Another Day, Another Diagnosis…. oh wait, did I already title another recent post with that?
I mentioned that Brody & Baxlyn failed their eye screenings at their 6 year check ups. They had their appointment with Dr. Chen yesterday for a thorough examination and to see what was up. Turns out Miss B has astigmatism going on, in her left eye especially. Astigmatism is caused by a difference in the surface curve of the eye. Instead of being a perfect sphere shape, Baxlyn’s eyes are shaped like footballs. She {confidently} got most of her letters wrong when reading the eye chart with her left eye. Dr. Chen said she likes to avoid glasses with kids at all costs so the plan is to patch her right eye for 4 hours a day for 3 months and do a follow up to see if it helped strengthen that left eye. If you know B, you know she isn’t a complainer. She wasn’t thrilled to wear the patch but did it without a fuss. I’m telling you this girl is the sweetest, most compliant child I have ever met and I am so glad God gave her to me!
Dr. Chen hooked her up with this slightly boyish looking dragon patch for the first day but she’s happy to have a variety of girly patches being mailed to her this week :)
Our Broman has quite a bit going on as well and unlike Baxlyn, didn’t escape a MAJOR need for glasses. For a while now, I’ve noticed Brody not being able to look me straight in the eye. It’s as if he were looking just a few centimeters off of my eyes when trying to look at me. We’ve never noticed him squinting and have never seen anything that indicated he couldn’t see clearly but the actual focus of his eyes has been really off. This, along with other “weird” things is one of the reasons we took him in a few weeks ago to be checked for shunt malfunction. Dr. Chen said he has extreme Hyperopia (is far sighted) and also has Strabismus and needs glasses yesterday. She was able to show me during her examination how his eyes crossed inward to focus on a fixed object and how both eyes couldn’t focus on the object at one time.
Strabismus is a fairly common condition affecting nearly 4% of all children in the US. It is especially common in kids born prematurely and who have disorders that affect the brain such a Cerebral Palsy & Hydrocephalus… both of which Brody also has. We always knew he (and Kylee) were at an increased risk for eye problems but being six years in, I hoped we dodged that bullet. Apparently not!
Although the news of glasses didn’t bother Brody, I personally wasn’t too thrilled at the idea. Keeping up with five kids is hard enough and adding a pair of breakable eye wear to the mix doesn’t exactly sound like my cup of tea. Nonetheless I’m glad it’s nothing more serious. It’s just one more thing added to an already full plate, one more doctor to add to our calendar on a regular basis and one more medical condition I’ll be forced to learn more about in more detail. Thankfully, despite the silly-sad face in the picture, Brody is excited about getting glasses. Kylee was livid that she didn’t fail the eye test at their 6 year appointment and isn’t happy at all that Brody “gets” to wear glasses and she doesn’t… “No Fair! MY eyes are bwurry, they are so so bwurry so I need gwasses too!” I can only hope they’re as excited about braces when that time comes around!
Broman will get his glasses ASAP and will follow up with Dr. Chen in 2 months while Miss B will have her follow up in 3 months.
God must give you guys so much because He knows just how awesome you are at handling it while inspiring others. I can not wait to see Brody in his new specs :]
ReplyDeleteAmen to this first comment! Love you all! Aunt Beth (aka Aunt Beth)
ReplyDeleteThat was supposed to say Aunt Beth (aka Sis)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful children no matter what, and there will always be jealousy whether between each other or with their friends.. I love you all so much and will always pray for strength.
ReplyDeleteMy Libby is very farsighted too. I was so worried when she needed glasses at 2 because of it. I was so fearful that they would get broken. She is now 5 and has never truly broken her glasses. She has a screw fall out once and lost a lens for a while but that was an easy repair. She does get them scratched at times, but nothing major. I learned when they help them to see so much they don't mess with them. Libby only fusses when they get dirty so we clean them often. Much easier then I feared. And I had Libby give my other kids cheap sunglasses with the lenses popped out when we got home for picking up her new glasses so they had glasses of their own. They didn't really wear them much besides the first day but I think it helped
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the quads are adorable. Your statistical information about Strabismus affecting 4% of children born prematurely with neurological conditions is correct. I know from personal experience as the mother of a daughter who was born prematurely with Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus. My daughter was excited about having to wear glasses too. Thank you for the encouraging update.
ReplyDeleteDoris Gibbs @ Moody Eyes