OT-Refractive Amblyopia

[wallawallakids]

Hi, This is incredibly off topic but I am sort of out here on my own and I am hoping someone who has been through this before, or knows something about it can help. My youngest son (who just turned 6) was having difficulty reading in Kindergarten. He has always been really clumsy, bumping into things, broke his collar bone falling off his bed, stuff like that. He also started staring off into space a year ago and to me his left eye looked a little strange. I kept asking my husband if he thought he should see an eye doctor. In hubby's defense DS seemed to see fine (if you ask him about things across the street etc, he can see them), and had been tested at the Dr office during his check up every year and in school this year and passed both times.

I finally got DH to agree to take him in to see an eye doctor yesterday and we were both shocked with what he said. It turns out he has severe Refractive Amblyopia. His right eye sees 20/20 but his left is -10.5. He said he has had this for some time and has started to ignore all the impute from his left eye. He may have been only using the right eye for the last 3 years. He told me it was too severe for him to handle and that he only cares for cases of mild Amblyopia and referred me to a Pediatric Opthamologist. I called the office and they can't see us until Sept 19. Which feels like it is eons away! (He is the only Pediatric Opthamologist in our state so I can't call another Dr. I have to wait).

I am concerned about so many things and I don't know where to turn. From my understanding, he will most likely be given a patch to wear over his "good" eye while they try to strengthen his weaker one. Given that he has struggled in school last year I am super nervous about how this will affect him this year. Also, I am worried about him getting teased. I am not sure how to protect him from that? I love my DH to death but he thinks I am crazy for worrying about how other kids will react. "We want him to get better so this is what we have to do". I completely agree with him but it breaks my heart to think of someone making hurtful comments to him. How do I help him with that? Any ideas? Also he will start school without the patch and glasses so the kids in the class will definitely notice the difference.

Has anyone else had a child with this? How did your child do with the treatment? Was it successful? Did they mind wearing the patch? Was it a fight to put on everyday? Did you use a reward system? Also, how long did your child need to do the therapy? The Dr I saw yesterday made it sound like we could be doing this on and off for the next 3 years!

Sorry for such a long, rambling post. I am just a nervous mom who want my little guy to be ok and I don't know where else to turn. Any help or insight at all would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We have been down that road. We were blessed that we were aware of the need to patch much earlier but it continued for a long time. Now, no doctor will agree, but we chose not to patch during school. With a Summer birthday, we choose to hold him back a year and yes patching was part of that choice. We would patch when we got up until we dropped him off, and again after school to bed time and all days off school. Not the advice of the doctor but it made it much easier to thrive at school, and in our case even much safer. It took longer but worked. If you do patch at school, you will just have to be firm and arm your child with answers and confidence to deal with the other kids DS wore his to church and the kids were so used to it that it was no big deal at all!

 

[Marionnette]

Hi, This is incredibly off topic but I am sort of out here on my own and I am hoping someone who has been through this before, or knows something about it can help. My youngest son (who just turned 6) was having difficulty reading in Kindergarten. He has always been really clumsy, bumping into things, broke his collar bone falling off his bed, stuff like that. He also started staring off into space a year ago and to me his left eye looked a little strange. I kept asking my husband if he thought he should see an eye doctor. In hubby's defense DS seemed to see fine (if you ask him about things across the street etc, he can see them), and had been tested at the Dr office during his check up every year and in school this year and passed both times.

I finally got DH to agree to take him in to see an eye doctor yesterday and we were both shocked with what he said. It turns out he has severe Refractive Amblyopia. His right eye sees 20/20 but his left is -10.5. He said he has had this for some time and has started to ignore all the impute from his left eye. He may have been only using the right eye for the last 3 years. He told me it was too severe for him to handle and that he only cares for cases of mild Amblyopia and referred me to a Pediatric Opthamologist. I called the office and they can't see us until Sept 19. Which feels like it is eons away! (He is the only Pediatric Opthamologist in our state so I can't call another Dr. I have to wait).

