Eye Update

Yesterday Jack had an appointment with a new ophthalmologist for a surgery consultation. The doctor agreed that he is a good candidate for eye muscle surgery. Now all we have to do is call the surgery scheduler and arrange a date for Jack to have the surgery. He said that they usually schedule a few weeks out. The ophthalmologists office is located right next to a Children's Hospital, so that is where they will be doing the surgery. He said the procedure takes about 40 minutes and recovery is fairly easy. He was very good about explaining the procedure to me - they even got someone to take Jack out of the room and play with him so I could have an uninterrupted conversation with the doctor. That was really nice!

He will still need glasses after surgery, but there is a good possibility that he won't need bifocals anymore. There is also the possibility that we will still need to do some type of patching after surgery if his vision isn't good enough. For some reason yesterday, he didn't do well on the vision test (reading the letters) for his left eye (the "bad" eye). I've seen him do better - so I don't know what was going on yesterday. So hopefully his vision is good enough that he won't need patching after surgery. However, he does need patching done starting now until surgery - at least 2 hours a day. That isn't too bad. His old fleece patch (seen here ) doesn't fit his glasses anymore, so we'll have to use the adhesive ones for a few weeks. Ick.

I will update when we know more about the surgery date - and of course I'll update after surgery!

Eye Update

Jack had an ophthalmology appointment earlier in the week and I just haven't updated on here because...well, because there really isn't anything new. The doctor is pleased that he keeps his left eye (the weak one) straight while he's looking through his glasses, but it's not as strong as he wants it to be. So, we are to continue with the homatropine drops to dilate his good eye (so he has to use his weak eye more), and he wants us to increase it to 3 times/week. He wants to see Jack back in two months and mentioned that he might have us go back to patching if he doesn't see more improvement with the weak eye. Patching every other day - on the days when we don't give him the eye drop. Kind of disappointing, but not horrible. Jack was a trooper through the whole appointment - even when we had to wait FIFTY minutes to see the doctor. (Yeah, I'm seriously considering finding a new one, just for that fact alone.)

Do these make me look old?

We got bifocals today. That's about all there is to say about that.

Eye Update

Disappointing. :(

Good news - we really liked the new doctor! He is much more kid friendly and really took his time with Jack and was very nice and patient. He said that there has been some progress with the patch, but not enough.

And so, the bad news - Jack will be patched another SIX weeks along with Atropine drops in his good (left) eye. Atropine drops make his eye dilate A LOT (and therefore make his vision constantly blurry in his left eye). Last time we used them, we just used them for 2 days and his eyes stayed dilated for 2 weeks. Not my idea of fun. So now we are supposed to use them for six weeks, 2 times a week. Ugh. My poor boy. He is such a trooper through all of this.

We will see the doctor again in six weeks for another full exam and probably get a prescription for bifocals. They will put him in bifocals so he can have a stronger prescription to see up close and a weaker prescription to see far away. Right now, he is only turning his eye in (with glasses on) when he focuses on objects up close.

That's all.

I am trying very hard to praise God that my son has vision and that we are treating this problem early on.

Catching up...

Several things have happened the last few days that I've been wanting to blog about, but haven't had time! The latest "big" news with Jack is that he is back to wearing an eye patch. He had a follow-up appointment last week and the doctor would like him to wear a patch 4-6 hours/day for one month. I was "reprimanded" by the doctor for not putting the patch on him for the first 2 weeks (um, when he was sick with an ear infection, bronchitis and had a fever of 102-104* for 5 days...which I explained to the doctor), but he said that he saw some improvement just from the few days that Jack had worn the patch. Thankfully, I found a website for a patch called Framehuggers and we ordered one for Jack. It is blue with a picture of Woody (from Toy Story) on it. He fought us the first time we put it on, but he has done awesome with it since then. He left it on for a whole 6 hours this morning without complaining! Praise the Lord! It is such a relief to know that we are doing something to help his vision...but we don't have to torture him in the process. Here's a picture of the little man with his new patch on.

He was complaining in this picture because we were out getting our Christmas tree and he was tired of waiting in the car. Which brings me to my next topic...our Christmas tree. We have made it a tradition to go out and cut down our own tree every year. This might possibly be the last year of that tradition. For starters, it was 5* outside when we were looking for our tree. That is so cold. It hurts. Second, the closest tree farm (that we know of) was 30 minutes away. Third, the tree was still over $50. Fourth, Jack refused to walk through the snow, so we had to carry him the entire time. Holding a 35 lb. toddler while trudging through the snow is a quick way to wear yourself out. Fifth, by the time we drove out to the farm, found the tree we were looking for and loaded it on the car, it was lunch time. Jack was hungry and cranky (and he wasn't the only one!). So we had to eat lunch out. So...was the real, live tree worth all the hassle? I don't know. I think we might browse the artificial trees while they're on sale after Christmas. I might have to eat my words. Here's a picture of our tree at the farm.

