Follow Up...

Today T Rex had his comprehensive eye exam follow up with the pediatric ophthalmologist. Having a two and a half year old sit still, have dilating drops put in his eyes, and then being examined makes for a very long two hour appointment.

However, he was so good and T Rex Princess was a total angel. We were feeling very blessed albeit exhausted after we left the office.

When they performed the acuity portion of his exam it was evident that the one eye is just not being utilized. This means we need to start patching the dominant eye so the other eye gets accustomed to being used and the brain does not begin shutting down the non-dominant eye. Fortunately, because he is still so young and his brain is still very "plastic" as the doctor put it, he only needs to wear the patch 1-2 hours per day.

Next thing you're probably asking - does he keep it on? Well, see for yourself...

He wore this particular patch for 3 hours today. He is wearing the sticky bandage style here but I made a fleece patch to go over his glasses. I did not realize patches are so expensive. Even the reusable fleece ones are $10-$20. I made this one out of scraps - I sewed velcro strips into it to keep it over the lenses and also to wrap around the side to prevent even the slightest amount of peeking. Plus, it does not leave any red marks like the adhesive from the bandage style left.

We have another follow up in three months but it will not be a lengthy visit like this one. Here's hoping patching gets things on track so we can completely avoid surgery down the road.

I am so grateful T Rex Dad (my husband of nine years as of tomorrow) really advocated to our pediatrician that something was not normal with our son's eyes. The longer these kids wait to get the strabismus corrected, the less chance of restoring them to normal aligned vision. If you suspect something is off with your child's eyes, get it checked right away.