I would like to also add my special "thank you" to Anne and Mick, Scott and all staff involved in the Variety Club day at McDonalds Cooparoo.

As a Grandparent it was a very moving day for me personally when the presentation of the Braille machines was made to the 4 recipients. It brought tears to my eyes to think that this wonderful organization was helping not only my darling Grand-daughter Caitlyn but 3 other beautiful children. With these Braille machines these children now have the opportunity to expand their learning ability and in turn "write" their own thoughts and ideas as they grow older, and commence their schooling and education.

I myself (at the ripe old age of 59) am going to do my best to learn Braille and in turn be able to sit down in the future with Caitlyn and read to her, and her read to me at a later age.

"Thank you" are only two simple words to express our appreciation to the above mentioned people but they are said with much gratitude.

Yesterday was probably one of the most interesting days we have had in a really long time.

We went to the McDonalds Store at Cooparoo to meet with Mick, Rob and Anne from McDonalds and Variety Club. Mick and Anne own the store and Rob is their manager. They are organising "Variety Day" on the 17th May 2008. Caitlyn is going to be the recipient of a Perkins Braille Machine.

We arrived at approx 9:45 and where welcomed by both Mick and Anne at their McCafe branch. We where then introduced to another couple who are also receiving a Braille Machine.

After a short period of time a Third family arrived so we where able to start taking photos etc in preperation for the event.

Anne and Mick advised us that they will be sending us posters to use around our work and wherever else we can put them up.

We are asking all our friends, family and work mates to come help us out on the day.

Further information will be posted once i receive the information from Variety Club

As the title suggests.. WHERE DO I START!!!!

Today was Huge

We had our usual weekly (and unfortunately last) visit to Narbethong. As of next term, we will be visiting the Gold Coast based group on Thursdays instead of Narbethong on Tuesdays. Caitlyn had a very big day there. Must say a quick thank you and Goodbye to all the staff of Narbethong, From time to time we will try to visit and say Hi.

I also have had a chat with Jim from Narbethong. He is one of the Teaching staff there and along with Kerry, they have asked me to assist as a consultant on the new look Narbethong website. Once it is completed i will post the Link here to allow everyone to look at it.

Next thing that happened today was nothing short of amazing. We met a fantastic boy (14 years old) who has Anophthalmia. He introduced himself to Caitlyn and there is no real way to express the feeling that I had as a parent to see my daughter able to interact with someone who has the same condition. You could see the look on both their faces. It looked to me like Caitlyn knew he had a similar condition. Hopefully we will be able to catch up again with this inspirational young man (as the term boy really doesn't suit his maturity) and the rest of his family.

We got to meet the Specialists today. Our doctor is one of the leading specialists in the field on child vision impairment. His staff are nothing short of amazing. Their care and compassion not only to Caitlyn but towards us cannot be expressed easily. You could sense that they where 110% ready to help us in any way possible. I have asked them if possible and able to, could they please supply any additional information for this website.

Doctor advised us that they will need to do a full inspection of Caitlyns Eye socket and the "Globe" and muscles that are there. This will be completed under sedation so as to not stress Caitlyn out too much. They will also be taking a mould of the eye socket in preperation for her first prosthetic.

Well needless to say it was a long day. We left home at 7:30am and didn't get home till nearly 4:40pm. Caitlyn, Mum and Dad are totally exhausted so will call it a day i think.

Well tommorow is the big day. After our usual visit to Narbethong we will be going to see the specialists for Caitlyn. The visit is at the Royal Childrens Hospital in Brisbane.

Hopefully we will get more answers from the doctors about what we can do for Caitlyn and possibly what caused her condition.

Once we have been we will post more information.

Well what a day I had as I went along for Caitlyns second day at “school”.
The staff are so understanding of the “students”, parents and even the grandma’s that go along to also learn what they can do to assist in the development of their adored grandchildren.
I personally had the opportunity to chat with another grandparent regarding “how we felt” when we learned of our grandchild’s blindness. To be able to express my feelings and have somebody else understand, helped us both immensely.

Well Tuesday was Caitlyns first day at School (playgroup really but hey..). I cannot express how thankfull We where to the staff of Narbethong for the way they welcomed Caitlyn and Ourselves into their school.

Caitlyn was introduced to all the other students and staff of Narbethong upon us arriving. They quickly started to involve her in activities to allow them to judge her current performance and abilities.

All the teachers/OT's and therapists seemed to be very happy with her performance. No signs of any problems at all

Will update again next week after her second visit.

Well, where do i start???

We had a visit to the low vision clinic in Buranda on wednesday. This is part of the Narbethong Centre. I cannot say enough about the services and support that are provided there.

To start with, one of the Teachers there took us for a tour for nearly an hour. They put Caitlyn into several of the "training aids" that they have including the little room and the hammock.