Oh, another thing about buying a Christmas tree when it's 5* out....there was ice all over it. I mean...our tree was encased in ice. Not like an icicle here and there. No. Every needle had ice surrounding it. We had to bring the tree inside, put a bunch of towels under it and let it thaw out. Nice big puddles on the floor. It was kind of weird. Anyway, here's the tree after it was all prettied up. (I know, it's dark...but I couldn't get a good picture with the flash on.)

Here's how I survived the morning...

and how I passed time while Lonnie was loading the tree onto the van...

Here's my strapping young husband tying the tree onto the van. He did an awesome job. It didn't fall off once.

Oh, there is more I want to write about, but it is getting late. I hope you all are having a wonderful time preparing for Christmas. Stay warm! :)

Painful

Oh, it's so painful. :( These are the things that no one can explain to you before you become a mom and experience it yourself. The pain that you feel when your child feels pain. I know our experience is very minor compared to other's...but it is still very real for me.

Jack has to wear an eye patch (or as we like to call it, eye STICKER!) on his right eye. Thankfully, it is only for 2 weeks. But it is a major struggle to get this patch on his face. It takes both of us to hold him down and then to apply it. Meanwhile, he is screaming his little head off. Once the patch is on, he cries "take off, mommy. Take off!" And then I start crying. And then he cries because I cry. Which makes me cry harder. Notice a pattern? I want to tell him, "I want to take it off! This is not my choice!" I want to be able to explain to him that it's only for 2 weeks and that it will help his eyes be better. But, that can't be explained to a two year-old. I can't imagine how uncomfortable it is to have to wear a patch over one of your eyes. And not understand why it's being done. A bonus - it hurts him when we take it off too. So we get a wrestling match when we put it on and when we take it off. Oh, Lord, help me.

To top things off, he also has an ear infection. AGAIN. We made it two years before having an ear infection...and now we've had two in one month. Some things just aren't fair.

I just want to take his troubles away and make them my own. But, I can't. Never will be able to. In the meantime, I am snuggling him lots (even when he doesn't want to be snuggled) and spending some good quality time with him. I just can't help but cry in the midst of this trial.

Eye Update

With all the craziness of Halloween (OK...that's just a lame excuse) I forgot to post an update on Jack's ophthalmology appointment. Yes, his left eye is turning in more. No, it's not because the vision in his left eye has gotten worse. Get this - the vision in his RIGHT eye has gotten worse. His GOOD eye. It was a +1.50 when he was first examined by this doctor (4 months ago), and now it has degraded to a +2.50. That is quite the jump. The way the doctor explained it was that he is trying to compensate for the poor vision in his right eye by turning his left eye in to focus. Because that's the one he's used to straining with. Poor guy. So...the doctor wants to see him one week after the new lenses come in. If he doesn't see significant improvement after that week, we're going to have to go to patches. He will patch the good eye to strengthen the weak (left) eye. I really don't want to have to do patches, but the doctor made it sound like it was almost a for-sure thing. Unavoidable. It should be interesting (to say the least) to see how Jack tolerates having a patch over his eye. But...I am getting ahead of myself. Nothing is for certain yet. If the patching doesn't work, then it's on to surgery. But I'm not even thinking that far ahead. One day at a time. :)

On another note, I don't think I am going to survive winter. It is getting cold and windy and I don't think I will survive. I want to be a bear and hibernate all winter long. That would be a great diet plan. Don't eat...just sleep. And the cubs sleep too. Best part!

Ear Infection/Pinkeye x 2

Apparently, my body wants me to understand everything that Jack is going through right now. So, I have also managed to get an ear infection and eye infection. Woohoo! It seems that maybe he is finally on the mend now, and I am getting worse. Which is fine. I would much rather be sick than have him be sick. But...it just sucks the life out of me! I had a hard time finding energy this evening to play with him. And he was so full of play.

One more vent about this whole "sick" thing...prescriptions/insurance/doctor bills are just no fun. I have to remind myself that I am thankful that we even have insurance...but sometimes I expect it to do more for us. My doctor prescribed a strong antibiotic (because, apparently my ear looks "nasty," in his professional opinion) that doesn't have a generic. So I got to pay $50 for 7 pills. Grrrrrrrrr. Again, thankful that we have insurance, but not so thankful when it doesn't do what I expect it to. So, I got to get told what I already knew for the mere price of $70. Yessss!

Jack has an ophthalmology appointment on Wednesday (unless they won't see him because of his eye infection) for a check-up. He's been turning his left eye in more with his glasses on, and I figured we should get it checked out, to see if he needs a new prescription. Which would be perfect timing (not) because we just ordered a spare pair of glasses with his current prescription! I take a lot of pictures of Jack in the bathtub (because that's when he's happiest!), but I am always hesitant to post them because of his eyes. His left eye turns in a lot without his glasses on and it looks funny. But, he is still my precious boy and looks adorable no matter what his left eye is doing. :) Here's a shot from bathtime tonight.

Mmmmmm....washcloth.....