June 2006 Update

Dr. T is now at an office in a city MUCH closer to where we live, so the drive is not so bad. (He's in the the old office on some days, and in the new office on other days). Joey had his routine eye exam this month. He's doing pretty good. Dr. T says the eye looks good, no leakage. He still has a cataract that does not seem to be worsening yet. We are praying that it will stay as is, or go away altogether.

While I was in the waiting room, I was "eavesdropping" on some ladies talking. They were comparing notes about what their babies had. One mom said that her baby had had three laser surgeries and two retinal reattachments. She said the baby's eyesight was poor, but that the sight she did have was only due to Dr. T. She said she was SO GLAD that she had found him. That was nice to hear.

The usual visit goes like this: The nurse checks his vision with an eye chart (kind of like a slide show on the wall). His right eye can see the chart - his left eye gets the "how many fingers am I holding up" test. After that, she puts drops in his eyes (which he HATES more than anything!). We wait a while for his eyes to dilate, and then Dr. T comes in. He turns out the light, and with a BRIGHT light on a headgear-type thing, he shines the light into Joey's eyes and hold a magnifying-lens-type thing up to Joey's eye so he can look inside. Like I said, the light is VERY BRIGHT and Joey has ALWAYS fought during this exercise. As a matter of fact, up to this point, Joey has sat on my lap during his exams. This time, he sat on the examination chair all by himself and did really well. Didn't move or squirm at all. I was quite impressed. Must be the maturity that turning six years old has brought to him. I asked Dr. T if he thought Joey's vision was improving any. He said it was definitely improving and to keep patching. Our next appointment will be in October.

Last time we saw Dr. T, Joey wanted to show him a picture of him on his new motorcycle. (He's got a little green kawasaki). Dr. T made a big deal about it, telling Joey that was really cool. When we left, Joey whispered to me that he wanted Dr. T to keep the photo. I told Dr. T, and he said "Oh boy, I was hoping I could keep it!" I thought that was pretty nice.

It's summer vacation, so patching is a little easier right now. Actually, I don't mean "easy". I guess I mean that patching is "less horrific" - ha ha! I can patch him early in the day before he's too tired. I made a little schedule for him for each day and right beside "patch time", I wrote "activity time with Mom", to make it sound a little more interesting. So far, its ok. We'll see how the summer progresses.

A couple of days after the appointment, Joey asked me "What did Dr. T say I had in my eye that had to be removed?" I was caught off guard cuz I didnt realize Joey was paying such close attention to what was being said at his appointments. I told him it was a "cataract", and I found it really hard to explain what that was. I did my best and told him it might need to be fixed, but that we'd have to wait and see. He seemed satisfied with that - and for that I am thankful. I figured he'd have more questions about it all as he got older. Six years old isn't quite "older", but I guess he's paying more attention and understanding a lot more now.

Thats all for now...