Re: preemie-l ROP
EStarnes@aol.com
Sun, 2 Jun 1996 19:26:20 -0400
Suzanne,
One of my triplets, Rachel (26+ weeks) had Stage 3+ ROP in both eyes. She
had laser surgery in her left eye, and cryotheraphy on the right eye. She
got her first glasses at 9 months (6 mos. corrected), and began crawling the
day she got them! Her first Rx was R: -4.00, L: -8.00, which was an
estimate. Our doctor (Michael X. Repka, M.D., at Johns Hopkins in
Baltimore) didn't want to over correct her, so started her off
conservatively. She was first able to do an eye exam using a picture chart
at age 2 because she was very verbal. Her Rx according to the eye exam was
exactly the same as the results of the visual/verbal test. Today (at almost
5 years of age) her correction is R: -7.25, L: -13.00. She is corrected
to 20/20, and we are thrilled about that! I wouldn't worry too much about
your son not wearing his glasses too much. Rachel discovered very quickly
that she couldn't see much when she didn't have her glasses on, so she did
end up wearing them all the time by age 1. Our biggest challenge was keeping
her two sisters from grabbing the glasses off her face! During that time we
broke several pairs in a row, and poor Rachel really felt the victim. I
checked into contacts at that time, and discovered that there were none made
in her correction in her size. (They made infant contacts for conditions
like cataracts, but not to correct nearsightedness. This may have changed
in the past few years.) So, we just bought the "breakage insurance" and
kept it up with the glasses. Rachel's first frame was by Zeiss, called
"Noel" and as far as I know its one of the only frames made in size 32mm and
is made all in one piece (no hinges at the temples). If anyone with small
children is looking for a very durable frame that is also really cute, we
have had an Italian frame by Frattelli Lozza, called "Piccina" for Rachel's
last 3 or 4 pairs. We keep getting the next size and different colors
because they are so comfortable and durable. Its a metal frame with flex
hinges and a silicone piece at the bridge. Now one of her sisters, Blair
has glasses for Strabismus and mile farsightedness, and has the same frame in
a different color! I really wanted different ones for her but didn't find
anything that was as good.
Regards,
Libby Starnes
(mom of Rachel, 7-29-91; Blair, 8-9-91; Emily, 8-9-91)
In a message dated 96-06-01 14:47:54 EDT, you write:
>I was wondering what the outcomes have been for your premies who have had
ROP
>laser or cryo surgery. What is your child's vision correctable to (ie;
20/20)
>and what diopters (ie; - 8)? Did their eyes improve or get worse with time?
>
>John Henry's vision seems to have worsened slightly, from - 8 to - 8.50
>diopters, and one retina has slight buckling, which it had all along, so the
>doctor doesn't know if it will be correctable to 20/20.
>
>Is there any way to tell what his sight is correctable to now (ie; 20/20),
>before he is able to read an eye chart? We will see a retina specialist,
>instead of the surgeon, at next appointment, so does anyone know what
>questions I should ask him?
>
>John Henry seems to see ok for now, at least up close. He doesn't bumb into
>things crawling or walking and can judge how far something is when he wants
>to grab it. Is there any kind of vision therapy that I should be requesting
>from Early Intervention? He is 14.5 months, 11 months adjusted. He has
>glasses and is getting sunglasses, but he won't wear them much of the time.
>Any suggestions? Has anyone used contact lenses on their child?
>
>