I am concerned about so many things and I don't know where to turn. From my understanding, he will most likely be given a patch to wear over his "good" eye while they try to strengthen his weaker one. Given that he has struggled in school last year I am super nervous about how this will affect him this year. Also, I am worried about him getting teased. I am not sure how to protect him from that? I love my DH to death but he thinks I am crazy for worrying about how other kids will react. "We want him to get better so this is what we have to do". I completely agree with him but it breaks my heart to think of someone making hurtful comments to him. How do I help him with that? Any ideas? Also he will start school without the patch and glasses so the kids in the class will definitely notice the difference.

Has anyone else had a child with this? How did your child do with the treatment? Was it successful? Did they mind wearing the patch? Was it a fight to put on everyday? Did you use a reward system? Also, how long did your child need to do the therapy? The Dr I saw yesterday made it sound like we could be doing this on and off for the next 3 years!

Sorry for such a long, rambling post. I am just a nervous mom who want my little guy to be ok and I don't know where else to turn. Any help or insight at all would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

You're not going to be able to prevent other children from making hurtful comments about your child. This is true whether they have an eye patch, red hair, short legs or crooked teeth. Kids can just be cruel at times and the only thing that you can do is to be there when it becomes too much for your son.

I encourage you to have him wear the patch as much as the doctor recommends. A large portion of his waking hours will be spent at school and not patching during school days is going to have a negative impact on how well the treatment works. Tell your son that a patch is just like having a cast on a broken arm. There is nothing wrong with an arm cast and there is nothing to be ashamed about wearing an eye patch, either. Be prepared for tears, battles and tantrums. It goes with the territory. Have plenty of hugs on hand to dole out when he's had an especially bad day. But be firm and make him wear the patch.

 

[wallawallakids]

Thank you for your responses. Sounds like we have a long road ahead of us. He is a good kid and I think he will wear it when we ask. He is pretty easy going, but he is active too. He loves to ride his bike and run around and jump. I am just hoping it doesn't interfere too much for him to enjoy the activities he currently enjoys. The hard part will be the other kids, I think. He is sensitive and I know comments about it will make him sad. But you are right, I need to address it like a broken arm. There is nothing wrong with it. Thank you for that comment.

I plan on having him wear the patch as much as they tell me to have him wear it. I want him to get better and restore his sight in that eye. I feel incredibly guilty as a parent for not noticing it sooner and not getting him into the eye doctor sooner. We really thought the pediatrician's office eye checks and school eye checks were enough. Should have gone in a long time ago I guess. Makes me sad that he has been living with this for so long and we just didn't know.

 

[Jey12]

You might not be able to prevent any teasing from the patching, but they do make some cool patches. They have ones for kids with different designs on them, like race cars, fire trucks, dalmation spots, etc....Also depending on the kids and how they are where you live you may not have many issues with teasing. I'm sure there will be a kid or two who may but at your son's age kids are so forgiving and just want to be friends. I know at my daughter's school for kids that age not much would have been said at all if a classmate had worn a patch. Honestly they would have thought it was cool because they were going to school with a pirate.

To be honest I am not sure you're going to have to worry too much about patching. Our daughter was diagnosed with this at the age of 2, and she should have been much earlier if we'd had a better pediatrician. Hers was very obvious from 4 months on but I was told it only appeared one eye was off because she had brown eyes. It's my understanding that past the age of 5 patching does little good. At least that's the theory of our ped. opth. but yours may have a different plan.

With our daughter we did 3 years of patching, glasses and surgery. It all helped some but not totally, although I don't want to worry you more. DD is not having issues at school, but I do notice the affected eye is worse when she's tired or if she's been reading for long periods of time she will rub it.

I would plan on the very least he will have a prescription for glasses. As for that I doubt you will have any issues with kids making fun of him as glasses are more and more common for children. We were told prior to age 7-9 you can still fix eye issues and after age 9 you can only manage him, so with his age he's still in the fixable age range. As a parent I totally understand you're worried and of course you're going to worry about other kids and things and it's going to be different for every kid. For us DD really took well to the patching, but she was 2. We found with the glasses she would look for them and wore them without a problem most of the time. It helps them see and they aren't the big funky glasses we remember as a kid. They have cool designs and stuff and they fit a lot better. Either way the end result will be he's going to feel better about himself because he'll be able to see better. I know it's scary but I am sure it will all work out fine.

