This morning Katie had her checkup with the ophthalmologist at Johns Hopkins. It has been 4 months since her last visit. Since there is no longer a pediatric ophthalmologist in Columbia, we have decided to have the doctor she saw this summer be her primary ophthalmologist. Todd and I both feel strongly that this is going to provide the best care for her and it is worth having to make the trip up there to see someone who knows what to look for.
Katie was examined by an associate doctor first and they did a simple vision test. Katie wasn't very responsive in regards to identifying the pictures. We were not sure if it was because she couldn't see them or just didn't feel like answering. Either way, it was a little frustrating. One of the pictures that came up on the screen was an old style phone like we had in our houses in the 70's and 80's. She said that was a shirt. We agreed with the doctor when he said that they may need to update their pictures a bit!
It was time for the eye drops to dilate her eyes after that. This is the worst part of the exam. She was fine with it when she was younger but as she gets older, she does not like it at all. I also don't think it helps that Michael freaked out last time and she watched it all. They managed to get the drops in there and after taking Katie outside of the office, she finally calmed down.
The main doctor came to take us back to the exam room. He did a further exam on Katie to have her identify letters on the screen to test her vision. The main problem is with her left eye. Her vision is that eye is significantly worse than the right eye. Her lens is already dislocated in that eye as well. Her corrected vision at her last appointment in her left eye was 20/100. It was now 20/80. She had a new glasses prescription since the last time as well.
The doctor now wants to go back to patching the right eye. He had hoped to avoid this by simply correcting her previous glasses prescription. However, he only has us patching the right eye for 1 hour per day, instead of 3 hours. It is not pleasurable but is actually much more manageable. I have been using jelly beans as rewards for her to put the patch on and keep it on. It's gone much better this time around although I find it's easier to get it done earlier in the day.
Katie will be seen again in 4 months for a recheck and to see if the patching has helped at all. Michael will also go back for a recheck at the same time. We feel very fortunate to be able to take the kids to Johns Hopkins and are thankful that Todd's insurance allows this.
