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| Notice her Left Eye... |
I figured it was going to happen.... Golf needs glasses. This is not unusual in our family. We have 6 people living in the house... now with Golf having a prescription, 5 of us will wear glasses. (And most of the adult-kids wear glasses too.) Foxtrot, at age 3, will be the only one without glasses... at least there has been no indication of a need for them with her. When she is a bit older, I'll have her pediatrician do a screening test, as she obviously wouldn't be screened at "school"...
This is the youngest child I will have had in glasses, and I'm nervous. We will be looking to order her glasses tomorrow... we can't use our usual place to buy glasses because they don't carry them that small. Golf is only 20 months. I remember Delta getting glasses at 3, and it wasn't fun at all trying to keep them on him. It did work out of course, but it wasn't fun. Echo was almost 6 when she got them (although she saw the ophthalmologist since age 3 or 4) and it was much easier... the only problem with her is that she doesn't need to wear them all the time (close work, reading, etc) - and it is easy to forget to bring them.
So - how did I know? Well..... her left eye turns in. A lot. This happened occasionally with Delta and Echo - but much rarer, and not as noticeably. They also seemed to grow out of it while we were on the waiting list for the pediatric ophthalmologist. I saw it happening much more with Golf though, and probably should have acted quicker. Not that I left it a long time or anything, but you just kind of want to hope that you are imagining it. I eventually booked an appointment to get the referral... in December.
So, Delta and Echo had their annual/semi-annual appointment for their eyes - and I knew the referral had been made - so while there I asked when they are booking for the new referrals. (Normally you have to wait for them to call... and that can be a while.) - They were booking for...... December 2012. Yes - she would have been waiting a year. I explained to the Assistant that I was concerned about her vision (ok, who isn't that has been referred there...) - and she asked if I'd like to be put on the "Cancellation waiting list". I said "yes please" - and then she said... "wait..... bring her in [6 days later] at [this time]." So at least I took almost 10 months off our wait.
So here is what happens, for those that wonder what an eye exam for a young toddler is like:
After he asked what brought us in (I brought a picture of Golf that showed the problem even clearer than the one above...), he had me sit in the examination chair with Golf on my lap. He then had a quick look at her eyes while he asked about other family member that had similar problems. [hm, just me, Delta, Echo.....] He then sent us into the room for eye drops (I knew it was coming)
The eye drop room. My kids hate that room. The child lies down on a little exam type table, and the assistant puts in a couple of drops in both eyes that must really sting - then puts in a couple of drops that helps it feel better. The drops over the next 30 minutes make the eyes dialate so they are open very wide. The child will be a bit sensitive to light for quite a while afterwards.
After the 30 minute wait, we go back into the exam room and I sit in the chair with Golf on my lap again. The doctor had a little device he could hold and it would spin and make noise - he used that when he wanted her to look at him. When he wanted her to look straight ahead instead, the screen (which with the other kids would either show a clip of a TV show, the Letters to read, or Pictures to read (for non-readers)) would show little clips of barking toy dogs, quacking toy ducks, and similar things that would interest a young toddler or baby.
So, using the devices mentioned above, he could get her to look where he wanted while he used a light to look at the inside of her eyes through various combinations of lenses. I imagine that he needs to get the light focused properly at the back of her eyes - but that is my assumption. He mostly held the lenses, but did at one point put a special set of glasses on her that he can put various lenses into. He did comment that she is quite farsighted (as he kept changing the lens...) I am curious to see how thick her glasses might be.
So - that has been our little journey on this! I'll be sure to post pictures once we get the glasses. I suspect it will take a week or two...
And otherwise in our life... Mike was off of work for a month - so we went into a "relaxed" homeschool mode. And now I've been sick the last 2 weeks... so we have been in "spring break" mode. Unfortunately that tends to mean more TV and computer (although I try to make sure there is some educational items in there) - but I'm hoping to be better by Monday and get back into a more normal schedule. Delta has been VERY busy during this time working on Cub badges though, so that is good. He now has 11 badges, and 1 star. He has finished 1 more badge, 2 more stars, and 1 award - but they haven't had time to test him to award them yet. That should happen next week.
And one funny story.... Delta and Echo made bird feeders the other week. We filled them up with birdseed and put them outside on the trees. Ok - only as high as I could place them, and just hung on branch stubs - so about head-high. The next morning the kids announced that the bird feeders were totally empty - and off the trees. Upon investigation, we saw LOTS of deer tracks and some deer scat. We thought they had made bird feeders, but apparently they made DEER FEEDERS!
We haven't re-filled them. Deer are very common on our street and have often been in our yard.... but I don't think we want them encouraged to come here for food, as we have a (very small) garden in our flower beds - and our next-door neighbour usually has quite the garden and already has fun keeping the deer out.
