Wednesday 16 May 2012

The story of a wonky eye


I was overwhelmed with the kind  response to our happy news that Ruby's brain signal test was completely normal.  

Thank you so much dear friends and family for all your concern for our baby girl. 

 Here is her story



We first noticed Ruby's left eye was slightly odd when she was quite small, it just did not look right and sometimes seemed to move around unable to focus properly.  Following her one year  old health check the health visitor  referred her to the orthoptic department at the local hospital.  She was diagnosed with strabismus amblyopia which in easy to understand words is a lazy eye with an outward  squint. 



There started our far too intimate relationship with the out patients department at the local hospital.  Such a miserable place to be; the vastly overheated waiting area is  a bizarre mix of very frail old people, children with varying thickness of glasses and very harassed parents.  The plastic guide dog has  long since stopped providing entertainment, the jigsaw pieces, already few, are rapidly diminishing and the odd collection of books do nothing to fill our always long waiting time.  



However these monthly visits have been a breeze compared to enticing a small child into wearing her patch. The idea is that her good eye is covered forcing her weak eye to learn how to see.  Obviously the consultant who rather patronisingly reminded us she would be blind in that eye if we did not make her wear it  has never had to  actually enforce  patching  with a toddler.  We have tried and tried and thought of a new strategy and tried again.



We have patched:

as a baby


whilst crafting
in the woods, with a dummy bribe!





the rest of the family (no success!)
in the garden
on a bike  (removing it!)
in her christmas dress





We have prayed many times and asked our healing God to make her sight right.

All of these strategies, including patching her favourite dolls and wearing arm bands  so she could not physically remove the patch have not proved much success.  Frustratingly she will wear the patch for other people, wearing it all day with a child carer but removing it as soon as she is collected.    



Following our last visit there was some concern that she might not actually have potential to see and we were sent to a larger hospital (with a much more friendly outpatients waiting area) for tests to see the ability of her brain to actually process  visual signals.





She was wired up and firmly sat on my lap with a whole variety of treats at the ready, in front of the television screen.  A video (remember those?) was put in the machine and at various points   coloured dots go across the screen, the wires attached to her head in different places record her responses to them.  These are then analysed for the results.

We have just had the happy news that her   brain is working correctly and  her problem is only a lazy eye, nothing more sinister.  

What an overwhelmingly amazing relief!


She will still need a small operation to correct the squint but there is no rush for that, forcing the weaker eye to work is a much higher priority as if not achieved by the age of seven then it is not going to be possible. The consultant suggested we use drops of Atropine in her good eye which will blur the vision forcing her weak eye to learn to see. 

It can only be easier than the patching trial.


Has anyone had any experience of using these drops or
 got any useful lazy eye advice?




22 comments:

  1. i can't offer you any useful advice - but i wanted to wish you the best X

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  2. I'm glad about your relief at the situation. I too had a lazy eye when I was younger and remember the eye patch and eye drops well, it all sorted itself out in the end though. xxx

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    1. So good to hear it can be sorted out - did any of yours inherit it?

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  3. i have the same eye condition, I was patched, operated on, you name it they did it. The result, I have good vision in one eye, so no depth perception. Do I miss it? Can't miss what I never had. Our daughter has the same condition, as did my father, so obviously an inherited condition. Do we all have problems? No, so I wouldn't worry too much if she takes her patch off and I'd think long and hard before I'd put atropine in my child's eye.

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    1. This was exactly the kind of comment I was hoping for, thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Tell me all your reservations about putting atropine in her eye, the doctors have assured me it is safe! Thank you again

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  4. Oh, poor little one!! But I am glad that her barin is working fine and I am sure that her eye will be much better soon. Lots of love and hugs to you. xx

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  5. I am thinking and praying for you all - what a worry. I remember when I was little there were always a few kids around with the lazy eye problem and they would wear glasses with one clear lens and one lens obscured or foggy so as to encourage the other eye to work. Surely easier than a patch and less intrusive than the drops but is this too old-fashioned for todays medical world?

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  6. What a relief. She's such a sweetheart. I have a little squint that the Dr never referred me for as he said it was 'endearing' in little girls. So at 13 years old, I was sat with all the kids learning to cross my eyes and wearing a patch to school...not so endearing in a 14 year old.
    Not sure about the drops, but wishing you lots of luck and love x

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  7. Hi Grace, That's such good news, you must be so relieved! As I've told you before I too had a lazy eye as a child, I had to wear glasses and a patch but eventually it sorted itself out. As an almost 50 year old my eye does wander a little bit when I'm tired, and I have poor vision in that eye. My sister also had the same thing, and a cousin, both of them were operated on but both are now fine. None of our children have inherited it. I hope there is the same outcome for Rosie, I think the success rate is good...X

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  8. Sorry, no advice but just so glad all is well. xx

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  9. It must be a weight off your mind, Grace, to find out that Ruby's brain is working fine. I'm afraid I can't offer any advice, but as I've mentioned before, I had a friend at school with a lazy eye. She wore a patch and it sorted itself out. I think it helps when you know people who the treatment has worked for, it gives you hope. As for getting Ruby to keep the patch on, good luck with that, definitely easier said than done.

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  10. Whoops, sorry ....Ruby not Rosie!

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  11. I am so glad to hear that the tests had a positive outcome. I haven't got any helpful tips but I'm sending loads of love and best wishes to you all. Jx

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  12. Hi Grace, thanks for sharing your story with us all. I'm really pleased to hear that things are better than suspected with your daughter and pray that she gets the healing she needs x

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  13. It must be such a huge relief for you to find out that there's nothing really sinister going on there. Wishing all the best to your beautiful little girl.
    Carly
    x

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  14. Hello sweet Grace, I am so sorry to hear all that you and your beautiful little girl have been through! I am praising the Lord that her brain is working correctly and that you were sent to a better hospital. I pray her eye will continue to get stronger and heal and she won't have to use the drops. Thank you for your lovely visit and your sweet comment! I hope you will have sunny weather soon! Take care! Love, Paula xo

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  15. Phew! Such good news. Lovely photos to go with the story.

    Your name has come out of my hat for the Liebster award. Check out my blog to see what you have to do if you'd like to take part or just collect the award. Suzy x

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    1. Suzy thank you, will pop over very soon xx

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  16. So glad for you...my daughter's name is Grace...

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    1. great name, thank you for your comments x

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  17. Ruby is such a sweetie and obviously quite a character too. So glad about your good news xx

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Thank you for your lovely comments, they really do brighten my day!