Wonky Eye

Today was Henry's Ophthalmologist appointment. The drive over to Valparaiso was a bit challenging. Nobody was really willing to drive the speed limit, and there was road construction on 2 as were nearing 49 (one-lane business with a flagger). So, we ended up being about fifteen minutes late. I called the doctor's office while we waited in the construction line and told them we would be late. They were really cool about it, which really surprised me. I was amazed that we didn't really have much of a wait when we got in there. Nobody so much as even gave me a nasty look (and I fully expected nasty looks and recognized that they would be warranted). I guess maybe they really appreciated the heads up on our lateness.

I packed all kinds of snacks and toys for the kids, and they did really well. Nora even went to the bathroom in the public restroom twice! I was pleased with that. (She's not really potty trained yet, but I'll take every little break we can get.)

Here's what the doctor told me (and, by the way, this guy was really kind and really tried to explain everything to me in detail. Even though English is clearly not his first language, I still completely understood him):

• Henry's wonky eye is a congenital defect.
• It will not go away on its own.
• He's confident that he knows the exact muscle/tendon that is disconnected or faulty, and he showed me on a 3-D model that he had in his office.
• Henry's eyes are perfectly fine—for now. He could, however, develop a lazy eye if we leave his eyelid as is. (He was fairly confident that this would happen due to field experience.)
  
• He says that the latest that we would want to address this issue would be four years of age, but he strongly encouraged me to act sooner. Waiting would mean that he would most likely have to go through some extensive therapy to make the wonky eye as strong as his good eye again.
  
• He referred us to a pediatric ophthalmology clinic in Indianapolis for a surgical consultation. At that appointment, we will learn about the latest techniques that they have available to take care of this, and we will learn when exactly we should do it (with regard to Henry's age).

So, at this point, we are fairly confident that Henry is going to have to have a procedure done on his eyelid if we want him to have normal vision. While it's a bit scary, the doctor did assure me that this happens, and it gets addressed successfully on a consistent basis.

We've got a lot to think about in regard to this. We're not going to do too much thinking, however, until that appointment on May 6th. I am interested to see what their procedure involves, and I am interested to see how old they think he should be before this happens. I have heard really good things already about the doctor (and the practice) that we're going to in Indy, so that makes me feel more confident.

That's the scoop on my boy.