 

[jennyjinx3]

I have no help to offer you OP, but just wanted to say thanks for reminding me to make eye exam appointments for my girls before school starts.

 

[wallawallakids]

You might not be able to prevent any teasing from the patching, but they do make some cool patches. They have ones for kids with different designs on them, like race cars, fire trucks, dalmation spots, etc....Also depending on the kids and how they are where you live you may not have many issues with teasing. I'm sure there will be a kid or two who may but at your son's age kids are so forgiving and just want to be friends. I know at my daughter's school for kids that age not much would have been said at all if a classmate had worn a patch. Honestly they would have thought it was cool because they were going to school with a pirate.

To be honest I am not sure you're going to have to worry too much about patching. Our daughter was diagnosed with this at the age of 2, and she should have been much earlier if we'd had a better pediatrician. Hers was very obvious from 4 months on but I was told it only appeared one eye was off because she had brown eyes. It's my understanding that past the age of 5 patching does little good. At least that's the theory of our ped. opth. but yours may have a different plan.

With our daughter we did 3 years of patching, glasses and surgery. It all helped some but not totally, although I don't want to worry you more. DD is not having issues at school, but I do notice the affected eye is worse when she's tired or if she's been reading for long periods of time she will rub it.

I would plan on the very least he will have a prescription for glasses. As for that I doubt you will have any issues with kids making fun of him as glasses are more and more common for children. We were told prior to age 7-9 you can still fix eye issues and after age 9 you can only manage him, so with his age he's still in the fixable age range. As a parent I totally understand you're worried and of course you're going to worry about other kids and things and it's going to be different for every kid. For us DD really took well to the patching, but she was 2. We found with the glasses she would look for them and wore them without a problem most of the time. It helps them see and they aren't the big funky glasses we remember as a kid. They have cool designs and stuff and they fit a lot better. Either way the end result will be he's going to feel better about himself because he'll be able to see better. I know it's scary but I am sure it will all work out fine.

Thank you so much. I am so happy to hear that they have some cool looking patches. I was picturing a big bandaid looking one but if they have some design to it, I think it would be easier to get him to wear it.

Thank you for sharing the story about your daughter. It is nice to hear from others who have been through it. I don't know anyone else, personally, who has dealt with it so it is beyond helpful to hear from others. I think he will be ok with wearing glasses. His oldest sister wears glasses and has since she was 6 so I don't think he will think that is a big of a deal. I do think if he could see better, he would want to wear them. He has never said once that he can't see but after yesterday I told him we were going to see another doctor to help him see better and he said "No. I am only supposed to see out of one eye!" So that makes me think he has been seeing like this for a long time. Thank you again.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Hi OP. I had this in both eyes as a child. I was diagnosed in 1st grade and my parents opted for the surgery instead of patches and glasses. The surgery worked on the first try. 2 week recovery over the summer and I was back to normal.

A couple things -

My BFF's daughter has it in one eye. She is 3 years old and have been patching/glasses for 2 years. The eye doctor is urging them to consider surgery because the progress is so slow and he doesn't think she will be cured by patching glasses alone at this point. So be aware that patches and glasses might not totally fix it.

Hopefully this helps with his school problems, but his eye problem might not have anything to do with his struggles. I was only using one eye for everything and had no problems with school. My eye doctor said it is a common misconception that fixing a lazy eye will fix learning delays. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. You son has probably learned to focus on the images from one eye at a time, and probably ignores the images coming from the wandering eye most of the time. He doesn't even know he is doing it. To this day I tend to only use 1 eye at a time, and there is a 3 second delay between when both eyes focus if I use them both. But it hasn't negatively impacted my life in any way.

