Eye appointment

Thursday, Aunt Amanda and I took Claire to Duke Eye Center in Cary for an eye checkup.  I wanted them to look at how it seemed her left eye would move outward when she was looking far off or at distances sometimes. The ride up was nice and calm.  Claire took a nap on the way but when she woke up, she was not happy.  She had a runny nose and so I am assuming she just didn’t feel good sleeping in a car seat.  She cried and was not happy the whole 1^st half of the appointment.   They even tried to turn on Barney to make her happy and that didn’t work. 

So while we were in the exam room waiting for the doctor, Barney went off.  Aunt Amanda got up, and in a desperate move to find something else to turn on to keep Claire happy, she hit some button on the remote control and a new video popped up.  Well, Claire was absolutely amazed at this video!  She LOVED it!  I think it will be the next big thing!  You can probably hear us trying not to laugh in the background.

Amanda and I laughed until we were crying!!!!  It was hilarious!  You may have had to have been there for it to be as funny to you.  But Claire loved it, she quieted down from crying, and she was happy then.  So we left it on.  Obviously it was some sort of technique they use to get kids to look at the screen when examining their eyes.  When the doctor came in and examined Claire’s eyes we asked her if she could please turn the video back on.  She looked at us like we were crazy and said most people beg her to turn it off!  Not us!  It made Claire happy – she was even dancing in the exam chair (shocker)! 

It was kind of crazy in there trying to keep Claire happy and not let her mess with all of the highly expensive equipment.  So I had a hard time remembering exactly what the eye doctor said.  But they dilated Claire’s eyes to check “refraction” and her nearsightedness.  The nearsightedness is the same as it was in December so that was good.  No changes.  She said the nearsightedness was not a huge deal (since it is just a small amount) since toddlers’ worlds are up close.   She does not have to look at a chalkboard in school yet or see street signs on a road while driving.  She said the type of vision Claire has right now (if she were an adult) would warrant glasses for seeing the chalkboard or while driving at night in the rain.  Let’s hope her eyes do not become as bad as mine. 

The doctor saw what I was talking about with Claire’s eyes and said it was mostly in the left eye but also sometimes in the right eye.  Which is good – I think because she said it meant she was using both eyes to focus.  If it was just in one eye only, she would worry more.  I can’t exactly remember why.  My concern was that when she put her hand in front of Claire’s right eye, Claire would immediately swat her hand away.  When she put her hand in front of Claire’s left eye, Claire didn’t do anything or even act like it was bothering her.  The doctor didn’t seem too concerned about that either at this point.  She said with toddlers, you never know if that means something for her vision or not.  It could just be the way she reacts to things. 

So right now we just watch her eyes.  They could get better on their own which would be awesome.  If not or if they get worse, they would either do glasses or surgery to correct it.  This doctor didn’t have much faith in the patches.  She mentioned something about Claire’s personality and how she didn’t think Claire would be one who would actually keep the patch on…….. 

We will go back in January (unless her eyes seem to get worse) and have another checkup and go from there.   I really liked this new doctor and the fact we didn’t have to drive the extra miles to Durham and park in a parking deck.  So as long as things go smoothly, we may just continue our care at the Duke center in Cary. 

Love,
The Scott Family