Disclosure- typos are at the phone's fault. The writer holds no liability.
Jack went to the eye doctor on Wednesday. Oh, the screaming! The mind-numbing screaming!
He had three different parts to the test.
1. Visual Diagnostic Exam. It might have a different name. A board the size of a piece of paper is held up. The board is white with a dark gray picture (outline of a duck). There are three boards with each picture, where the picture is either at the top, middle, or bottom of the board. A picture is held up. If Jack looks at the picture, well, he can see it! Each set has a different picture. The changes occur with the size and darkness of the picture. The image gets thinner and lighter in color. Jack made it about half way through. We were told he did just fine with the pictures. (Of course, he cried and screamed, clung to me because he was scared, and ABSOLUTELY HATED getting each eye patched for the final part of the test. Katie thought the pictures were funny and laughed and smiled at each one.
2. The second part of the test included eye muscle measurement to see how Jack's eyes were healing from the second eye muscle surgery. The OD held up Jack's iPod with his light and did the exam. We also took Jack to the procedure room to look at the blotch on his left eye. Two of us held Jack down while he was looked at. Yes. There was screaming and retching. Eye drops were then put in Jack's eyes to dilate them. Of course, as soon as I sat Jack up on the bed he calmed down and noticed the clock, basket, and blood pressure test! He was dripping with sweat. I bribed him with a snack of BBQ chips. We got some lunch and moved to a quiet, open area in the hospital so Katie could get out of the stroller and snack and crawl and stand.
3. The OD completed the rest of the eye exam. I held Jack on my lap and kept his arms down while someone else held Jack's head in place and opened each eye. Yes. More screaming and retching but Jack was also calmer since receiving the dilating drops (they have a numbing agent). It ends up that Jack has eye pain. :( Dr. Tychsen, MD (he performed all three of Jack's eye surgeries) came in and finished on more specific tasks. We took Jack back to the procedure room. Again, two of us held Jack down while his eyes were closely looked at. Numbing drops were also placed in his left eye. Yes. More screaming and retching. Yes. As soon as I sat Jack up he turned off the noise and happily talked about the clock.
The results: Jack will be going back to the operating room this summer for the 'blotch' on his eye we have been following for a while since his last eye muscle surgery. His eye isn't lubricating and his lower lid isn't closing, causing damage to the outer eye. The blotch is over his pupil on his cornea. This can result in more damage, infection, and if damage over the pupil, vision loss. All of his symptoms (red eyes, rubbing them hard, extremely sensitive to all light) stem from the damage he already has. It's cause? CFC Syndrome, his cranial/facial structure. Luckily, we need to head to the OR for a teeth cleaning.