 

[ktlm]

We went through this with DD, but we caught it when she was younger. She was not quite 3 (she's 7 now). DD patched for somewhere between a year and a year and a half, and they got her to 20/30 with glasses in her bad eye after a year, and then she continued to improve and got to 20/20 with glasses in the bad eye. They will check him every 2 to 3 months to see how he is improving. They likely will only have him patch 2 hours a day. Research has shown that anything over that, doesn't have that much of an added benefit if any. The old school way was to do 6 hours a day, but not many doctors still do that - the modern treatment is 2 hours a day. There was a study that came out this year that showed if a kid plateaued on the 2 hour a day patching that they could get some benefit and move forward if the patching increased to 6 hours a day. Treatment for amblyopia is more successful for kids under 7 (a reason why you need to get started ASAP). It can still be treated after that age, it is just much more responsive in younger kids. I think might be a possibility the doctor may want to do 6 hours a day because of his age and wanting to get any possible benefit of getting it moving as quickly as possible. What they use now are mostly ortopads- they are adhesive disposible patches that have designs on them (cammo etc for boys). It isn't like the old black pirate eye patches you might be thinking of. Plus, you want to use the adhesive because it prevents them from peeking which slows down the treatment. You don't want them using the good eye at all- the bad one has to be forced to be used and strengethened. You don't want to let them "cheat" in any way. There are also atropine drops that you can use instead of the patches. The drops blur the vision in the good eye, and are usually used only on the weekend - I think the blur lasts 24 hours. Mostly these are prescribed for kids that absolutely will not keep a patch on their face. DD was "patch- resistant" at first, but we opted to keep trying and not to use the drops for 3 reasons: 1. We did not want to put strange drops in the only good eye she had, as we didn't want to take any risks at all with that eye; and 2. If the amblyopia is really bad, then some kids will use the blurred eye instead of the weak eye even with the drops in it, so they don't progress; and 3. the patching is daily and consistent- the weekend drops leave a few days in between to backslide.

As far as DD, she had one episode in 1st grade where she had a backslide. She had a pair of glasses that was sliding down her nose, so she was looking over them instead of through them. DON'T let your son do this. Watch for it and have his teacher watch for it. DD had to go back to patching for a month (the doctor said once the eye is trained it gets its strength back quickly). After a month she was back to 20/20 in the bad eye with glasses, but we are going back every 6 months for a few times to make sure it stays that way.

Are you sure you only have one pediatric opthamologist in your state? That doesn't sound right. You do want to get him in as quickly as possible because of his age. It won't be that long until Sept 19, but if you can get in earlier, that would be best. Have you talked to his pediatrician? Maybe he or she can help get you in. When we called to get an appointment, we were given one a month out. Our pediatrician called and got us in the next day. Maybe you can pester the office by calling and checking for cancellations every couple of days too!

As far as the glasses and patching themselves, DD was not quite 3, so our experience is going to be a lot different than yours. Your son is old enough that when you explain things to him, he will probably be more receptive. As far as the glasses, it just takes them a couple of days to get used to them. DD complained for about 2 days, but then she realized how much better she could actually see with the glasses. From that point, she didn't take them off, and they were the first thing she reached for when she woke up in the morning. The patching is going to be a little harder. Because the eye is so bad, when he first starts patching, he will not be able to see much at all. It can be a little scary or bothersome at first, but the stronger the eye gets the easier it will be (the glasses go over the patches so it isn't like they are totally just using the eye). You definitely don't want to start him out patching during the school day, because he will not be able to see to do his work. After school will be best to start- and if you are only doing 2 hours, then I would say to always do it after school. DD never wore her patch to 1st grade when she had to wear it a month last year, and she never wore it to pre-school when she was little. The main thing is he needs to be USING the bad eye while it is patched. If he just sits staring into space or tries to take a nap, he won't progress. Our Doctor recommended TV, especially at first. It was basically a free pass to watch 2 hours of TV each day- often a movie and a 30 minute show. When he first starts to patch you really don't want him running around that much until he starts to see better out of that eye, so parking him in front of a TV isn't a bad thing! As he gets a little stronger- if you can get him to play video games with the patch on, or read or write, that is good. Really any activity is fine, just the more he uses it, the faster it will improve.

