The Ophthalmologist

I mentioned in 'Where Connor Is Up To' that we went to the Ophthalmologist last week, I thought I should mention a bit more about that.

Last year I took Connor for an eye checkup as part of the process of getting him assessed for therapy. We got lucky and found an optometrist who actually has some Fragile X patients and knows about the possible complications FragileXies can have with their eyes. At the time I had no idea there were any so it was a real eye opener. Sorry, bad pun intended :). Connor had an eye turn which was coming and going sporadically so the Optometrist told us to keep an eye on it (the puns just keep rolling) and come back in six months if it wasn't getting any better. These things can correct themselves sometimes so it's worth waiting to see at this age. The other option is surgery so you want to be sure. If it isn't corrected though it's possible the brain will just stop using that eye altogether so it has the potential to be serious.

Earlier this year I took him back because it seemed to be getting much worse and got a referral to see the Ophthalmologist and last week we finally got in. Of course they couldn't see what I was talking about (isn't that always how it works) but they did believe me that I'm seeing something at home. The fact that Connor was kicking and thrashing on my lap while I tried to keep him still certainly didn't help the examination. Connor hates his face being touched so any sort of eye, ear or throat examinations are just torturous.

He ended up having three different people try to see the turn, plus eye drops to dilate his pupils so they could check the back of the eye. As far as they could tell in the microseconds they could see into his eyes whilst he wailed hysterically, it looks ok.

So now I have to try to take photographs with the flash. If the dots from the flash line up in his irises then they are both working together. I thought that was a neat trick. Only problem is getting the pictures. I foresee many blurry pics of Connors face being taken in the near future. :)

I hope it all ends up being a storm in a teacup. I don't like the idea of surgery for him and if glasses are needed he will never wear them. But we will see what the next four months bring and keeps our fingers and toes crossed.