Eliza and the Eye Patch

Eliza had an appointment with the optometrist this morning. She sadly broke her adorable pink glasses, and we also needed to see how her eyes are doing. She did a great job during the examination which was fairly long and extensive. I could tell she was struggling to see out of both eyes (even with her glasses on).  I hate that her vision has been such an issue, but I am grateful that her glasses help so much.

After the exam, the doctor let me know that Eliza has a condition called amblyopia.This essentially means that she has lazy or weak eyes. Typically, amblyopia occurs in only one eye--one eye is weak, while the other eye is dominant. In Eliza's case, both of her eyes are "lazy." Because of this, the doctor recommended we alternate patching each eye for three to four hours every day. When one eye is covered, the brain has to work harder to send the correct signals to the eye, which strengthens it. In three months, we will go back to the doctor to see if the patching is helping. The goal is for Eliza to see 20/20 with her glasses on.

In addition to the amblyopia, Eliza also has a severe astigmatism which causes her vision to blur. With the right prescription (a much stronger prescription than she already has), Eliza will be able to see much better. Currently, she is legally blind without her glasses. I'm hopeful that the patching and glasses will help. My brother had horrible vision as a toddler, but with glasses and early intervention, he now has perfect vision. The brain can fortunately be retrained (sometimes) when you are a child. I'm praying this is the case with Eliza.

The fun part of the day was picking out her glasses. She put on this purple pair, struck a pose, and I knew it was true love. We can't wait for them to come!