Hope this helps! I will be happy to answer any questions you have, as we have been there.

Editing-- also I noticed that others have mentioned surgery. Be aware that the surgery is cosmetic only- the point is to keep the eye from turning. It is very old school to start out that way (its what many doctors used to do over 20 years ago). All the surgery does is force the eye to be straight . It does not force the eye to work. It won't cure the amblyopia (ask my SIL and her husband who both had the surgery as kids and both basically see out of one eye now). It is generally only used now when they can not get the eye to go straight with glasses on. Also, with amblopia, it is normal that the eye gets straight while the glasses are on, but that sometimes (especially when the person is tired), it will turn when the glasses (or contacts) are off, so some people use it cosmetically because they do not like that. I would not trust a doctor who wants to jump straight to surgery. Some patients, it does encourage the eye to work better because it makes it stay straight, but the doctors still use patching etc. after the surgery to try to train the eye. Also sometimes, a while after the surgery the eye actually gets to where it can turn again, and then they want to re-do the surgery to force it straight again. You don't want to jump straight to surgery, and if the doctor recommends it, I would find another doctor.

 

[wallawallakids]

We went through this with DD, but we caught it when she was younger. She was not quite 3 (she's 7 now). DD patched for somewhere between a year and a year and a half, and they got her to 20/30 with glasses in her bad eye after a year, and then she continued to improve and got to 20/20 with glasses in the bad eye. They will check him every 2 to 3 months to see how he is improving. They likely will only have him patch 2 hours a day. Research has shown that anything over that, doesn't have that much of an added benefit if any. The old school way was to do 6 hours a day, but not many doctors still do that - the modern treatment is 2 hours a day. There was a study that came out this year that showed if a kid plateaued on the 2 hour a day patching that they could get some benefit and move forward if the patching increased to 6 hours a day. Treatment for amblyopia is more successful for kids under 7 (a reason why you need to get started ASAP). It can still be treated after that age, it is just much more responsive in younger kids. I think might be a possibility the doctor may want to do 6 hours a day because of his age and wanting to get any possible benefit of getting it moving as quickly as possible. What they use now are mostly ortopads- they are adhesive disposible patches that have designs on them (cammo etc for boys). It isn't like the old black pirate eye patches you might be thinking of. Plus, you want to use the adhesive because it prevents them from peeking which slows down the treatment. You don't want them using the good eye at all- the bad one has to be forced to be used and strengethened. There are also atropine drops that you can use instead of the patches. The drops blur the vision in the good eye, and are usually used only on the weekend - I think the blur lasts 24 hours. Mostly these are prescribed for kids that absolutely will not keep a patch on their face. DD was "patch- resistant" at first, but we opted to keep trying and not to use the drops for 3 reasons: 1. We did not want to put strange drops in the only good eye she had, as we didn't want to take any risks at all with that eye; and 2. If the amblyopia is really bad, then some kids will use the blurred eye instead of the weak eye even with the drops in it, so they don't progress; and 3. the patching is daily and consistent- the weekend drops leave a few days in between to backslide.

As far as DD, she had one episode in 1st grade where she had a backslide. She had a pair of glasses that was sliding down her nose, so she was looking over them instead of through them. DON'T let your son do this. Watch for it and have his teacher watch for it. DD had to go back to patching for a month (the doctor said once the eye is trained it gets its strength back quickly). After a month she was back to 20/20 in the bad eye with glasses, but we are going back every 6 months for a few times to make sure it stays that way.

Are you sure you only have one pediatric opthamologist in your state? That doesn't sound right. You do want to get him in as quickly as possible because of his age. It won't be that long until Sept 19, but if you can get in earlier, that would be best. Have you talked to his pediatricatian? Maybe he or she can help get you in. When we called to get an appointment, we were given one a month out. Our pediatrician called and got us in the next day. Maybe you can pester the office by calling and checking for cancellations every couple of days!

