little four eyes

Welcome to 2010!!!  In honor of the new decade, I’ve decided to give the blog a makeover.  The content is all still here.

I had my regular eye exam a couple of days ago.  It had been 2 years since my previous one, which was a week or so after we learned Zoe needed glasses.  Since then, I’ve been to so many pediatric eye exams with Zoe, that I’d forgotten what an adult one was like.  So many machines for mapping your eyes and visions.  And far fewer toys.  They have Zoe follow a toy tiger with her eyes to measure her range of eye motion, I got to follow a pen tip.  Zoe gets to look at a cute card of a house with a path leading to it with lots of shapes, I got to read letters.

It reminded me of a survey I’d recently read about, the 2009 American Optometric Association’s Eye-Q survey.  It surveyed 1000 American adults about their knowledge of eye and vision health. Towards the end of the survey – starting on page 5 in the link above – are questions about infant’s and children’s vision.  This one in particular jumped out at me:

60. What concerns would you have about taking your infant to see an eye doctor before age one?
Please select all that apply. (multiple answers permitted)

• Infant can’t communicate — 37%
• Infant can’t sit still — 25%
• Too early to detect problems — 19%
• Expensive–  15%
• It will hurt the infant — 8%
• Inconvenience — 5%
• No eye doctor nearby — 4%
• None of the above — 41%
• Other — 2%

When I first read the results, it surprised me that so many people would think that their infant not communicating would be a reason for not doing an eye exam.  After getting my own exam though, I was reminded of how different the exams are, and if you are only used to the adult exams – reading letters, choosing between 1 and 2, and 1 and 2 again, and again – of course you might think that it’s crazy to expect a young child, and a pre-verbal one at that, to do that exam.

If you’re interested in reading more about infant eye exams, I think Dr. Bonilla-Warford’s post about the exam that he did on his own 7 month old (at the time) daughter, Nora, has a nice explanation about the process, from a parent and eye doctor’s perspective.

My eyes are healthy, by the way.  My prescription got slightly stronger (I’m nearsighted).  And I picked out a beautiful pair of Lafont glasses, so now Zoe and I will have the same brand frames.

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2010!   May your child’s vision grow stronger, may their glasses stay up on their little noses, and may their lenses remain unscratched!  I’ll be playing around with a new look for Little Four Eyes for the new year, so don’t be alarmed if things look a little different in 2010.

We’ve had a crazy, but fun 2009!  We’re looking forward to whatever the new year holds for us!

I wish you all the best happiness with your families throughout 2010!

=) Erin & Juliet

Dear random people in the coffee shop,

Please don’t stop in front of our table, stare at Zoe, grab your friend, then point at Zoe and smile and laugh and then walk off.  I could tell from your expressions that you weren’t trying to be mean, and that you thought Zoe was cute, and I agree, but it was pretty awkward, and I really don’t want her to be any more self-conscious.  She already gets really shy when someone comments on her glasses.  In fact, she’s normally good at saying thank you when someone compliments her, but she clams up if someone compliments her glasses.

Dec. 23rd Elly just woke up (for more than 30 seconds) in good spirits. It has been 7 hours since her surgery.  The first thing she wanted to do was see her red eyes and because of the book “Pinkalicious,” she wanted to drink something pink. If you haven’t read this book, I reccomend it before this surgery as the little girl turns pink and crys pink tears. Then she wanted the bandage off her hand that had the IV and her name bracelet from the hospital off.  Her eyes are still red (more than I had expected) and has bloody tears.  She threw up the Gatorade they gave her all over the car, but is now drinking water and eating saltines.  Nothing like a coating of surgery blue liquid over everything to lighten up the mood.  We had a plastic bag, it just wasn’t out and ready.

She has been napping since the procedure, only waking up for seconds to tell us she was thirsty.  She would sip and then throw up. We took turns sitting by her bedside.  The hospital staff encouraged us to have her sleep as much as possible and reminded us that it takes 24 hours for the drugs to leave their system, so we need to closely watch her.  I completely panicked this afternoon when she woke up and said, “I can’t see.” It took me a millisecond to realize it was because she didn’t have her… glasses on. Her eyes are sometimes turning in, which the doctor said was a good thing, as her brain is recognising the change.   I am still completely a nervous wreck.  As I type and she is eating her crackers there is blood dripping from her nose (they said this could happen), bloodly tears slowly dripping down her cheeks, and reddish purple eyes.   It makes me want to cry and I do hope she is not in as much pain as she looks like she is.  It is like a picture from a Horor Film.  As soon as she is done eating, we are going to have some major mommy and Elly time. 4:30 p.M.

