.157+05:30Coats DiseaseCryopexyjittersParentingI honestly don't know what's happening to me. I take one look at my son and I feel like dissolving into tears. I'm terrified about the on Wednesday - as I've said over and over, the anesthesia is terrifying. I've myself dealt with it without trouble twice and this is going to the Shreyaan's third time, but somehow, this time I'm coming apart at the seams.A little while back, he was giving me somehttp://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2009/01/am-falling-apart.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-5326214520043533950Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:32:00 +00002008-12-26T21:08:07.686+05:30grandparentsHolidaysTomorrow we leave for my son's first visit to his grandparents' house. We haven't visited my in-laws in years for a variety of reasons (some history and some serious lack of leave). But tomorrow, we're headed there for a quick, week-long trip. There are two shrines to visit and we'll hopefully spend the rest of our time hanging around the house and not being fed to bursting point by http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2008/12/off-to-gramps.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-1992631680823621895Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:00:00 +00002008-12-23T22:31:10.834+05:30childrenParentingshoppingOn Sunday, Munchkin and I went shopping. First stop, the toy shop for a remote-controlled car. We got one that had it's own pit-stop 'home' and four extra tyres. The little tyke is thrilled.Then we stopped at the optician to pick up a pair of nearly wraparound sunglasses for the post-cryo trip next Saturday.Then the shoe store for a pair of floaters for the growing boy.And then the stationery http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2008/12/sonny-me-on-sunday-shopping.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-6247403965067314611Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:37:00 +00002008-12-21T15:16:02.887+05:30Coats DiseaseCoats UpdateVision checkThe leakage has started again. We found out at the hospital yesterday. Munchkin was really irritated about keeping his eyes closed for them to be dilated. And somehow, ever since we left home, I was expecting bad news. We've had three exams in the past year, all of which indicated that my son's Coats was stable. I had wondered whether our good fortune would sustain.This time, the exudates (old http://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-treatment-needed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205053530582622978.post-5335165642532948425Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:41:00 +00002008-12-19T22:32:34.391+05:30childrenCoats DiseaseCoats UpdateParentingVision checkLast Christmas, I was thrilled to post that my son's Coats Disease had stabilized after two rounds of cryo and laser. It was my best Christmas gift ever.Now it's that time of the year again. And just like last year, the eye exam has been delayed twice for one reason or another. He's actually not past his due date but I usually start early because I work myself up into such a frenzy that I want tohttp://shonazstory.blogspot.com/2008/12/pre-eye-exam-jitters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (WRITING MOMMY)1