This picture may make you laugh, especially if you know my son. He's silly and goofy and likes to make funny faces at the camera. However, this picture does not make me laugh...It makes me cry.
A little over a month ago I started noticing L's eye turning slightly inward. I thought it was my imagination at first but it became more often and worse over the next week. It only happened when he was looking at something very near or when he was sleepy. I was so scared though. I knew there was something wrong with my beautiful son.
We had an appointment for a specialist but not for another month. It was a month Ive been spending in pain and tears. Pain for my son and the not knowing what he was seeing. If his vision was bothering him...hurting him? I had no idea. I'd ask him if his eye was bothering him and he'd say yes and always point to the one that has the problems. He'd often rub it when it turned in and it broke my heart. It got worse as the month went on.
We finally went to a the specialist and it turns out that L has Farsighted Strabismus. It's actually quite common. L is farsighted. When someone is farsighted, it means the eyeball is too short. Light rays from distant objects would normally be focused behind the retina, making near objects look blurry. However, the child's eye can easily (and automatically) accommodate by changing the shape of its lens to focus light rays on the retina. When the child's eye focuses on nearby objects, the eye must accommodate even more. In some children, this process is accompanied by a strong tendency for the eyes to turn in. As a result children will have crossed eyes all or part of the time (like L). However, it can be corrected if you catch it early.
The doctor put a lens up to my husband and I's eyes to show us what L has been seeing when his eye turns in. I immediately started crying. It's very double visioned. My poor baby boy. Suprising though that none of his hand eye coordination or fine motor skills have been affected. He's been accommodating amazingly. But that didn't make me feel any better about what my poor baby has been going through.
SO, the doctor said that L's case is pretty mild. We caught it at a very early stage (he'd have eventually went blind in that eye if we ignored it or thought it would fix itself) and his farsightedness isnt that bad. Doc said its probably totally curable with glasses, but surgery may be required if the glasses don't work. Luckily, the surgery is very successful, quick, and easy if we do end up having to go that route.
We got L's glasses today and I am on the verge of tears right now just thinking about it. He wore them all evening and not once did his eye turn in! Not even while reading a book!....ok, now I am crying. No, strabismus isn't life threatening and I know i'm luckily to have a healthy child, but when ANYTHING happens to your children that causes them discomfort or pain, it's a big deal...it makes your heart ache.
INTRODUCING MY BEAUTIFUL SON...WITH HIS NEW GLASSES!
My little professor :)