As far as the glasses and patching themselves, DD was not quite 3, so our experience is going to be a lot different than yours. Your son is old enough that when you explain things to him, he will probably be more receptive. As far as the glasses, it just takes them a couple of days to get used to them. DD complained for about 2 days, but then she realized how much better she could actually see with the glasses. From that point, she didn't take them off, and they were the first thing she reached for when she woke up in the morning. The patching is going to be a little harder. Because the eye is so bad, when he first starts patching, he will not be able to see much at all. It can be a little scary or bothersome at first, but the stronger the eye gets the easier it will be (the glasses go over the patches so it isn't like that are totally just using the eye). You definitely don't want to start him out patching during the school day, because he will not be able to see to do his work. After school will be best to start- and if you are only doing 2 hours, then I would say to always do it after school. DD never wore her patch to 1st grade when she had to wear it a month last year, and she never wore it to pre-school when she was little. The main thing is he needs to be USING the bad eye while it is patched. If he just sits staring into space or tries to take a nap, he won't progress. Our Doctor recommended TV, especially at first. It was basically a free pass to watch 2 hours of TV each day- often a movie and a 30 minute show. When he first starts to patch you really don't want him running around that much until he starts to see better out of that eye, so parking him in front of a TV isn't a bad thing! As he gets a little stronger- if you can get him to play video games with the patch on, or read or write, that is good. Really any activity is fine, just the more he uses it, the faster it will improve.

Hope this helps! I will be happy to answer any questions you have, as we have been there.

THANK YOU!!! That was so helpful to read. I just called the dr and asked to be placed on a cancelation list in hopes that we can get in earlier then the 19th.

I think the TV idea is a great one! Our kids are only allowed one show a week, so that would be a HUGE motivator for him. I never would have thought of it on my own. Thank you. And I will watch him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't look over the glasses, like you mentioned. I could see him doing something like that.

I am so happy to hear that your DD did so well with the therapy. It does make me nervous that we are so late into the game. I am praying he responds well to it. It will be interesting to see what they recommend because he is older and his left eye is pretty negative in prescription already. He couldn't even see the big huge E on the board during the test. I would be thrilled if he could just restore some sight in that eye. I am so happy to hear some great stories about kids restoring sight with this. It gives me a little hope. The Dr. yesterday definitely scared me with his diagnosis. I think I will just keep calling and checking in with them to see if they can't get him in quicker. I just want to get started and not waste any more time. Thank you again! I really do appreciate it.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Just to clarify, we did not choose to not patch because of the fear of teasing. DS left eye was so weak that with the right one patched, he would have missed out on many experiences at school. He could not see well enough to read and safely play on the playground. While a child's self esteem is very importation, we would not not skipped patching because of the reactions of others. We had patched for many years, and delayed school to give us another year. We were at the point we were trying to hold what we had achieved. At home we did things with his eye patched that he could do with at least less frustration and more safety. Riding a bike with it on was not an option. We found TV was good. We stopped patching for good around age 7-8. While the eye is still not great, it is miles better than it was to start with.

We did full awake time patching from age 3-5. Tough but it saved some sight in that eye.

Good luck and decide what will work for your child. We starting out trying to bribe him when he was like 2 or 3 and it got soooo out of hand we decided to go tough love and it was much better.

 

[ktlm]

You are very welcome!!! I did a ton of research on it and we have a really good doctor who takes the time to give you all the information and explain things too. Good luck, I hope he does well!

Hopefully the TV will be the motivator you need, since he doesn't normally get to watch much. Funny that watching TV is just what the doctor ordered to actually get them better huh? Our doctor said TV is actually one of the best things when you are starting out, because it gets them to direct their vision on one point and try to focus. The first few days you might have to resort to even more bribery because he might be scared. We had to, but DD was a lot younger, so maybe you will be okay. Just keep in mind, at first because his eye is so bad, it is basically going to seem to him like you are blindfolding him for 2 hours. At first, it isn't really a matter of tough love as they can be really scared because they can't see much of anything. They aren't not wearing it for looks or just to be difficult- you might have a scared child on your hands that needs some encouragement and bribery to muster up the courage to deal with the patch. It is like you suddenly took their vision away from them. At least they do see light, so it isn't like they are in the dark. Later, is more of the tough love because then they just don't want to wear it. You will have to encourage him to keep the patch on and to try to see with that eye at first. DD's one eye was really bad too, so hopefully he will improve just like she did!

