Dear Ellie,
A few days ago, a doctor came and examined your eyes for Retinopathy. Apparently, when he pries open the eyes of babies, its such an unpleasant thing to watch that parents are requested to wait elsewhere while the procedure takes place. We heard you crying from down the hall, a considerable feat on your part given that your vocal cords are still stunted by your time on the endotracheal tube. The doctor was basically examining arterial growth in your eyes. If there is too much growth, it causes damage. The process took only a moment.
After he was done, he was able to diagnose right away: Stage 1 Retinopathy. Because 24 weekers have a 75 percent chance of some kind of Retinopathy, this isn't unexpected. In a way, it's even good news. Stage 5 Retinopathy is the worst. Complete blindness. Stage 3-4 Retinopathy result in visual difficulties. Stage 1-2 is not an imminent concern. The doctor has to return a few times to check on your eyes because Retinopathy between stages 1 and 4 can progress to more severe stages, at which point we'd need to treat you. For now, though, we're not very concerned. Stage 1 Retinopathy will probably resolve on its own and if it doesn't there are many ways to treat it. And besides, lazy eyes might not be such a bad thing. I always imagined you wearing glasses.
I always secretly wanted glasses when I was a kid. But I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
ReplyDeleteGlasses are cool...!
ReplyDeleteGlasses ARE cool! I've seen some adorable ones on little bitties. One of my own boys pitched a FIT at the eye doctor's when he wouldn't prescribe glasses. As you know, of all the things that could go wrong, vision is the least of your worries!
ReplyDeleteDid Ellie move PODs yet? What does she weigh? SO thankful for the positives in her life right now!! (and yours!)
~Debby
The exams are not fun to watch. I am sure you will have plenty of opportunity later on to see one. But it might hurt you more to watch than the eye exam hurts the baby. We had follow up exams for awhile after discharge that you get to be right there to watch. As far as glasses go my husband and I had glasses since first and second grade so it just means our son will probably need them earlier than we did and his ROP got to stage 2-3 but resolved on its own. I hope Ellie's eyes continue to develop well. :) and glasses are totally cute.
ReplyDeleteHee hee, yes, I'm not too concerned if she ends up with glasses. Retinopathy or not, she'll probably be a reader which means she'll wear out her eyes like me and end up with glasses anyway!
ReplyDelete