When I was three my parents found out I had lazy eye (meaning that your brain stops trying to see out of one eye because it is weaker than the other.) Lazy eye isn't something you can see by looking at a kid. Back then they couldn't test for it until a child was old enough to tell you things. By then I was legally blind in my right eye. I had to start wearing a patch over my good eye to force my brain to look out of the bad one. It was not fun (for me OR my poor mom, who had to be the bad guy) but thanks to her hard work I have had pretty decent vision for most of my life. My right eye is still the weaker one, and as I age and my vision gets worse, it gets a LOT worse in that eye. I can't help feeling that if they'd been able to diagnose my condition at an earlier age I would have ended up with better vision.
Well now they can.
You can read an article here about a program called InfantSEE. Only 7,600 doctors in the country participate, but there are 4 here in Idaho Falls. Participating doctors will do an exam on an infant ages 6-12 months for FREE. Of course, Annalee isn't an infant, but I decided that I wanted to get an appointment for Annalee right away with one of the participating doctors. That way I could make sure she didn't have lazy eye (or some other problem) and I'd be ready to take my next infant in at 6 months. I cross-referenced the InfantSEE doctors with my insurance-approved doctors and found Dr. Lisa Porter. I got an appointment in less than a week. We went in today, and I was so impressed with her and her office. They really know pediatric optometry! Dr. Porter was so fun with Annalee that my daughter couldn't be shy. She held up flashing toys and projected pictures of animals on the wall, and Annalee cooperated beautifully with the whole exam. I was relieved to hear that she doesn't have any major problems, including no lazy eye. She is a little farsighted, but not enough to need glasses yet. (Praise be to all the gods for exhausted mothers!) She will have a tendency to go nearsighted, so that is something we'll keep an eye on.
I am so glad I took her in, and thrilled that technology has advanced enough to let us catch problems at an earlier age. A lot of parents take their young children to the dentist for an early checkup, which is great. But baby teeth fall out and are replaced, and even adult teeth can be compensated for. You don't get a second set of eyes.
Lazy eye is treatable, but only up to about age seven. After that, there's nothing they can do. And the later they catch it, the less effective treatment will be. Please get eye checkups for all of your kids. Search here for an InfantSEE doctor. Ours was covered by our insurance, and had only a $10 copay. If you have an infant, it's free! Tell every parent you know.
2 comments:
Glad you posted this. I agree that kids should have their eyes checked early and regularly. A while back, Hyrum started complaining about frequent severe headaches, and we noticed him squinting and blinking a lot. We took him to an optometrist, but he couldn't tell us anything. We weren't very impressed with him, and wanted a second opinion. We asked our old neighbor and close friend who is an optician and the manager of the west side Walmart Optical. He recommended Dr. Porter, saying that she is the best pediatric optometrist he knows. She was awesome! I was especially impressed when she wasn't intimidated with Hyrum's screaming and crying over having his eyes dilated. She had tricks and techniques to deal with every situation and make it fun for him. She really knew her stuff too. Unlike the other doctor, she was able to tell us what was wrong and give us advice to deal with it. Turns out his eyes are excessively dry, exposing his nerves to the cold and heat changes that are so drastic in the winter. Seems to me, the other doctor should have known that! She was great. Even more great that she participates in that program. We'll definitely be taking our kids back to her again!
I had the same condition, and they didn't catch it til I was 5, which by then I too was legally blind in one eye. I had Matty's eyes checked when he was little but I've totally forgotten I should get Jossy's done. Thanks for the reminder!
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