Medical Update: Opthamolgy Report--Strabismus

Charlotte had her annual eye check up on Friday. And as Gilda Radner would've said, "It's always something...."

We were a bit concerned because we'd noticed that her right eye tends to cross in when she's concentrating. Typically we could see it when she was eating, especially if she was fighting us or being super silly during a meal. By the time we got back from Belgium, we thought we could see it less, that it had corrected itself.

But...bottom line is this: Charlotte will soon be sporting a pair of bifocals. She has a minor strabismus of the right eye. (Yeah, in the photograph it looks like her left eye.)

This is not, as the website I've linked to notes, something that Charlotte will outgrow. As much as we cringe at the thought of marring her lovely face with glasses, we know that early detection and treatment is the only solution to a strabismus. Charlotte's strabismus seems to be intermittent, so the glasses are our first course of action. It is my fervent prayer that it will be our only course of action. Philippe suffered through years of ocular therapy as a child and does not remember them fondly. I sported a patch. My cousin had surgery. Hopefully, because Charlotte's strabismus was caught earlier than any of ours, the glasses will be it.

We're planning on making a family outing on Saturday to choose the glasses and then to get them on her as quickly as possible. We'll follow up with the eye doc on January 29.

I have no more answers to our myriad questions because this doctor (notice I have not named names) is the only doctor we've encountered in nearly 3 years who doesn't make a few minutes to let a parent gather her thoughts and ask questions. Because this is a public forum and I know that our medical community occasionally reads the blog, I'll say only this: Charlotte's eye doctor is one of the best pediatric opthamologists in the Chicago area and I trust her with my child's eyes. I am, however, incredibly frustrated that she does not take the time to allow me to ask questions and become as informed as I can about my child's vision problems. Philippe is coming to the next visit with me so we can make sure we get answers.

Don't be calling my kid "four-eyes"--she'll kick your behind!