Claire's eye appointment

Well, we had a long day yesterday. We got home last night at 7pm, just in time for a late dinner and Doug to go to bed (working mids). I was exhausted and discouraged.

It took a good 2.5 hours to get to the doctor's so I didn't get to stop at the fabric outlet like I had hoped. (I drove by on the way back -- it is an upholstery and drapery fabric outlet, just like I need.) Anyway, there are two issues going on, the cataracts and the strabismus (crossed eye).

As for the cataracts, Dr. Peterson does not think that they need to come out. When they do cataract surgery on a baby, they do it during their first week of life, so she is too old. Not sure why they do it so early. He said that usually when someone has cataracts, that there is not really a decision to be made -- either they need to come out or they don't. Hers is borderline since they are not really obstructing her vision very much. If he does take them out, she will have to wear a contact lens in that eye every single day until who knows how long. Glasses are not an option because they would have to be about 2 or 3 inches thick (not exaggerating) to be effective. He said if we take the cataracts out and she does not wear contacts, she will most certainly go blind in that eye because her vision will be so bad her brain will totally ignore signals from that eye. I asked if they could put a lens in her eye after they removed the cataracts, but he said he will not do it on a child that young (some doctors will). The lens will not grow w/ Claire and it will require more surgeries down the road. So generally not a good idea.

He asked if "the father was involved" w/ the children. I guess he has to ask that but it bothered me. He suggested that "the father" would need to help me make the decision about whether to remove the cataracts or not. I told him that yes, of course, but I can tell you right now he is not going to be big on Claire wearing contacts. (I do not think contacts are good for anybody -- wearing chemical-coated plastic against your eye for 16 hours a day can't be good for anyone, much less a baby whose eye is still growing and developing. Plus, can you imagine the nightmare of finding it if she pulls it out or it falls out? Doug agrees w/ me on this.) So I left him w/ the idea that we would not pursue removing the cataracts.

So then we have the strabismus issue. He said that needs to be done ASAP. But a higher priority is that her left eye be as strong as possible before that is done or they'll have to do surgery again. It is obvious that she favors the right, so we have to patch her at least 6 hours/day every day. He wanted me to use the sticky patches on her. I told him that she has glasses w/ a patch and that she likes that much better. (We tried the sticky ones before and she hated them, and they didn't stick well at all.) He seemed skeptical but after looking at the patch and how it completely covered her eye, he said that would be OK. Big sigh of relief on my part! We are to go back in 1 month for him to examine her and see if she is ready for surgery (not favoring right eye). He also wanted "the father" to come next time. :)

I left feeling rather discouraged. Part of it was that I was tired and hungry. In a way I was relieved we wouldn't be doing the cataracts surgery since that is much more invasive than just straightening her eyes. But it bothered me that I was hearing different things from different people. Dr. Clopton (vision therapist/optometrist) had been more encouraging and talked to me like I was an informed adult. Dr. Peterson, while not exactly condescending, did not give me that "vibe". I told him I could see the cataracts myself and he thought I was mistaking light reflections on her eyeball for the cataracts! I KNOW that is not what I am seeing, it is something IN her pupil. He also was not quite as good w/children as Dr. C, I could tell. (Claire didn't seem to like him very much, but perked up quite a bit after she drank some milk.) I was glad that he was not trying to rush us into anything like the guy in Raleigh. He wanted us to patch her basically 24/7 for a week so we could squeeze in surgery before we moved.

Claire has been doing great w/ her patch this morning. She has not been trying to take it off and is looking around w/ her left eye just fine. She is such a sweet, easygoing child. Noah did pretty well at the doctor's office yesterday and in the van. One of the nurses asked him his name and he said, "I don't know." When she left I talked to him about that being rude and that he needed to say his name. Another nurse came in shortly after that and asked him his name. And he said, "Noah". I was so happy! He is really coming around to interacting w/ others. Such a change from 6 months ago.

Claire says several words now. More, up ("uppa"), all done, hi, bye-bye, baby, Mama, Daddy, brother, light, gentle, and she tries to imitate sounds like "choo choo". She also says "yummy" in sign language. It's such a change from Noah who did not really try to talk at all until he was 2. She is just a more social person in general.

Noah is getting more and more interested in letters and numbers. He likes me to write his name and other words for him and even help him write them. He also enjoys using the Paint and Wordpad programs on the computer. I don't mind him playing w/ them since he is learning how to use the computer (mouse and hand coordination) and they are tools for him to be creative (drawing and typing). I see that as being different from video games and most educational software which are mainly about entertainment. When he gets on the computer he calls it "checking email". :)

My back was hurting yesterday and still today. It does this sometimes like I slept on it funny and then goes away w/i a few days. Usually right before I start seriously considering finding a chiropractor. I hate walking around like a 90 year old woman. It's hard to pick up the children, too.