Seeing clearly

About a month ago Lily told me her glasses weren't strong enough AGAIN so I rang the doctor and made her an appointment. Since Rosie is 5 she is also old enough for a comprehensive eye exam so I booked her in for one also. Might as well kill 2 birds with one stone.

If you remember this post here I took Lily to a Dr. who specialises in Ortho K about 6 months ago but I really didn't care for him that much. He did a great exam but his only focus was pushing those lenses on us and that is not somewhere where we want go go right now. I have researched it alot and it appears she is just to young for them. Today we went back to the pediatric specialist that we have always used. The girls love him and that always makes things better. Also in this practice there are many doc's so it's not unusual for them to bring in another specialist for a second opinions right there and then.

Lily went first. Yes, her eyes have deteriorated but not to the point where he is even concerned. She still has mild myopia and so no need for alarm. Phew. The other dude had me ordering a seeing eye dog already. He also doesn't understand why Lily has progressive lenses, he says it is unnecessary and I spent a whole lot of money on something that she doesn't need. (nice, the other Dr only concerned about his wallet. Arsehat). He believes after thorough testing that Lily's eyes are still changing so he wants to hold off on new lenses right now. He says I can buy them if I am THAT concerned but if I do in 6 months I will be buying more. If she really notices a difference then I should take her back.

I feel so much better knowing that Lily doesn't have an aggressive form of Myopia and all of this is normal for her age. She had every test done known to man and her eyes are healthy.

Fancy Nancy all ready to go/

Giggling as always.

Next it was Rosie's turn. I have noticed that when Rosies has to go down steps she really falters before she puts her feet down. If she is playing on the playground and the terrain changes she hesitates and I have always wondered if it is her vision. With that being said she doesn't strain to read books or stick her nose on the T.V. screen so I just wasn't sure. Today I found out that it isn't her vision. She has perfect vision but being Rosie she has some congenital malformation with her eye. Go freaking figure. LOL. Lily said something similar to the Dr. when he told me and he looked quizzically at us. I cracked up and Lily started spouting off all of Rosies, malformations, deformities, defects, whatever you want to call them. He wrote the laundry list down and then said that it has also affected her eye. She has a hazy film inside her eye that could start to change and affect her vision but that it might not. She has to be checked every 12 months from this day forth. My sweet little Ro Ro your grandfather once called you his little reject, I think he might have been on to something. I seriously wonder what the heck you did before you were born that has left you so perfectly "Rosie".


 wow, we could have checked her teeth at the same time she was smiling so big.



 Serious business this eye testing stuff.



yeah, I'm cute.



I didn't like to use the flash in the office. The room was as black as night but I didn't think they would appreciate me blinding my kids momentarily with the flash while they were trying to test their sight. Kinda counterproductive.

Not what I wanted to hear

Sometime during Christmas break Lily made a comment that she couldn't read the clock on the stove from the kitchen table when she WAS wearing her glasses. I'm sure I said something stupid like, are you sure, because I was so shocked. She had only had her glasses for 8 months. I immediately made an appointment for the beginning of the year with a new Doctor who came highly recommended.

Her appointment went well. The Doctor had a great staff and was obviously very knowledgeable. His exam was the most thorough I have seen done on a child. The bottom line is this: Lily eyes have deteriorated although he wasn't concerned about how much in a short span of time. They will continue to deteriorate over the next few years as she has progressive myopia but then, thankfully, they will stabilise.

This Doc offers Ortho K which you can read about here and he highly recommends it for Lily. This method has been about for 20+ years. In basic laymen terms you wear special corneal moulding, hard contact lenses at night when you sleep and then in the morning you take them out. Due to the re-shaping that happened during your sleep you have no need for your corrective lenses during the day. It sounds great no? My big question is this: if it is so easy and painless and has been around for 20+ years and is approved by the FDA, why don't more doctors offer it and more people use it?

If you know anything about it please share it with me.

Today, my little girl, the light of my life picked up her new glasses. They are tri-focals. I know hard to believe that at age nine she is wearing tri-focals. Thankfully they are still very thin, as she is nine and vanity is at a premium and they are no-line. She is so happy to be able to see again. I hope these will last longer than 8 months.

Lily's new look.

This past Thursday Lily bought an envelope home from school that was addressed to, The Parents of Lily C. It was a really fat letter inside so I ripped into wondering what it could be. The letter stated that Lily failed the eye test and that they suggested she see an eye doctor.

It didn't come as a huge surprise because when we saw the doctor a little over a year ago he said he expected that she would need glasses in the next couple of years.

I called the Doc' immediately and we went to see him on Friday. ( you may remember that saga from a previous post) She was tested and needed specs so off we went to choose some. At first the whole idea of wearing glasses just devastated her. She kept chanting, "I look like a dork. Mummy, I look like a nerd", etc etc. All of a sudden she put on a particular pair and Lily came shining through. She tilted her head, she beamed from ear to ear, she wiggled her hips and said she liked them. Hallelujah.

I ordered them with all the bells and whistles that I was offered: scratch proof lenses with insurance so if she gets one little scratch, they will replace them for free, hinged arms so she hopefully won't snap them off or stretch them out, and of course transition lenses, there was something else but I can't think what it was.

Today as I was picking her up from school I received a call to say they were ready so we headed straight there. She put them on, had them fitted properly and just kept smiling. When we left the store I asked her to take them off for a minute and then I asked her to read a license plate. She did so I asked her to read the words above the letters and she had no idea. I told her to put her glasses on and try again and she read, myflorida .com, with ease. Within minutes she was saying that everything was so clear. She loves the sunglass effect in them and hasn't taken them off, well except to have a bath and go to sleep. At the moment they are the cleanest glasses I have ever seen as they gave her a cleaning kit and she is using it A LOT.

I feel a little guilty for not realising she needed them and also for not realising it was over a year since her last check up. Duh.

So here she is with a look that she will have for a few years, at least until I feel she is capable of dealing with contact lenses.

This is the only photo I have of her inside so the lenses are clear but it is an awful photo.

These were all taken at the park later this afternoon. Heaven help me, she looks so grown up.

I'm just throwing this one in cos I love it. Jakie and the girls.

So, is anyone interested in a friendly wager to guess just how long it will be before before she either breaks her glasses or loses them?
I give it 3 weeks until we have a calamity and I am really being positive with that guess.