I just got the diagnosis

amother

Tue, Feb 09 2010, 2:59 pm

manhattanmom wrote:

Ok, OP--I hear you a bit more now.

But when I initially saw the title of your thread "I just got the diagnosis" my heart fell a bit. Seriously. Many other thoughts ran through my head. Then I read the original post and saw it was that your kid needs glasses and thought "is that all? huh?" So to me that means that you are absolutely devastated and equating it with something much much much more serious.

Initially I wrote the thread in one shot.
what came out are my fears.

Again for you it is perhaps insignificant and you are right in the big picture there is much worse but in the instant pictures that is represented by the diagnosis it is a huge news for us.

To be honest I do not know why our optometrist is sending us to an ophtalmologist.

Is she hiding something? Cz'V'S'
Is there more Cz'V'S'?

Are they allowed to make full diagnosis or some are suppose to be left to the MD?

Those thoughts are in the back of my mind.

Any idea why the quick referral? Not that I mind
Are the optometrist allowed to diagnose and tell the patient about all eye disease?

let me know.

Thanks

manhattanmom

Tue, Feb 09 2010, 3:28 pm

amother wrote:

manhattanmom wrote:

The difference between an ophthalmologist and an optometrist is that an ophthalmologist has gone to medical school. The same as any dr. By training they are fluent in all ailments of the human body. They can diagnose disease and prescribe any kind of medication. They can do a lot further and more extensive eye exams that will ensure the child has a full visual field, no retinal damage and can perform surgery.
With a personal example, I went to an ophthalmologist recently with some complaints regarding my own vision. After a full eye exam he sent me for an MRI because he saw something deeper down (like in my neurological optic nerve pathways) that he didn't like.
It's always smart for a child to see an ophthalmologist for any eye concern. And if your child is going to need eye care long term, it's wise to make some good connections now--find an ophthalmologist that you are comfortable with and you can trust.

An optometrist can tell a patient about eye disease--yes, but may not have the tools to diagnose a medical problem--including serious degenerative eye conditions. Often, optometrists have patients who have complicated eye conditions that have been diagnosed by an ophthalmologist but are coming to an optometrist for follow-ups or for more constant monitoring.

The optometrist probably gave you a referral because he/she wants to be cautious--a toddler with such severe farsightedness may have caused him some red flags.

amother

Tue, Feb 09 2010, 9:26 pm

2 of my boys have glasses. They both got them at age 2. My daughter also b4 age 2 dr said she needs glasses, I was very unwilling to have a third in glasses so he said I can wait and see, which means in a few months she might need glasses too. We live in montreal and use Dr. Polomeno, on Tupper st. The is a store-optique celine there too, and they specialize in small frames. They know how to size them very well to their face. I know it can take quite a while to get through, but maybe if you tell them your situation you'll be able to get an appt faster.
a few points:
1-I'm patching one of my kids and it made major improvement ( I go to the childrens hospital for that)
2-You're lucky you caught it at a young age, my own eyes were not patched, and although I see very well, I only use 1 eye (b/c I didnt patch).
3-I understand how you feel, it's a big pain in the neck to have a whole new set of appts to have to go to, in addition to the "once a week" repairs of the glasses or lost glasses etc.
4-Many times if you have a hyper toddler the glasses calms them down.
5-My sons are bh doing very well in school, socially and academically, so dont worry about that.

amother

Tue, Feb 09 2010, 9:45 pm

manhattanmom wrote:

OP here

Are you telling me C'V'S' it could be worse ie there could be something else?
Like a degenerative eye disease or something C'V'S' and we will only know when we see the ophtalmologist in 2 weeks?

The optometrist, if she saw anything shouldn't she have told us that there was maybe something more?C'V'S'

amother

Tue, Feb 09 2010, 9:56 pm

amother wrote:

OP here
Thank you amother for sharing
I got an appointment with Dr Kavalec. I will see him but maybe I should try to have an appointment with Dr Polomeno as well.
I read on rate your doctor that Dr Polomeno was rated wonderfully

I truly hope that there is nothing else and the glasses are going to be all BZ'H'

May I ask are your kids in a frum school like Bet Yaakov or your son at a Yeshivah?

Thank you for the information

mltjm

Tue, Feb 09 2010, 11:13 pm

I didn't read this whole thread, so I don't know where it's quite at, on page three.

But OP- its really, really, REALLY important that you change your attitude about your son having glasses. If you are ashamed/embarassed of it, he will pick up on that and be ashamed too. If you act like it's no big deal though, and tell him he looks so cute in glasses, he will handle it just fine and be confident and think he looks cute too. It's all in your hands.

