Second Opinion Success

Some time ago, I brought Kallan into her pediatric ophthalmologist and was told that she should have surgery by the time she is a year and a half.  I went home feeling uneasy and tense.  As you can imagine, the news didn't sit very well with us.

Well, we decided to do something about it, even if it meant driving three hours away to see a different pediatric ophthalmologist. Which it did.

So on Monday, we began the three hour trek. I was feeling discouraged at the time. What if we drive all this way and they look at her, and say "Yep, she needs surgery?" and then we just have to turn around and go home?? I was worried that it would be a waste of time.

But it was truly amazing. I felt put at ease immediately when we got to the eye center. There were lots of little ones, there were books, toys, a fish tank (maybe that's why I felt less stressed!). We were called in quickly and saw a resident doctor and then an eye alignment specialist. They looked at Kallan's eyes for an extensive period of time. Kallan was very cooperative (for the most part).

We finally got to see the doctor who looked at Kallan for a bit longer. She then told us that she personally would not operate on Kallan from seeing her today. One of her eyes is still crossing minimally with the glasses, and that eye is weaker than her other eye. She thought that by using a patch, 14 hrs a week, we could eliminated the need for surgery at all. She did not agree that there is a timeline by which a baby needs to have surgery, and she said if the eye is not strengthened, surgery wouldn't do much good anyway because it would not teach her to use that eye more.

This doctor was on the same page as us, wanting to try anything else before resorting to surgery. Erik and I left the appointment, a handful of eye patches, feeling so relieved and happy. Even if Kallan does need surgery, we will feel a lot better about it if that time ever comes.

So lesson learned: when it comes to your child's health, no question, no appointment is a waste of time. If you are not comfortable with something, it's okay to actively seek information. Doctors make mistakes, doctors do things differently! If you and your doctor aren't on the same page, look elsewhere. This goes for specialists, pediatricians, therapist.. whatever! We are so happy we did!

I Can See Clearly Now...

.. that my glasses are on!

Yes, Kallan just got even cuter (previously thought to be impossible) and has her first pair of specs! At her 4 month appointment, our pediatrician told us that she has prominent "epicanthal folds" which give the illusion that her eyes are crossed even though they aren't. We decided to keep a close eye on them anyway and sometime later noticed that sometimes one of her eyes, usually the right, was definitely crossing. So at her 6 month appointment, we were referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist (officially my least favorite word to spell out). We spent two and a half hours there, doing a lot of waiting and a bit of napping by Kallan (and Erik).  Finally, we were told that Kallan has accommodative esotropia, eye crossing due to extreme farsightedness. She needs glasses and will likely be wearing them for the rest of her life. 

A lot of people have asked how they got her prescription. The doctor dilated her eyes, at which point Kallan took a nap. We had to rudely wake her up a short time later. I imagine it's hard to have your eyes examined while you're sleeping. Fortunately, she forgave us and was quite content throughout the examination. The doctor reflected light off the back of her eye through various lenses to find the appropriate prescription. Pretty crazy! We had no idea that we would be getting glasses for our baby when we went in.

Getting fitted ..

Not happy - either about the glasses, the strange man touching her face, or the sudden clarity of her new world... probably a combination of the three

First time in her glasses!

She has had her glasses for about a week now. At first she seemed to love them, and she just gazed at everything. I'm sure her world completely changed. But if you have or have had children, I'm sure you know that babies LOVE to grab and chomp on glasses. Kallan has recently realized that she has her very own chew toy, sitting right on her face. The glasses hook behind her ears, but she manages to yank them off. She'll chew them and look at me with a big mischievous grin and laugh. Oh, cute little stinker!