Today was one of those days when we get news about one of our kids that really makes us feel like an epic failure.
I mentioned earlier that Emmett was going to be at Akron Children’s Hospital today for an eye exam. We’ve been noticing that he seems to have trouble with his vision and so we wanted to get him in.
Turns out that his vision is really, really bad.
His right eye sees 20/200 and his left eye sees 20/80. This means that his right eye sees things at 20 feet away as though they are 200 feet away. His left eye sees things at 20 feet away as though they 80 feet away.
Obviously he has a Stigmatism and I believe they said near sighted. He can see things close up but not at a distance.
The doctor and his staff were amazing with Emmett.
They were also pretty amazing with Emmett’s set of freaking out parents.
The doctor said that with any luck, the glasses will help to improve Emmett’s eyesight. I guess his eyes are underdeveloped and the glasses will help them to catch up. He said if the glasses haven’t made a difference y the time we go back in 2 months, Emmett will have to wear an eye patch over his left eye so that his right eye is forced to do all the work.
To Emmett’s credit, this was a painless process. He never complained and behaved like an angel.
After the appointment, Lizze and I both feel like epic failures because since birth, Emmett has really been able to see much. How did we miss that? I feel terrible that he has gone this long before his vision was corrected.
The doctor said that kids adapt so well that it would be easy to miss something like this. I appreciate that but it still feels like we dropped the ball. I think most parents would feel guilty.
We took Emmett to pick out his new glasses and we also picked up a case, a strap to hold them on and a cheap pair of reading glasses for him to practice wearing until his new glasses are ready in about a week.
God love him because he’s thrilled to death to be wearing glasses.
I hope that lasts because it’s extremely important that he wears them so that his eyes can get better.
It’s never a dull moment………
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how do you know his eyesight has been bad for that long? Couldn’t it have gotten worse in the last year or two? Especially if is genetic, meaning the tendency towards bad eyesight runs in the family? Don’t beat yourself up over it.. if he passed other eye exams in the past, his vision may have been okay in the past.
@rmagliozzi they said that his eyes are underdeveloped. Hopefully, the glasses will help his eyes to catch up. I don’t know how they know but they said it’s been this way since birth.
🙂 My DD’s good eye is 20/200. She was three and I asked for a referral / cursory exam at her physical. I had to talk them into it since she wasn’t starting kindergarten we didn’t ‘need to’ have it done. I share that because one of our biggest memory was her putting her glasses on at Walmart and being carried out to shop when she started yelling about Barbie. Seems she could see the signs over little girls clothes well enough to recognize them and we realized she had never seen it (like that) before. Broke our hearts for what was missed, but oh what she gained. My guess is that he will spend a few moments ‘seeing’ things for the first time. Watch him on the steps for a day or so in case it throws him a bit.
Awwwwww….he’s adorable.
@heatherruark1 thanks
My 4 year old got glasses at the end of last year too. We have found having two pairs of glasses helps as he has some control over which ones he wears. Keeping them on for any period of time is tricky, let us know if you find any tricks.
@suzanne I definitely will
OK, I have to say it. He is SO STINKING CUTE!!!! And thanks for reminding me I need to get my guy in for the same thing….no ball dropping, you have just a couple things on your plate 🙂
@jjean3940 thanks. He’s a cutie. 🙂 Thanks
My vision has been 20/200 in left eye and 20/40 in right my entire life (well until old age added the far sighted bit) and as a kid went without glasses often . This is not a major oversight on your part, really!! He is nearsighted and does fine when using a hand held game or book. Astigmatism is also easy to miss. Stop beating yourself up over this. He will be just fine and no damage has been done.
you might want to keep this link handy… boys are rough on glasses http://www.zennioptical.com/?prescription_type=single&gender2%5B%5D=809&nav_cat_id=2&navused=1
@PurpleLogic thanks. 🙂
Don’t feel bad, Rob. I didn’t get glasses until nearly my freshman year of high school despite the fact that I knew I needed them long before then because I’m fairly farsighted . When I finally did get them the Rx was +3.75 right eye and +1.75 left when I finally did get them. Even the doctor was surprised that I went for so long without them and needed such a strong first Rx.
@Random Aspie Teen thanks for your kind words and support. 🙂