Eli and His New Glasses

So.... about a month ago I started noticing something wrong with Eli's left eye. I had noticed that when he is trying to focus on something that his left eye would turn in. Also when he is looking and talking to me, he's not actually looking at me. He has been looking past me but obviously focusing on me.

I thought I was the only one noticing it til Courtney's 3rd birthday party. My friends husband asked her what was wrong with Eli's eye. I knew then that this wasn't just in my head and he needed his eyes checked.

I took him to his family doctor and she sent a referral to get his eyes checked.

We took him to an ophthalmologist on June 21. He did really good at first, but a 2.5 hour visit with any small child is bound to end badly. After they dilated his eyes, the appt. was absolute torture. He did not want to cooperate at all. The eye doctor had to have someone come in and help hold his head still. Let me tell you, my 19 month old son is one strong little boy!

They diagnosed Eli as farsighted. Farsighted children have the ability to use the focusing power in their eyes to see clearly at almost any distance without correction. Occasionally, the farsightedness (hyperopia) is sever enough that the eyes become "lazy"; doctors call this amblyopia. If this occurs, the eyes do not have the stimulus to develop good vision.

Moderate farsightedness can cause some children's eyes to cross. This is called accommodative esotropia. Correction of the farsightedness should begins as soon as the crossing is noted and glasses must be worn all waking hours to prevent a permanent eye misalignment, or strabismus. If the eyes become permanently misaligned, surgery may be required to straighten them.

This is the category Eli falls under. He has been prescribed glasses and has to wear them all waking hours, which is not easy by any means. He has a follow up appointment in August. They will check then to see how the glasses do with his eyes. If they see no improvement they we will discuss surgery. I thought it was only in his left eye, but come to find out it's both. He is crossing both of his eyes, trying to focus on objects close to him. So a patch was out of the question.

I have to say, he looks so darn cute in his glasses. But I do hate that he has to wear them. I'm hoping and praying everyday that the glasses will correct his eyes, but with him being moderately farsighted, the said it could go either way.