MasterB and His Vision – The patching begins :(
So it’s been about 5 weeks since MasterB got his glasses and he suddenly discovered what it’s like to see. The changes in him have been amazing, he’s discovered a love for books, happy land and he has started walking. I can’t believe just how much his development has come on since he started wearing his glasses.
Anyway, last Thursday we went for a consultant appointment at Sunderland Eye Infirmary to see how he is doing. They are impressed with how much he has improved whilst wearing glasses but his lazy left eye is still turning in a bit (though not as much) when wearing glasses. They have decided we need to start patching his strong eye for a couple of hours a day in order to force him to use his weak eye and strengthen the muscles. The earlier we do it, the better chance we have of correcting it.
So this morning was our first day of patching, I hated doing it to him, I know he finds it really hard using his left eye and it upsets him 
I know it’s only for a couple of hours a day and it is going to have hopefully huge benefits in the long run…but doing something which you know is upsetting your baby is still heartbreaking. He doesn’t understand
I’m sure MasterB will get used to it, I’ve no idea how long we will be patching for, weeks, months, years? I’m hoping not too long! We have a follow up appointment in August (and every 6 weeks after that) so we can monitor his (hopeful) improvement and check to see whether the vision is equalling in both eyes.
Another thing the consultant noticed is that the optic nerve in the left (his weaker) eye is a lot smaller than the one in his right. I don’t understand what this means exactly – will it change in size, does it mean his left eye is always going to have poorer vision than his right? I’m pretty sure they can’t do anything to fix optic nerves but as yet we don’t know how much impact it will have on his vision
It’s all so confusing, the numbers, the charts that they show me. I sort of understand the basics but trying to understand what the consultant is explaining to me when I have a wriggling MasterB on my knee is hard. I’ve always had good eyesight and so all these terms and numbers are just baffling. I’m sure as our journey progresses I will start to understand it more.
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I think it’s almost better at this stage because he is still getting used to his glasses and the change in sight. It must be a bit off putting for him though so I guess all you can do is make sure he is doing nice things while he wears the patch!
Hopefully he won’t have to wear it for long, it sounds like they are impressed with his progress so far so that’s a great start xx
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#3 written by ail redmond & Co 11 months ago
Could be heriditary. How’s his dad’s vision? Or related to something called optic nerve hypoplasia. This can come about via the mother having diabetes or similar and is also linked to premature births or the mother having complications involving blood loss and weight loss during birth. Hard to be specific though and symptoms vary widely.
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It’s interesting you say that Ali as he was premature, I lost a huge amount of blood and lost a lot of weight late in the pregnancy, I will be sure to mention that to the consultant at our next appointment. Thank you x
DawnieBrown recently posted..176/366
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Hello! You’re definitely doing the right thing- I speak from experience and with enormous gratitude to my parents that they did the very same when I was 2. I had a squint and therefore glasses (which I too never wanted to have taken off) and I distinctly remember the smell of the patches! They worked so very well – so much so that at a recent sight check the optician asked me about my eye history and said that the work done when I was a child has been so much better than any operation could have been and that the muscles in my left eye are now really good! So keep going, however hard- you are doing a brilliant thing! xx
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Thank you, it’s reassuring to know that what I’m putting him through now will hopefully be beneficial for him in the long run x
DawnieBrown recently posted..175/366
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Our little girl Lauren (now 11!) wore glasses from being 20 months. The health visitor was concerned about her not making any attempt to walk unaided, but she would walk miles holding my hand. By 22 months she was walking. She wouldnt take her glasses off until she fell asleep as they made such a huge difference to her. She went through patch therapy from 3 years old to 8 years old. After 8 years old they stop it as the eyes don’t develop much more. It was a really upsetting time for me, I felt I’d failed her by producing her with defective eyes/muscles. Each time I looked at her pretty face hidden by glasses my stomach churned and I was overcome with guilt. I didn;t realise this at the time but I was worrying for nothing. Shes not far short of an academic genius now and she has boys chasing her at age 11! Best of luck with masterB’s glasses and patch therapy, glasses are considered a fashion accessory these days and theres some fab ones about, he looks really cute! If you need someone to talk to get in touch. Lisa Peach-Hill.
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Hi Lisa, thanks for replying. The glasses don’t worry me too much as he suits them and they are miles ahead of what kids were forced to wear back when I was young. I’m hoping because we are starting the patching whilst he is still young (16 months) we won’t need to do it for too long. I still feel horribly guilty wondering if it’s my fault for having a bad pregnancy that has caused the problems (of course deep down I know there was nothing I could do about the pregnancy).
DawnieBrown recently posted..174/366
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#10 written by Philippa 11 months ago
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#11 written by Jan G 11 months ago
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Hi Jan,
I have good eyesight though I’ve just found out my dad had surgery for a lazy eye when he was aged 9. Hubby is short sighted (or was but it was corrected with lazy eye surgery). It’s interesting what you’ve said, I’ve had concerns about his slow development but put this down to the fact he couldn’t see anything until a few weeks ago. The sleep is very interesting as MasterB is a nightmare sleeper, wonder if it is related? Thanks I now have more to mention to the consultant x
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#13 written by Jan G 11 months ago
You obviously have a lot to think about so best of luck. Don’t know if you’re a working mum or whether you’re lucky enough to be at home with your son a lot, but if you’re out at work all week maybe this would be a good time for you and your husband to take some time off to get him used to the big changes in his little life? A friend of mine who faced a not dissimilar challenge had her little girl in nursery when she was out at work, but the nursery found they didn’t really have the resources to devote so much extra time to one child and a couple of weeks at home got her much more up to speed.
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, you are a wonderful mum sis and I am sure is eye will improve greatly x x
There's a challenege for them hehe xx
Bless him, he does look very cute. The bright colours are fab! Has he seen himself in the mirror?
I hope it doesn’t take too long to get rid of the patches and I hope that all is successful x
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