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| September Ped Op Visit Day |
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Alex visited the Ped Op at Duke at the end of September. It was a different experience to take a squirmy toddler instead of a baby. Having his pressures checked was the hardest part because he wanted to grab the equipment or twist his head away. He had a great visit - no glaucoma, no cataracts, no glasses. He is using his right eye more than his left and the left is drifting out a bit. This is called strabismus which is a muscle imbalance of the eye which leads to crossing of the eyes or a “lazy eye.” In esotropia, the eye turns inward. In exotropia, the eye turns outward, which is what Alex is experiencing. I hadn't noticed it because of the nystagmus (wobbly eyes), but after the doctors pointed it out, I see it.
The Vision for Tomorrow Foundation has a great summary of aniridia's impact on vision. For strabismus they note the following:
Impact on vision: If uncorrected, strabismus can lead to amblyopia, or the loss of some vision function in the weaker eye.
Current medical/surgical treatments: Strabismus is correctable with glasses, eye-patches and/or surgery.
For Alex, the current treatment is patch therapy where he wears an adhesive patch on his right eye for a total of 5 hours per week. His next visit is in four months and we will see if there has been an improvement with the left eye.
We call it "patch time", but lately I try not to say "patch" because he is a smarty pants 1 year old and knows what the word means and tries to take off the patch. The very first day he seemed scared after we put on the patch and cried quite a bit. You can see the sniffles below.
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| First patch day - Mr. Grumpy |
Even that first day he was easily distracted after a few minutes by playing with toys, books, and cruising around the room. We try to give him toys that he really likes.
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| Patch time is a family affair |
The first few days were difficult, but he doesn't seem to mind the patch unless he is really tired. He's worn it during meals, on walks, or out at a store. The hardest part is getting the patch on. I sneak up behind him and try to put it on as quickly as I can. We are hoping the patch therapy works and we can avoid surgery.