Update: It is now 6:00 and we just ate dinner.  She hasn’t thrown up in about 3 hours and we gave her rice with some cinamin sugar and milk – of course she wanted some chicken too.  I am hoping it wasn’t too much.  She is now in her Cinderella dress up costume trying to convince her papa to do flips with her (not a chance) They have settled on dancing to the music on the radio.  We have had 2 more bloody noses and some more tears.  Her right eye looks worse than the others and has more red and purple than the other eye.

For parents whose children may have to go through this or a similar procedure in the future

Things to remember; Put your kid in a button down blouse or jammies, stay positive at all times and use words like “an appointment at a different place,”  The book “Pinkalicious” was great because she LOVES being Pink and has Pink Tears.  Bring your kids blanket, doll or other lovey.

Things to have on hand for recovery; Gatoraid or Apple Juice Boxes, Popsicle, Children’s Tylonol or what pain relief your PO says is ok to give.  Fun treats or packages to open after medicine placement (gel or drops)  4 for every day

Update Dec. 26th:  Elly’s eyes are still very red.  Maybe someday I will have enough guts to post a picture of her eyes.  I still look at the blood-shot eyes and sad face and cry…maybe when they get better I can post it to help parents understand what their eyes may look like.  Just not now.  The IV left a really big hole in her hand and it has bruising around it, but she doesn’t seem to notice.  We have also had pretty good luck with the gel medicine.  I asked about the drops since parents had posted that they were easier, but the PO said the gel was more effective – so we tried that first.  All the Christmas candy is coming into good use.  My child, who normally doesn’t have candy, is in LOVE.  After each placement of medicine, she gets to choose a treat (piece of candy cane, M&M, gum drop and more)  This morning, she started negotiating for more.  “If I hold still for 2 eyes, then I should get 2 pieces of candy.”  Ok, not a problem in this household… here you go.   Then 30  minutes later, “Mom, I’m ready for the medicine again!”  She had found another cool Christmas treat. (not a chance, must wait a couple more hours)  At least it is making the process more bearable and she is willingly coming to get the gel in.  They said it doesn’t sting, but makes their vision a little cloudy where it covers the eye.  I still have to pry her eyes open to get it into the corner, but I have to admit, it is WAY easier than putting the atropine drops in her eyes. I think that is because I know it is not hurting her, but helping her recover faster.

December 29th.  We had our post op appointment today.  It started out with me dragging Elly out of the car to see the PO.  “I do NOT want to see her today.”  she screamed.  I reminded her this was the usual place and that all she was doing is checking her eyes today.  This did not go over well.  When she saw our PO, she took off running the other way, so fast that she biffed it and skinned her knees and hands on the sidewalk.   When we finally got her in the exam room ( the po grabbed a slinky as a gift to Elly and completed her exam with expert speed!) Elly repeated that she did not like Dr. Khuddus.  We tried to be quick and positive, but it looks like the eye with bad vision is turning in further than expected.  ARGH.  I understand that the brain is similar to the beginning and we have to begin to train it all over again that yes, that eye does need to be used.  Back to patching….  Thank goodness I had put a whole bunch of fun books on hold at the library.  We stopped there on the way home and Elly was ok with patching while we looked at all of our cool new books.  I am just praying we can get these eyes straight as I have absolutely no desire to go through this surgery any time again soon. =(

Dear Doctor of My Child’s Eyes,

Thank you for being so positive about my child’s vision and taking the time each visit to answer all of my questions.  I am very nervous about Elliana’s muscle surgery tomorrow, so much that it is hard to sleep and I have often found my eyes welling up with tears thinking about it.  I know that you have done this surgery many times and are experienced, but this is my first time and it is my only daughter who will be put to sleep and operated on.

It meant a lot to me yesterday when you walked me through step by step how the procedure would be done.  Explaining that as she fell asleep with the anesthesia that you would take her to see the fish in the fish tank and play little games with her so that she would be relaxed and with someone she knows and trusts. Letting us know that she will not come out with bandages or an IV, but that she will be pretty angry for the first 20 minutes.

I also appreciate how calmly you explained how the procedure would work to my 3 year old.  It demonstrated that you not only know about eyes, but also about children.  I could not have done a better job myself.  I like how you told her that the office visits help make her eyes stronger, the patches help make her eyes stronger, the glasses help make her eyes stronger and now you are going help make her eyes stronger.  That she would see you for an appointment at a different place and that you would be wearing green pants and a green shirt.  We would meet a whole bunch of new people and then your would go back into a different room so that you could help make her eyes stronger.  I also appreciate how you told her that when she woke up she would be angry and that her eyes may be sore.

