When Sophia was less than 24 hours old, a pediatrician noticed an opacity on her right eye. He said it was hard to see, but definitely there. I was told to follow up at our 2 week check up. Fast forward to Sophia at 6 weeks old. We met Dr. P. for the first time. She dilated Sophia’s tiny eyes and confirmed what the doctor first saw–a cataract covering most of her cornea. It was thin and towards the back of the eye. Dr. P also was concerned about the degree of farsightedness in both eyes. Worse, there was a large difference between both eyes. We were looking at possible surgery and glasses.
Suffice it to say, I did not handle the news well. It felt like the end of the world (a lot to due with post-pregnancy hormones)–we were to go back in 6 weeks to check the growth of the cataract. For the next 6 months we went back to see Dr P every 6 weeks. The pit in my stomach never left, even when it appeared that the cataract was not growing. Long story short, Sophia’s cataract is now like a tiny dot on her eye. At our last check up, Dr. P declared the cataract as a non-issue…
EXCEPT for the fact that her right eye was not lessening in farsightedness while her left eye did. At her 12 month check-up, we got the news that I had been dreading–not only did Sophia need glasses, but due to the degree of difference in each eye, she would need to patch. We decided on Atropine drops, and picked out a pair of aqua Miraflex. I could not stop crying. My baby would no longer look like my baby. I moped and felt sorry for myself until a friend of mine shared the story of what happened after her daughter first got her glasses. This gave me hope, and I seemed to snap out of it.
Sophia took pretty well to her daily Atropine drops, and after 3 months, Dr. P. declared that the drops did the trick–Sophia’s eyes were working and responding equally. We stopped using the drops, and went back 3 months after that. Still equal! Another 3 months, and Dr. P told us that Amblyopia no longer was going to be in our vocabulary.
Sophia is now close to 19 months old, and wears her glasses without complaint. The only lasting effect of the Atropine drops seems to be a significant sensitivity to bright light. A second pair of glasses with transition lenses has helped immensely.
I am so thankful to the pediatrician who noticed a small opacity on Sophia’s tiny eye. I cannot stress enough the importance of vision screening early!
This is wonderful, Jennifer! I pass it on to Becky and Lisa, too. Thanks for including me in the news. Fun for Sophia — different glasses will just become an accessory for her!!