 

[wallawallakids]

You are very welcome!!! I did a ton of research on it and we have a really good doctor who takes the time to give you all the information and explain things too. Good luck, I hope he does well!

Hopefully the TV will be the motivator you need, since he doesn't normally get to watch much. Funny that watching TV is just what the doctor ordered to actually get them better huh? Our doctor said TV is actually one of the best things when you are starting out, because it gets them to direct their vision on one point and try to focus. The first few days you might have to resort to even more bribery because he might be scared. We had to, but DD was a lot younger, so maybe you will be okay. Just keep in mind, at first because his eye is so bad, it is basically going to seem to him like you are blindfolding him for 2 hours. At first, it isn't really a matter of tough love as they can be really scared because they can't see much of anything. They aren't not wearing it for looks or just to be difficult- you might have a scared child on your hands that needs some encouragement and bribery to muster up the courage to deal with the patch. It is like you suddenly took their vision away from them. At least they do see light, so it isn't like they are in the dark. Later, is more of the tough love because then they just don't want to wear it. You will have to encourage him to keep the patch on and to try to see with that eye at first. DD's one eye was really bad too, so hopefully he will improve just like she did!

Thank you! I have to tell you thank you again for mentioning the cancelation list because I just got a call and they had someone cancel so we are going TOMORROW!!! At 9 am!!! I am so happy and thankful that you mentioned that. So fingers crossed we will know a lot more tomorrow. I have never wanted to go see a doctor so badly in my life. Just looking forward to some answers. And thank you again for all the help!

 

[ktlm]

Yea!!!! Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[wallawallakids]

Yea!!!! Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

I will!! Thanks.

 

[POOHDRMR]

Just wanted to say good luck with everything,my dh had it as a kid and wore a patch and glasses when younger and he did great with the treatment and now only wears reading glasses that he uses only here and there mainly at night on the computer.He did get made fun of though by some-back then he had to wear it at school and for longer than they seem to wear it now.He played soccer and other sports and was very active.We have been very aware of checking for it with our 2 kids because of his history and his mother is actually legally blind in one eye from not being treated for it when she was younger(almost 80 years ago)I hope your son's vision starts to improve soon for him.

 

[wallawallakids]

Just wanted to say good luck with everything,my dh had it as a kid and wore a patch and glasses when younger and he did great with the treatment and now only wears reading glasses that he uses only here and there mainly at night on the computer.He did get made fun of though by some-back then he had to wear it at school and for longer than they seem to wear it now.He played soccer and other sports and was very active.We have been very aware of checking for it with our 2 kids because of his history and his mother is actually legally blind in one eye from not being treated for it when she was younger(almost 80 years ago)I hope your son's vision starts to improve soon for him.

Thank you very much. I am so happy to hear successful stories for Daniel's sake. Really looking forward to getting his treatment started and hopefully we will have as much success as your husband and some others on here. Thank you again for the well wishes.

 

[Jey12]

Good luck at your appointment tomorrow OP. I have a feeling what you will feel at the end is relief, because you will have answers and a plan. As the PP mentioned surgery won't fix it and in our case it was only a recommendation after many months of patching and glasses. And even after the surgery the straightness of her lazy eye was short lived. We did patching after and glasses and still no luck with it. Surgery has been suggested again and I have been rather hesitant. DD is now 7, and I have heard the surgery is worse for them at this age because the muscles are stronger so there is more discomfort after and with a low chance of it being a long term fix I am not seeing the reason behind putting her through it. After the surgery the dr. had us patching her for almost every waking hour during the day with a 2 hour break in the middle. The adhesive patches were great though, for her they had little flowers, stripes, princesses and castles on them. Plus she also would get a box every so often with the camo, dalmation spots and race cars.

