The Camera Doesn't Lie

Click on the collage below so you can look at the pictures of Barrett close up. What do you notice (besides the fact that he so cute)?

About a month ago I noticed that Barrett's eyes were focused funny in one of the pictures I took of him. I assumed it was just my angle and the fact that I was so close with the camera. A few weeks ago Mike said, "Audria asked if we've ever noticed Barrett's eyes crossing?" and then just a few days later Namaw asked, "Have you ever noticed Barrett's eyes crossing?" Hmmm. Maybe. I went back and looked thru pictures and found some of the ones above. In some of them one of his eyes are slightly crossing and in others it's very dramatic. The dramatic ones are what convinced us that something wasn't right.

Sunday I ran into Kyle at church (he's the optometrist that Mike goes to). I asked him if he thought we should be concerned about Barrett's eye. He did a few quick things (having Barrett follow his finger as he moved it in different directions). I was hoping he'd say, "Nah. He's just fine. You don't have anything to worry about." Instead he said, "Yeah. I think that left eye for sure is having some problems. You need to take him to a pediatric opthamologist. Best case scenario he'll just have to wear a patch or glasses. Worst case scenario it's a muscle issue and he'll need surgery."

I called Juli Beth for a recommendation. She raved about the opthamologist that she takes her son, Lafe, to. When I googled Dr. P I found a site with 12 reviews...and they were all 5 star! The fact that he's a Christian doctor who will pray with his patients sealed the deal.

Barrett's appointment with Dr. P was yesterday at 2 pm. I tried putting him down for an early nap, but that didn't work...so I was a little nervous about how he'd handle going to the eye doctor instead of taking a nap! He did amazing! He had 4 different people looking at his eyes (the nurse, some kind of specialist that does measurements, Dr. F, and Dr. P). After the first two looked at his eyes, they decided he needed to be dilated to be examined further. They put the drops in and then we went to the "dark room" waiting room for 30-45 minutes.

The first 3 examiners didn't tell us anything about what they were seeing, so I was glad when Dr. P came in and began to describe their findings. He said that Barrett's right eye is stronger, so his left eye crosses easier and more often. If we did not treat his eyes, he would eventually lose all use of his left eye. He said if this were happening to us as adults, it would incapacitate us because of the sudden loss of depth perception. He said that Barrett does not currently have blurred or double vision (PTL!) and hopefully we can avoid that by treating his eyes.

Dr. P said that we are going to start with glasses (I'm a little worried about getting him to wear glasses! Any tips from those of you who've had kids in glasses this young would be appreciated!) He's giving us a month to have him wearing them full time and then we'll go back for a check up 3 months from now. I asked how long he'd have to wear the glasses and he said, "Well, if it works he'll wear them until he's 8 years old. But...I don't think glasses are going to work for him." He wants to start with the least invasive treatment first, but he said that he's pretty sure that Barrett has Strabismus Estrophia (which is a genetic condition that you do not grow out of) and that he'll need surgery. Before we left the office, Dr. P prayed with us thanking God for the gift of Barrett and asking God to heal his eye. What a comfort to know that the physician we are relying on for Barrett's treatment relies on the Great Physician for his wisdom and strength!

We left the dr's office and headed straight to the recommended glasses store (one that specializes in children). Barrett had fallen asleep in the car in the 5 minute ride from the dr's office (did I mention that he kept saying "Mama lay down. Mama sleep!" while we were at the dr's office?), so I held a drowsy toddler while the employee fitted him for glasses. They should be in on Wednesday, so we'll all have to wait until then to see what he'll look like in glasses. I'm sure he'll be cute!

We didn't hear what we wanted to hear at the opthamologist's office, but at least we know what is wrong now...and we're soooooo thankful that we caught it this early! We'll keep you updated on our journey, and in the meantime...we'd covet your prayers!