For those of you who do not know yet, a few weeks ago we took Taren in for his regular eye check up. With Preemies it is very common to have eye problems and so from the very beginning they start eye exams. He had several while he was in the NICU and passed all of them with flying colors. He had 2 more over the first year and again passed those with perfect eye sight.
A few weeks ago we went back up again for another routine check up. I had put off this eye appointment for a while because life had gotten so busy, but finally decided it was time to get him back in. A few friends had asked me if his new "thing" which is to frown at everyone, could in fact be that he is having trouble seeing far way, so I made an appointment to get his eyes check just to make sure. Before going up there I told myself that if he indeed need glasses I would not be surprised, glasses tend to run in the family and I didn't want to go up there and be shocked if that was the case.
I was very impressed with how Dr.s can tell how well their vision is, because unlike us, he can not tell the Dr. when it looks the clearest. They have several pretty cool ways of checking out their eyes and how they see up close and far away. After seeing his Dr. Taren does in fact need glasses, however, not because he has trouble seeing far away, but because he has trouble seeing up close. (so his frowning at everyone is in fact just Taren being goofy).
Taren's right eye also very slightly (i have to stare at it to even notice it) slightly turns in when trying to focus. At first the Dr. was worried that this was a symptom of something going wrong with his shunt because it is also on the right side. When the shunt stops working it can cause the eye to swell slightly inside as well as cause it to cross in and not be able to look out the side of the eye. After testing his eye more, the Dr. thankfully determined that this was not the case! PRAISE THE LORD! Taren has no swelling in his eye and can look just fine out the side. Which means, he simply has a harder time focusing with his right eye causing it to want to turn in ever so slightly. At this point it is not a big deal. He can still use it just fine, however, as he gets older he will start to realize that it is easier to use his left eye and begin to use his right eye less and less, causing it to cross more noticeable and eventually he will stop using it all together.
And so, Taren was fitted for glasses. He is to wear them as much as he can, but especially while reading. We will also eventually be starting what is called patch therapy on his right eye. Patch therapy is where once a day for about an hour we will cover his left eye and have him use only his right, which will begin to strengthen it.
(Getting fitted)
(Finished product)
This was hard news for Joseph and I simply because he has been through so much already and we hate to see him have to go through anything else. We prayed there would not be horrible fights trying to get him use to wearing the glasses.
We ordered his glasses a few days later and have now had them for over a week. Taren is just adorable in them! I love how cute he is in them! I am also so thankful that he has been amazing with them. He still has times where he doesn't want to keep them on for long, but for the most part he has no problem keeping them on as long as I want him to. I am so shocked at how easy he has been with the whole process!
Two days after having them, he met his first friend with glasses. Taren thought it was very cool that they both had glasses and for the first time he kept his on for over an hour after meeting his friend and has continued to do so since!
(Taren and his new friend)
