Friday, April 18, 2014

ICE Syndrome & Life's Ups and Downs - Learn, Live and Love



ICE is a lot like life.   It has its ups and downs.   Moments of rest, moments of restlessness.   Moments of laughter, moments of bothersome worry and sadness.     That is exactly how my ICE and my life have been this past year.    But when it comes right down to it, it is all about LIVING.   Trying to get the most out of each day – and having awareness of the moments of each day.    It truly takes practice, and at times, I fail miserably at it.  


And I believe, when the moments of life and ICE are tough, as hard as it is at the time, we learn SO MUCH about life and ourselves, 
 

And while it is SO easy to focus on the tough moments (and I promise you I have done this a lot this past year!), focusing on living the positives keep me going.   Here are a few highlights over the past year.   


A son that brings seasons of  smiles and joy to this mama's face

An unbelievable and rare once-in-a-lifetime experience

No fan of snow on the deck - but FINALLY this stuff has melted and winter is giving itself up to spring!

A new addition to the family!

Hopefully some future posts will elaborate a little more on some of the above highlights!


This past week has been such an example of ups and downs, happiness and sadness.  Lessons learned, moments appreciated.  An example of why LIVING LIFE TODAY is so, so important.   


I reside in a suburb of the Kansas City area – and earlier this week  – a nasty horrific hate crime was committed here less than a couple of miles from where we live.     It resulted in three innocent lives being cut short on a Sunday afternoon.   The evil perpetrator was taken into custody just steps from where I am now.   Scary and immense sadness.    But we learn from it – so many lessons.   It seems over these past few days, everyone around here is just a bit kinder, more loving to each other.   LIVE AND LOVE.     


And then, just three days later, I saw (so thankful to see!) my son break a track school record.   It was his goal - such triumph on my son’s face – such parental happiness for him.   One proud mama.    LIVING AND LOVING.  


Yes, life IS difficult.   ICE IS difficult.   But life is good too - and ICE can be good too if we allow it to be.   It's all in how we choose to react to it.    Up and downs.  Cherish the ups.  Learn from the downs.  And...
 
                                             LIVE AND LOVE THIS DAY.   LIVE AND LOVE THIS MOMENT.

3 comments:

  1. I was diagnosed with ICE last Friday by the Glaucoma specialist and it was confirmed today by the cornea photos. It was very reassuring to find your blog and see someone else handling it and living such a positive life. There isn't much helpful information readily available on the Internet. I've been a little discouraged. Thank you again for your lovely blog.

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  2. Hey guys, ive been living with ICE in my right eye for the past 2 years.

    I've had a shunt installed to controll the pressure and im on drops everyday (twice).

    Are there any good specialists in the US that can recover some or all of the lost vision or at least cure the cloudiness and irritation?

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  3. I had an amazing doctor in California. I received a partial cornea transplant which transformed my life. No pain for almost 5 years. I recently moved to another state. Now trying to find another amazing doctor ... still searching. If you are interested in the doctors name in California: Dr. Brad Elkins in Encino, Californa. He is a god!!

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