We, as parents, trust that you will make the best decisions about the new placement of her eye muscles based on your many measurements over the last year and a half.  Her eyes will be in good hands.  Please take good care of her.

Amanda

Left eye turns out and Right eye turns out

Zoe had her regular eye appointment this morning.  I had been looking forward to it for a while because I was anxious to know whether she has developed any binocular vision.  Zoe was looking forward to it because she knows the eye doctor doesn’t give shots.  She had been asking about the shots in particular for a couple of months now, especially since her last visit to the pediatrician did involve shots.  The no shots is a big selling point for the eye doctor.

Lea chart shapes. Today was not a good day for the house shape.

Her visual acuity measured at 20/25 and 20/30, which was good to hear.  Last appointment, she hated the square shape and refused to say square or point to the square, even though she’d get every other shape right.  This time, it was the house shape that annoyed her.  Gotta love 3 year olds and their moods.

We got to give her ophthalmologist the Children’s Eye Foundation calendar that has Zoe on the page for December.  We hadn’t told the doctor about it at our last visit (I think we didn’t know which pictures had been chosen yet), so that was a fun surprise.  And I was happy to learn that Zoe’s prescription hasn’t changed.  I had already decided we’d keep Zoe’s frames for another year (as long as they don’t get irreparably damaged), but it’s nice to get to keep the lenses, too.  Though now they’re out of warranty, so we’ll have to pay to replace them if they get horribly scratched.

But the big news is that she did pass a couple of the stereoscopic vision tests.  She reached out and tried to touch the square that she saw in 3-d!  I am simply thrilled.

(Shortly thereafter, we got into a huge fight over whether or not I should have drank any of her apple juice – answer: no – but I’m going to focus on the good news of the day).

We just recieved the sweetest Chistmas card from Annisa’s Fun Patches.  Included was a simple white patch to decorate and either wear or hang on the tree. What a great idea – a patch ornament!  For those of you with sticky patches, you could easily stick 2 together and hang them as they meet their patching goals.  If you use Anissa’s they already have a hole to thread a ribbon for hanging on the tree.  I love the idea!  THANK YOU!!!  http://www.anissasfunpatches.com/

Thank you to everyone who commented on my earlier post about strong prescriptions and sent in pictures of their kids with strong prescription glasses.  I thought I’d make this a new post to show some of the pictures to give people a sense of the distortion that happens with high prescription lenses (hint, it’s really not very noticeable).  Again, you would expect that farsighted (+ prescriptions) will make the eyes look a little bigger, and that nearsighted (- prescriptions) will make the eyes look a little smaller.

~ ~ ~

Josh is a +9 in his right eye and a +10 in his left eye:

Josh wearing glasses

picture of Josh for comparison without glasses

Josh's right lens

~ ~ ~

Christina’s daughter is a +7 in her right eye and a +8 in her left eye:

Christina's daughter and her glasses

~ ~ ~

Bennett is a -8 and a -12:

Bennett

(and of course, it goes without saying, but wow, your kids are all very cute!)

It is hard enough to get a “perfect” holiday picture of a young child, much less one in glasses. It seams like if I have a picture that truly captures her face in the moment, there is often a glare in her glasses which leaves a bright light, her eyes are completely facing 2 different directions, or she is in motion and the picture is out of focus.

I am a firm believer that since my daughter wears glasses and they are a part of who she is, that they must stay on for photographs. Since a photograph is a way to remember an event or occasion and she would have them on – they stay on.

Here are completely non-professional tips I can share with you on taking pictures that have helped us.

1. Turn the flash off – use natural light (early morning or evening work best)

2. Try not to have the sun or other light shining directly on their glasses

3. Take the picture from an angle (not like my kid looks at the camera much anyways)

4. Have an assistant help – my husband usually puts silly things on my head and askes questions like… What color bow does the reindeer have on? to get her to look in my direction.

5. Take LOTS of pictures and delete the ones that you are not happy with.

6. Edit the picture you like in a program (Picasa isn’t bad and is free)

I still get a little glare – but OH well!  I think my kiddo looks adorable in glasses =)

I’d love to hear your “tricks” to reduce glasses glare with a non-professional camera!

We’ve gotten quite a few comments recently from parents new to the world of young kids and glasses.  Welcome!  I’m so happy you found us, and I really hope you’ll post any questions you have, and stick around and let us know how things are going for you.

I thought it would be nice to have another open thread where people could introduce themselves, and leave any updates on how things are going.  How has 2009 been for you?