I also agree I'd ask about the issues at school specifically. With DD there has never been an issue at school and she is on the competitive gym team and excels at that. School and gymnastics both require large amounts of hand to eye coordination and depth perception and there hasn't been any major issues. Aside from where she's tired she tends to rub that eye and I notice the issue more. Own her own she now does what she calls eye training. She will put her hand over her good eye and walk around and read things with her "lazy" eye. She says she can see better out of it after doing that and that has motivated her to increase her eye training times. I can't say if it's helping our not but her reading has improved. Her next appointment is in 6 weeks so we shall see what is said.

The way our doc explained it to us is from a very early age the brain learns to only trust information it is getting from the good eye. It ignores the information coming in from the not so good eye. So over time the good eye is amazingly strong and the not so good eye gets worse. Muscles aren't used and the eye to brain pathways are used less and less. The point of the patching and glasses is to force the brain to learn to use the not so good eye and learn to trust the information and reopen those pathways. The reason treatment is easier in younger children is because the brain is still growing and building and talking it into doing something new is easier. As we all know as we get older we get set in our ways and are stubborn to change. Our brains feel the same way.

Hope you have a great appointment and get the information you need to do what you think is best for your little one.

 

[wallawallakids]

Good luck at your appointment tomorrow OP. I have a feeling what you will feel at the end is relief, because you will have answers and a plan. As the PP mentioned surgery won't fix it and in our case it was only a recommendation after many months of patching and glasses. And even after the surgery the straightness of her lazy eye was short lived. We did patching after and glasses and still no luck with it. Surgery has been suggested again and I have been rather hesitant. DD is now 7, and I have heard the surgery is worse for them at this age because the muscles are stronger so there is more discomfort after and with a low chance of it being a long term fix I am not seeing the reason behind putting her through it. After the surgery the dr. had us patching her for almost every waking hour during the day with a 2 hour break in the middle. The adhesive patches were great though, for her they had little flowers, stripes, princesses and castles on them. Plus she also would get a box every so often with the camo, dalmation spots and race cars.

I also agree I'd ask about the issues at school specifically. With DD there has never been an issue at school and she is on the competitive gym team and excels at that. School and gymnastics both require large amounts of hand to eye coordination and depth perception and there hasn't been any major issues. Aside from where she's tired she tends to rub that eye and I notice the issue more. Own her own she now does what she calls eye training. She will put her hand over her good eye and walk around and read things with her "lazy" eye. She says she can see better out of it after doing that and that has motivated her to increase her eye training times. I can't say if it's helping our not but her reading has improved. Her next appointment is in 6 weeks so we shall see what is said.

The way our doc explained it to us is from a very early age the brain learns to only trust information it is getting from the good eye. It ignores the information coming in from the not so good eye. So over time the good eye is amazingly strong and the not so good eye gets worse. Muscles aren't used and the eye to brain pathways are used less and less. The point of the patching and glasses is to force the brain to learn to use the not so good eye and learn to trust the information and reopen those pathways. The reason treatment is easier in younger children is because the brain is still growing and building and talking it into doing something new is easier. As we all know as we get older we get set in our ways and are stubborn to change. Our brains feel the same way.

Hope you have a great appointment and get the information you need to do what you think is best for your little one.

Thank you. Good luck to your DD as well. I agree with what you are saying and would be very hesitant about the surgery as well.

I will ask about his learning issues. Maybe they are not related to his eye at all. Thank you again for the information. I think I will feel much better tomorrow after I know exactly what we can expect. And hopefully he can tell me what the chances are for some recovery of sight in that eye.

 

[MrsBanks]

My DD began patching therapy and wearing glasses at 18 months. I remember being concerned that she would not keep the patch on (because of her age) and the doctor offered an eye drop that would blur vision in the good eye. She did wear her patch with no problem. She had surgery at age 3 but continues to wear glasses. Her eyes are straight except when she's over-tired as another poster mentioned. She is 10 now and has one minor complication from the surgery, a very small tenon cyst formed over the area where the stitches were. It cannot be seen without pulling her eyelid back away from her eye and it causes no pain.

Also just an FYI - I don't know if the ophthalmologist will dilate your child's eyes but you may want to bring a pair of sunglasses for the ride home

Good luck tomorrow