eye doctor visit

one word: Phew! His eyes are just about perfect!!!

Jenna had amblyopia and was diagnosed at 4. Her brain wasn't computing images viewed by her right eye - it was very farsighted, had a astigmatism, and had something called asymotropia (where the images sent to the brain came in sort of skewed)... all 3 resulted in the brain deciding not to use the images coming from that eye anymore. It was shutting down. Since we caught it at the age of 4, it was "fixable." Had it not been caught by the age of 6, it would have been very hard to correct... So, thanks to the book, "Big Bird Goes to the Doctor", we realized that Jenna couldn't see well out of her right eye. A trip to the school nurse where I used to work in Wayne confirmed that we needed to get her to a Pediatric Opthamologist immediately. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been caught until she had a "separate eye exam" which doesn't happen usually until 1st grade - where it would have been much harder...

After over a year of patching her LEFT eye (to strengthen her right eye), and 6 years of glasses to maintain the strength she gained in that eye, she NO LONGER NEEDS GLASSES!!!!! Evidently, how your eyes are at 10 with this condition, is how your eyes are going to be. Pretty good, huh? Although, she was so very cute with her glasses at such a young age!!!

So, since she had eye issues, they suggested we take Jimmy to the Pediatric Opthamologist beginning at the age of 2. And now with Type 1 diabetes, it's imperative that he have regualr eye dr. visits...

He's always been extremely light sensitive - so sensitive that it would cause him to close his eyes or look down, wince, cry, grab my sunglasses, etc... The doctor has always said that it will get better with age... but that some people are just wired that way. I asked him again today, and he repeated the same thing.

Jimmy went through the entire exam (for the first time while sitting BY HIMSELF on the chair (in the past, he always needed to sit on my lap!) It went well, but the dr. needed to use the dreaded drops to get a better look... Jenna and I gasped... would this mean glasses??? what more could this kid endure???

So... dilation of the eyes complete, and now time for the LIGHT IN THE EYES TO LOOK INSIDE... YIKES!!! He clenched his eyes tight, squirmed in his seat, and used his hands to thwart the doctor's light away... luckily, JImmy failed!! The doctor was able to catch a glimpse of what he needed to see, and Jimmy's eyes are PERFECT!!!

We talked at length about what to expect as far as Jimmy's eyes go... He felt strongly, that, the better we take care of Jimmy now, and the better control he has over his diabetes growing up, the better his eyes will have the opportunity to be healthy through his life.

We're on the clock. God, please help me kick the daylights out of highs and lows. He's 6. He has NO idea of how to care for himself. It's on us. not him.

We're on it. Please pray for the strength for us to keep on it.

Peace,
June