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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Glasses


Since Parker failed her vision screens at her 3- and 4-year check-up...we visited the pediatric ophthalmologist for the first time a little over a year ago.  At that appointment- they found her to be a little far-sighted (which he said was normal for her age) and for her eye to have the tendency to want to turn in a bit.  But that she was fine and looking like she was correcting it all on her own.  He told us to come back in a year, or before if we noticed her to be turning in her eye more.

Well- December was when her year was up and it was a little too crazy schedule-wise to get her an appointment.  But I did get her one scheduled (it just wasn't until today).  Turns out, though, that about a month ago I started noticing her to turn her eye in more frequently.  She also came home from school one day a few weeks ago telling us that she needed glasses because she couldn't see when the teacher held up things in front of the class.  

All red flags in my mind, and I was glad that she already had an appointment made.

The doctor only sees kids on Mondays and Wednesdays so I had to pick her up from school early (which she loved).

The verdict:
She's going to try out glasses for at least 2 months.  The deal is: she is a little bit far-sighted.  But he said  this is somewhat normal for kids her age.  What was concerning was the turning in of her eye.

Where we go from here:
Put her in glasses.  Come back in 2 months.  If her eye stops turning in with the glasses...then it shows us that she was straining her eyes to see before and the glasses should correct this turning in because she won't have to strain anymore (hope this makes sense!).  And if the glasses correct the eye turning in- she'll remain in the glasses and will, more than likely, grow out of it by the time she is a teenager.  IF her eyes continue to turn in even with the glasses...then it means she has a weak eye muscle problem (don't know the technical term for this) and she'll need surgery.

He said 1 in 3 will need the glasses.  I know this doesn't mean anything to us- other than it is more common for it to be the weak muscle thing and need surgery.  Apparently, the surgery is very low-risk and she would end up not needing glasses at all if this were the case.  But we'll cross that bridge when we come to.

Parker's thoughts:
She is SO excited to be getting glasses.  Not sure why, but praying so hard that it lasts.  She tried on some glasses today...one pink pair...and one purple pair.


She ultimately decided to go with the purple ones.  :)  The guy at the glasses place (for her first pair I just wanted to go to a place that just did kid glasses) was so great.  He understood that she still wasn't able to see very well after her eyes being dilated, and also understood the joys of little girls and their ever-changing minds. ;)  So if we get there on Friday and she decides she wants the pink frames instead, he said it wouldn't be a big deal for him to put the lenses in those glasses.  Very impressed with the service there.  

Momma's thoughts:
I teared up a few times during the doctor appointment.  I had a pretty great feeling that she'd need glasses..and tried to prepare myself with the attitude that if this is her biggest problem...then we're still doing pretty darn well!  And after dilation, her little eyes just kept turning in and I don't know why but it made me a little sad.  I do feel like the glasses will correct her eye turning in only because I had a similar problem.... only I was VERY far-sighted and was since birth...and mine did improve, but never resolved.  However- she is so much less far-sighted than me and I do think she could outgrow it.  

It was a long day for her and I was SO proud of her.  She remembered the dilation drops from last time and did not want to get them and had been talking about it since yesterday.  But she laid down when the lady told her to and she didn't cry.  Sweet girl.


 Grace did pretty well, too.  It's hard sometimes being the tag-along to an appointment and having to sit still and be quite.  :)  Glad she got about a 25 minute nap on the way home, bless her heart.  It was much needed!  (only she woke up in melt-down mode that lasted 30 minutes...but I guess we survived).

3 comments:

Viv said...

Well so glad that it was caught though, know that she will do so well. Reminded me sooooo very much about when you first got glasses. She's so brave, growing up so fast.

Kristin said...

I love the purple glasses, Parker! I was thinking last night that I pray she likes them everyday, that it doesn't wear off after a few days!

amyomilstead said...

I LOVE the glasses! :) Tell Parker all the coolest girls wear glasses!

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