Little kids are ADORABLE in glasses, and by the time he is 7 or 8, more kids in his class will have them too. The cutest kid in the class I teach has glasses. In addition, as long as the kid proves himself to be responsible, contacts can be given as young as 11 or 12.

amother

Wed, Feb 10 2010, 12:09 am

mltjm wrote:

OP here:

As I previously wrote to another poster:

Give me a minute to absorb the blow!

FYI With my DS it was business as usual today.
I did play with him and did everything as usual.
I DO NOT CRY IN FRONT OF HIM. And I did not cry for the past few hours ie 10h or so.

So again give me a minute to take a deep breath and figure out what is the best way to cope and let me get some info on how other mothers did it.
I think that I am entitled to a bit of time to adapt ie a day or so.

Again the point of this thread was to share and to get some chizuk and informations about what to do in this situation.
Which Thank G.d, is truly helping.

Now we are awaiting to see the ophtalmologist and we are praying that, if need be, he only needs glasses and nothing else is wrong.
The previous poster who stated that maybe there could be something else got me scared. Really scared.

mltjm

Wed, Feb 10 2010, 12:38 am

amother wrote:

mltjm wrote:

I'm sorry. Like I said in my post, I didn't read the whole thread.

Honestly, from your title I thought it was something much, much worse CHV.

I still stand by what I said though.

Marion

Wed, Feb 10 2010, 4:45 am

It looks like DS#1 will also be in glasses come summer. We've been taking him sporadically since he was 2...there's a family history on DH's side. He's also missing a front tooth (that will resolve itself in a couple of years when his adult teeth come in!).

My $0.02, for whatever they're worth.

If your child is already in daycare/playgroup/nursery then socially you don't have much to worry about. Little kids take everything in stride; they're curious but not cruel. His friends will never realize that his glasses make him "different", unless an adult points it out to them. Academically, he'll be MUCH better off with glasses than without. He can't learn (at any level) if he can't see. And if he can't see then he has no attention span and he'll be a disturbance (teacher's perspective, not mine personally). He'll lose out, and so will everyone else.

If you're of the hashkafa that boys learn, and then in kollel, well, your son needs to be able to see. I don't know ANY adult men who don't wear glasses or contacts.

amother

Wed, Feb 10 2010, 9:52 am

OP here

Another day another battle right Wink

We feel much better.

We are ok if our DS needs glasses and we will make him feel so special in a good way.

He is at home with me and he is as cute as ever.

We are waiting the final word with the ophtalmologist when we meet him in 2 weeks or so.

Bz'H' there will be good news.

As I said the after the initial shock we needed a bit of adaptation tiem.

B'H' we feel better.

If there is more mothers out there with similar diagnosis for their children please share.
It really brightens our day to see how you did it and some tricks to make the children feel better.

Thank you

freidasima

Wed, Feb 10 2010, 10:57 am

OP, CHILL!

I have severe strabismus. Was diagnosed at two. Had crossed eyes operation at three. Had thick glasses (5 and 7 respectively) since 4.

I am 50.

I was never made fun of, ever ever ever.
Almost every kid in my yeshiva - boys and girls - had glasses. Some thick, some not.
No big deal.
It comes from Hashem.
So take it easy.
As my eye doctor used to say, Jewish kids read. non jewish kids play. Frum kids read tiny print in chumish and rashi and gemoro from the time they are four or five. (chumash and rashi...) so their eyes go kerfluey. No big deal. No one is going to taunt him. There are cute frames.
Boruch hashem for eye doctors and optometrists and glasses. Imagine what used to happen to kids with this before they came on the scene.

Hazak Ve'ematz.

amother

Wed, Feb 10 2010, 6:06 pm

greeneyes wrote:

OP, I'm so glad to hear you are getting used to the idea, and are feeling better about it. My guess is that with a little more time, you'll be even more used to the idea & it won't bother you any more. (At least that's how it was with me. Smile

)

OP here

Thank you so much for your lovely pictures!
B'li Ayin HaRah she is sooooo cute!

I went to see frames today, and my DS tried a few pairs!
He is so funny with them.

The Optometrist told me that with his kind of prescription (+7,25 and +6) it will show but he will try to make them as thin as possible (1.74mm).

Is your lovely daughter wearing thinner glasses or is it regular glasses?
Did you use "flat" glasses or circular one?

Thank you again for sharing.

mominlkwd

Wed, Feb 10 2010, 6:23 pm

greeneyes wrote:

)

My daughter with her glasses...

So cute. My son has rimless glasses so they aren't as noticeable since he's older. I'd love to post a pic to show you how cute he is, but he's 8 so I don't think he'd appreciate being on imamother LOL

I'm happy you calmed down a little bit, sometimes you just have to get used to the idea and than it's ok. I was the same way with my son. Now I can't believe I made such a big deal about it. My son told me the other day that someone in his class told him he WISHES he had glasses.