Congenital Cataract (part 6)

Last thursday we went back to AEI for the follow up check up of Andy to her ophthalmologist. They had Andy read letters using the eye test chart. At AEI evrytime you visit for checkup, they'll have you check by their optometrist first before the ophthalmologist checks your eyes.

Few days before our visit to AEI, Andy complained that sometimes her eyes are itchy. I asked Dra. Pik Sha about it, she advised to have it cold compressed to relieve itchiness. She also prescribed an eye drop. The itchiness could be caused by the dust. Also I noticed that on her left eye the pupil is not round in shape, it's like a triangular shape. Dra. Pik Sha explained that since before the surgery the pupil was not located at the center of her eye, it was somewhere on the upper part of the eye, it will be hard to have a round shape pupil.

So far Andy's eye has completely healed, Dra. Pik Sha has not seen any problem inside her eyes. We are going back after 3 months so they can check if we have to change Andy's eyeglasses.

Congenital Cataract (part 5)

Last June 2nd we went back to Asian Eye Institute for the removal of suture of my daughter's eye surgery last April 21st. Our ophthalmologist explained that there are two types of thread absorbable and nonabsorbable. For the eyes she had to use a very tiny thread and it's nonabsorbable so she had to manually remove it. Our ophthalmologist let me go inside the operating room during sedation then ask me to wait outside when my daughter fall asleep. The procedure was fast, it took less than 5 minutes.

There's an improvement on my daughter's vision before her eye grade was 1800 now it's down to 1600. Her pupil is now bigger. Whenever I look on her eyes I can see myself as a reflection unlike before we only saw a dot at the center of her eyes. This showed us hope that there's more we can do to improve her vision.

We still have regular checkup with our ophthalmologist and it's great to hear that the wound has healed completely. There was no infection or inflammation. My daughter now goes to school and she said that she can see better now. But she's light sensitive, she would wear shaded eyeglasses everytime we go out. Our ophthalmologist said since she lived with her miotic pupil for 5 years her eyes are still adjusting. There more light entering into her eyes since her pupil is now bigger. Also I wondered because before the surgery she can watch TV without her eyeglasess but now she can't, it's blurry. The ophthalmologist said it's called pinhole effect. In my own words, it means when we look at the pinhole it gives a nice focus image.

Congenital Cataract (part 4)

Thank you for all your prayers, my daughter had a successful eye surgery. April 21, 2009 at 8:30 am Andy had 'pupillotomy and anterior vitrectomy' at Asian Eye Institute Rockwell with Dra. Pik Sha Chan-Uy. The surgery took almost an hour then we waited another hour at the recovery room. After taking care of the bill we went home, it was fast!

I was amazed with my daughter she never felt nervous before and after the surgery. She kept telling me she's ready and that she prayed to Jesus to take care of her especially during the surgery. I remember when we had a Sunday Mass she said that she prayed to Jesus to help all children that have a vision problem. I'm glad that at her age she can talk to Jesus that way.

The next day we removed the eye goggles, it served as her eye protection, my daughter noticed the brightness of our television and she said she can now see clearly.

We are also thankful to our ophthalmologist who's been so kind to us.

Congenital Cataract (part 3)

This is Andy my daughter who had congenital cataract, she's now 5 years old and just finish nursery. We went to another pediatric - opthalmologist in Asian Eye Institute for a second opinion. The doctor discussed to us my daughter's case and they have the same diagnosis with our first doctor. She has a miotic pupil, we tried to dilate her pupil. She was under medication for two weeks using Atropine and Mydfrin but pupil didn't dilate into a descent size. It wasn't enough for them to get her exact eye grade. They both recommend surgery but this time the doctor wants surgery for the pupil, it's called "pupillatomy anterior vitrectomy", and have lens implant when she turns 7. The doctor wants a conservative way in dealing my daughter's case because of the risks and there was a history of inflammation during her cataract surgery. One thing that I got afraid of was the 2 doctors have different way of putting a lens implant on the eyes. Our first opthalmologist said that lens will be placed infront of the iris. The risk is when the pressure on the eye went high there's a possibility of retina detachment or even loss of vision. The second opthalomologist said that he will put the lens behind the iris because putting infront might damage the cornea. I didn't know where to go so I searched online to educate myself more. Then I found Medhelp an online health community. I posted a question and glad that they responded so quickly.

Me and my husband decided to go with the second opthalmologist because we agree to him. We don't have to be agressive in dealing the case because she's still young. There was a history of inflammation that made the pupil not fully developed. We all do not know how fast is she going to recover.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Eye-Care/lens-implant/show/856417

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Eye-Care/Congenital-Cataract/show/740387

Medhelp: Online Health Community

Medhelp is an online health community where anyone can ask questions about their health problem. I discovered Medhelp when I was searching online about the case of my daughter who had congenital cataract and has to undergo lens implant. Their ophthalmologist team was a big help to me they answered all my questions. I read everyday their eye care forum and I learned a lot. The team are really generous in sharing their knowledge and experiences about eye diseases.

I am confident with our ophthalmologist here in the Philippines but I'm glad that I was able to hear opinions from doctors in USA with no cost. Joining them is so easy, sign up for free then you can start to post your health questions.

More power to you Medhelp!

Congenital Cataract (Part 2)

We went to the Aphakic specialist and had my daughter checked. Me and my husband were a little bit nervous since it will be a very serious discussion. He said that it's about time to have lens implant since my daughter is already 4 years old and kid's eyes stops to develop at age 9. According to him my daughter has a complicated case, the diagnosis are miotic pupil, nystagmus and microcornea. There was an inflammation after the cataract surgery and that made the pupil did not develop properly.

The doctor discussed the benefits and risks of having surgery and it scared us. The surgery will be a gamble not just for his team but also for us parents. It may improve or may loss my daughter's vision and it really hurt us so much. The doctor advised to take time and carefully decide on this. He assured us that his team will do everything if in case we decided. If we are not going to have lens implant my daughter will be wearing very thick and heavy eyeglasses all her life. Also there's a possibility that she'll lost her vision anytime in her life because of miotic pupil.

As parents we want the best for our child but how are we going to react if one day she'll say "Mommy it's very dark, I can't see anything". I'm a positive person and has a strong faith in God but I believe that we have to think also other possibilities. I cannot forget the important word the doctor said "acceptance" we have to be ready to everything. We have to be ready whether the surgery will be successful or not.