Baby Katea had her follow-up eye exam and this time, thankfully, our experience was completely different than last time. I must admit, I was nervous taking her back to that office at Primary Children's because of the experience we had at her last eye-exam.....but I wonder if the survey they sent me after her last appointment tagged my account or something because this experience was 100% different....for the better!
Ova didn't have to work that day, so we actually took a family trip to the hospital for her appointment. Makai was in school so Ova, Mone, Tala, Baby Tea and I loaded ourselves along with all baby's oxygen, monitors and equipment into the Durango and headed to the hospital.
When we got there, the waiting room wasn't very full at all. There was maybe only 2 other people there, and only 2 kids. What a difference from the completely full room the last time we went. I checked in at the front desk and headed to the waiting room to sit down. Ova was watching the kids play in the little play area, and not even 5 minutes later, we got called back. So much better than the hours we had to wait before. So far a much much better experience! When they called us back, I got up to go, and Ova refused to go back with us. He's a bit of a baby......especially when it comes to our kids.....he hates seeing them go through any pain. (Can you imagine how hard it was on him throughout our whole NICU experience??!!) I hate to see them go through pain too....but I'm the strong one...who has to suck it up. I'm not complaining though, because I love to be involved in everything with them and I ask a lot of questions just to make sure I'm completely up to date. I've explained to him how invasive the eye-exam is, and knew there was no convincing him to come back with us to watch it......he actually took the kids to see their other cousins who were admitted there at Primarys. (that post is coming next)
We went right back and the nurse came in and gave her the drops to dialate and numb her eyes. Just like last time, it was going to take 30 minutes for them to be completely dialated, so I was thinking they were going to send us back out to the waiting room like last time. Just as I was getting ready to walk out of the room, the nurse asked if I would like to wait in a private room so I didn't have to take her back to the waiting room. OMG, really??!! They have private rooms but last time when there were a million kids, they made us go back to the waiting room.......I asked the nurse why we didn't get to go to a private room at our last appointment and she said they were probably full. They were open that day because they weren't very busy. She suggested I call ahead and let them know of my daughter's situation and request a private room so that if they can, they can save it for us. Nice to know! In the private room the lights were on a dimmer and that was nice because I could turn the lights down so her little dialated eyes weren't irritated.
We waited there for what didn't seem too long and they came and got us. The opthamologist, Dr. Dries, came in to do the exam.....he's really nice and always cheerful....he was quick and happy with where baby's eyes were at. They're still not completely mature, so she's still in zone 3, but he said they're almost mature.....and her ROP is still clearing itself up. He mentioned nothing about the PLUS disease and he said her eyes looked really good. I asked him before he did the exam how soon they would be able to tell if she would need glasses. He said that he probably would already be able to tell already, and that he would double-check when he did the exam. The results were what I expected. He said she WILL need glasses, probably within the next couple years....definitely before she's 5. I'm ok with that....it's really the least of my worries!
Unfortunatly because her eyes were not completely mature, we have to go back again. We actually have to go back every 2 weeks until her eyes are completely mature, especially since she's on oxygen.
It was a good appointment....much much much better than our last experience in that office! Her eyes are not where we want them still, but they're progressing slowly in the right direction and that's all we can ask for! Yay for progress!
Ova didn't have to work that day, so we actually took a family trip to the hospital for her appointment. Makai was in school so Ova, Mone, Tala, Baby Tea and I loaded ourselves along with all baby's oxygen, monitors and equipment into the Durango and headed to the hospital.
When we got there, the waiting room wasn't very full at all. There was maybe only 2 other people there, and only 2 kids. What a difference from the completely full room the last time we went. I checked in at the front desk and headed to the waiting room to sit down. Ova was watching the kids play in the little play area, and not even 5 minutes later, we got called back. So much better than the hours we had to wait before. So far a much much better experience! When they called us back, I got up to go, and Ova refused to go back with us. He's a bit of a baby......especially when it comes to our kids.....he hates seeing them go through any pain. (Can you imagine how hard it was on him throughout our whole NICU experience??!!) I hate to see them go through pain too....but I'm the strong one...who has to suck it up. I'm not complaining though, because I love to be involved in everything with them and I ask a lot of questions just to make sure I'm completely up to date. I've explained to him how invasive the eye-exam is, and knew there was no convincing him to come back with us to watch it......he actually took the kids to see their other cousins who were admitted there at Primarys. (that post is coming next)
We went right back and the nurse came in and gave her the drops to dialate and numb her eyes. Just like last time, it was going to take 30 minutes for them to be completely dialated, so I was thinking they were going to send us back out to the waiting room like last time. Just as I was getting ready to walk out of the room, the nurse asked if I would like to wait in a private room so I didn't have to take her back to the waiting room. OMG, really??!! They have private rooms but last time when there were a million kids, they made us go back to the waiting room.......I asked the nurse why we didn't get to go to a private room at our last appointment and she said they were probably full. They were open that day because they weren't very busy. She suggested I call ahead and let them know of my daughter's situation and request a private room so that if they can, they can save it for us. Nice to know! In the private room the lights were on a dimmer and that was nice because I could turn the lights down so her little dialated eyes weren't irritated.
We waited there for what didn't seem too long and they came and got us. The opthamologist, Dr. Dries, came in to do the exam.....he's really nice and always cheerful....he was quick and happy with where baby's eyes were at. They're still not completely mature, so she's still in zone 3, but he said they're almost mature.....and her ROP is still clearing itself up. He mentioned nothing about the PLUS disease and he said her eyes looked really good. I asked him before he did the exam how soon they would be able to tell if she would need glasses. He said that he probably would already be able to tell already, and that he would double-check when he did the exam. The results were what I expected. He said she WILL need glasses, probably within the next couple years....definitely before she's 5. I'm ok with that....it's really the least of my worries!
Unfortunatly because her eyes were not completely mature, we have to go back again. We actually have to go back every 2 weeks until her eyes are completely mature, especially since she's on oxygen.
It was a good appointment....much much much better than our last experience in that office! Her eyes are not where we want them still, but they're progressing slowly in the right direction and that's all we can ask for! Yay for progress!
1 comment:
I'm so glad that things went better this time. I sent you some "inside" information on future eye appointments...lol.
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