Brooke's Vision: When Life Hands You Lemons

Friday, November 30, 2012

When Life Hands You Lemons

What a crazy week it has been! So, because of the expense of Brooke's surgery we had decided to close my Art studio in Texas. Our hope was that we could save the expenses of running the studio and put it towards Brooke's fund. Well, unfortunately we signed a lease that won't let us out without losing our deposit plus a really hefty fee that exceeds the cost of Brooke's surgery. So we have to keep the studio.

That's just the way it is, and we did agree to this so we have to stick to our commitment there. It's not a bad thing, because at least we will be able to continue our charity, and Brooke loves playing with all the kids that come so it will be fine. Just think of all the kids we will still be able to help. Of course it doesn't hurt that we will still get to host fun crops and classes too!

It's another hurtle but we can get through it. Brooke loves hearing me read your comments, she keeps telling everyone that she has lots of friends now. Her Grandma, (My Mom) is flying in for Christmas and she is so excited she's been sneaking some of the paintings to give to her lol! Brooke also likes beading and she said today that she wants to make all her friends bracelets too lol! I'm not sure we'll go down that route with a little booger crawling around.

Anywho, we would like to extend our thanks to all of you for your support! It really means so much, please don't forget to send us pics of you with your art piece or of your art piece on your wall etc. I know Brooke will be so excited to see it!

xoxo

Marion & Brooke

P.s. Check out my baby boy Beckam eating a lemon lol!

1 comment:

VanmaitaiDecember 1, 2012 at 4:38 PM
Awww That's so cute she actually likes to hear the comments!! She's the cutest friend anyone can have =) Much luck to you all with the studio and the fund raising.
-Van
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Hello!

My name is Marion Smith, I created this blog for my daughter Brooke she is 3 years old and has Esotropia Strabismus. It's a condiotion where your brain never learns to properly use your eyes together at the same time. Her condition is actually a little more complicated than that though because Brooke has begun losing her vision in her left eye. This was quite a shock to us because initially when we had her seen for her eyes being crossed we were told she would grow out of it and that is wasn't a concern. Two years later she hadn't grown out of it so we took her to be seen again. We were then told that she needed to see a specialist. So we called a specialist only to find out that in our area there were very few that actually worked on children. Well, we finally found one that was over an hour away and the soonest appointment we could get was nearly 7 months away. We made the appointment and 7 months later were told she needed to have surgery as soon as possible because her vision in the one eye was down by 10%. So we were sent to another specialist that operates on children but the nearest appointment was now 6 months away. We ended up moving to Texas between that time and our Insurance had changed to a private insurance. Well that was our first downfall, because we just found out now that they won't cover her surgery because it is a pre-existing condition. Not only that but we were told to be prepared for her to need multiple surgeries. To add to the urgency we were also updated that her vision in the one eye had dwindled down now by 30%! So basically she now can only see about 70 feet in the one eye which she was able to see 90 feet just last year.

Brooke also has no depth perception meaning she does not see 3D, this is why when she was younger she seemed to be clumbsy. She also sees double vision all the time unless she just uses her good eye. As of recently, I have been doing eye therapy with her on my own to teach her to alternate between eyes instead of just using her good eye all the time. This has been very helpful because it's forcing her to use her bad eye instead of shutting it off all the time and only using her good eye. This is also keeping the vision in that one eye from getting worse. (We hope!) She has caught on quickly to the therapy and she now does alternate eyes but still can't use them together.

So to wrap this up, we are desperately trying to find a way to pay for her first surgery to save her vision. We have to pay for it completely out of pocket and the cost exceeds $7,500, and that's just the surgeon's fees. Fortunately we can save and pay for some of it, but coming up with all of it before her vision gets worse is what's difficult for us. So we started this blog where Brooke will be selling her art work for any donation amount. I thought it would be a fun way for her and us to raise a little bit of money so we could get her surgery done as soon as possible.

I never want to ask for donations, because I know there are folks out there who are worse off than us, and despite everything I feel very fortunate to have what we have. So I thought if we could sell something precious and beautiful that is one of a kind at least we would have something to give back to show our thanks. Brooke loves making art, and I hope you all can see the purity and love that goes into each piece she makes. Making art is actually very therapeutic for her and her vision because the attention to detail it requires. She makes art every day anyway, and to be honest we are running out of room on our walls and refrigerator, so it would be wonderful if some of her art could make it on to your walls and refrigerator. If you decided to purchase an original art piece, please send us a picture of it on your wall or refrigerator so we can share it on this blog. I know Brooke would love to see it!