A Meaningful Living Room Update

You know the feeling you get when you walk into a store and your eye is immediately drawn to a piece that you just have to have?  A piece that no matter what you do you just can't get it out of your head.  It could be a rug, a picture, an amazing pillow, a unique vintage item, anything.  I got that very feeling when I was browsing online and came upon a numbered eye chart.  I had such a strong feeling about this piece and knew it would be the perfect addition to our living room.

It might look like an ordinary eye chart to most, but to me it means more, so much more.

It's not too often that I get personal on the blog, but today I wanted to share a bit about my son's journey.  This child has no fear and is constantly keeping us on our toes.  Not only has he been rushed to the hospital for an allergic reaction, but he has also broken his clavicle, bumped and bruised his head more times than I can count and suffered through a pretty serious eye injury.  You can see why we jokingly call him crash.


It was two days before Christmas when he opened a ClosetMaid cabinet door, cutting his eye.  He was at my parents at the time, and although he cried at first he quickly bounced back to his normal curious self.

He slept fairly well most of the night, but when he woke up the next morning his eye was swollen and he was in a lot of pain.  We took him to urgent care where we were told he had a cornea abrasion.  I thought, okay I can handle this, it's only a small cut that will heal fairly quickly.  We were given eye drops and told to follow up with a pediatric ophthalmologist the next day.

Well, he ended up becoming so extremely fussy that I called our pediatric eye Dr. and got an appointment right away.  Unfortunately,  Owen would scream whenever light got near his eye and they were unable to get a good look at his injury.  We ended up coming home with even more drops and suffered through another rough night.

The next morning was Christmas day and what should have been a happy time quickly turned into a very stressful and scary day.

I knew something was not right as soon as Owen woke up.  His eye was worse and his pupil, which should have been black was cloudy and gray.  We couldn't even turn the lights on or open the blinds without him screaming.  We called our eye Dr and left a message on the emergency line explaining his symptoms.  He called us back immediately and said he was very concerned and to meet at his office right away.  Christmas morning was put on hold while we rushed to meet the doctor.

With much kicking and screaming the doctor was finally able to see the extent of his injuries.  It wasn't just a cornea abrasion, it was worse.  He had cut his cornea straight down the middle and it was deep, very deep.  Given that it was Christmas morning the doctor was unable to reach a cornea surgeon in the area.  We were once again given more medication and were to meet the cornea surgeon at the hospital the next day. 

The surgeon was able to get a good look an estimated his cornea was cut about 70% through.  Best case scenario it would heal with only a minor scar, worse case he would need surgery or possibly a cornea transplant.   We spent the next week in and out of the hospital making sure his eye was healing properly.

It was a long few weeks and months as we went back and forth to the cornea surgeon an eye doctor every couple weeks for about a year.   He was supposed to wear an eye patch on his good eye to force his bad eye to work harder, but that didn't go over too well.  Try making a toddler wear an eye patch and see how that goes.  Getting him to sit still for his 3-4 different eye medications 3 times a day was enough of a challenge.    

Gauze and tape ended up being the only thing to work, but that just looked ridiculous.  

We ended up using prescription dilating drops every fews day for about a year.  This forced his bad eye to work harder since his good eye was dilated and blurry most of the time. 

Over the course of the last few years Owen has spent many hours in the doctors office reading eye charts and getting his eye examined.  Slowly, his eye started to heal and the scar reduced. Thankfully, he managed to escape surgery and any major lasting effects from his accident.  He still has a scar and his vision isn't perfect, but it could have been much worse.   It was a scary time for our family and we are thankful everyday that things turned out as well as they did.  

The numbered eye chart is more than just a piece of art that completes our living room.  Not only do I love numbers (hello, I have a number 4 in almost every room), but It's a constant reminder of how far my son has come and how precious life is.   It's more than just a piece of art, it tells a story about our family and that is exactly what I want from the items in our home.

I was given product from Wayfair.com, all opinions are my own. 

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