2008 Update

Long time since last post. Joey saw Dr. T for his routine check-up in December.

a. Retina looks dry (that's good)
b. Vision is the same (As long as its not getting worse, I'll take it!)
c. his Cataract is still the same (see "b" note above!)

Dr. T wants to see us in 3 months, cuz he wants to keep an eye on the cataract. Call me a nut case, but I am praying that the cataract decreases and goes away. We gotta resolve to patch more regularly, too. Its hard, cuz he gets out of school at 3pm, then two days a week he has Karate in the evenings, and he has homework (which, depending on mood, can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours - he is a strong-willed little boy!!). So our patching has become only one hour, on 2-3 days a week (on a good week). So, gotta figure out how to manage this a little better, to accomplish more patching time.

He has questions from time to time, like if it would help his vision to wear glasses. I had to explain to him why this is "different" than needing glasses. He seemed to understand. He also wonders what its like to see "with two eyes". Now that he's a little older (7-1/2 yrs!), things are a little easier to explain to him. He tells people he's had "two laser surgeries" and that he "really hated the sleepy medicine!". Talking about it brings some freedom and relief - cuz when he was younger and going through all this, we didn't give him all the details for fear of scaring him too much.

At the last appointment with Dr. T, I told Joey, "You've been coming to see Dr. T for over half your life, Joey!" He was pretty amazed, and Dr. T said "Wow! So I really deserved those pictures you brought me!" (Joey had given him his karate pictures at that visit).

Until next time...