As hard as it is for a child to go through the process of glasses, surgery and patching, sometimes it can be just as hard on the parents.
I know this from experience - my daughter Hannah was diagnosed with amblyopia and strabsimus when she was just two years old. For all we knew, amblyopia and strabismus were some type of foreign holiday pastry. But we soon became all too literate, learning everything we could about the human eye and brain.
It's a pretty terrifying thing to be told that your toddler could lose her sight if preventative measures are not taken. I remember asking, "Is there any chance this might just go away?" When the doctor said no, we became vision experts! Once we knew what was ahead of us - glasses, surgery, patching - we followed doctor's orders.
The first thing we tried was simply wearing glasses, which we hoped might correct Hannah's strabismus by bringing the "lazy" eye into focus. However, her vision remained 20/200 and her eye continued to wander, so we knew surgery was the next step. We learned that the eye and brain are like a video camera and a TV - if the camera isn't able to focus and send clear pictures to the TV, then there is no picture! The brain will eventually stop receiving messages from the eye, and stop building bridges to carry those messages. The point was to keep those bridges open, and force the eye to keep sending messages through patching.
Our pediatric ophthalmologist, Dr. Deena Leonard, was a tremendous source of calm. She let us know our options, wasn't opposed to getting a second opinion, and did a masterful job with Hannah's surgery.
Hannah wore a patch on and of for four years, which was quite an experience in itself! Trying to convince a toddler to put a sticky bandage over her good eye, basically disabling her vision, was an uphill battle. The Prevent Blindness America "Eye Patch Club" did help with incentives. Getting letters of encouragement from Patch the Dog and seeing that calendar fill up with little blue paw stickers each month got us through it all.
I think every kid who has to patch should be part of the Eye Patch Club. It makes them feel like they are not alone, and it adds a tiny bit of fun to an otherwise difficult chore. There is no getting around the fact that vision problems like amblyopia and strabismus are very serious conditions, and we as parents must do everything possible to help our children see better. It sometimes feels like an unbearable burden - why can't medicine or surgery fix this? Why do we have to do so much work ourselves? But in the end, all the doctor and hospital visits, all the internet research, all the hours of encouraging patching - it all pays off!
Hannah is now in third grade and has made huge strides in her vision. The surgery to correct her alignment has been perfectly maintained, and while she still has a deficiency in her left eye (even with glasses), she's up to 20/50 or 20/60 from 20/200.
We are thankful to our doctor and Prevent Blindness America for helping us become better educated about vision problems and giving us the tools to work through them.
Our discussion forum is visited by parents from around the country who share concerns, questions and advice about their children with amblyopia.
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