There is nothing in the parenting manual that tells you what to do, well, ever. For me, each day was trial and error, hoping to figure it out as I went along (sorry about that, kids!).
Somehow, all three of mine survived their childhood, I survived their awkward adolescent years and I thought all the scary things had passed.
Of course, I was wrong.
When my younger son was a sophomore in high school seven years ago, he was doing well. He had good grades and participated in football, wrestling, track and cross-country.
He also had perfect vision, which is why I instantly became alarmed when he came home after a day of cross-country practice and told me the vision was blurry in his right eye. Another runner had come up on his right side, and Tanner didn 麻豆精品 S檛 see him.
I don 麻豆精品 S檛 know if I didn 麻豆精品 S檛 believe him or if I was trying to figure out why his vision was blurry, but I looked in his eye, searching for the eyelash or twig that was causing his complaint.
- If your kid tells you there 麻豆精品 S檚 something wrong with his eye, believe him.
Something wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 right, but I guess I didn 麻豆精品 S檛 want to admit that yet. I told him to take a shower; maybe that would help. I didn 麻豆精品 S檛 really believe that, but I was stalling for time and trying to calm my nerves.
By the time he was out of the shower, I figured I better take him to the hospital. He wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 in pain and didn 麻豆精品 S檛 feel dizzy, and the shower had not helped his vision.
- Trust your gut. If you think you should take your child to the hospital, do it.
The days and months that followed were a jumble of tests, doctors 麻豆精品 S� offices and constant worry. I also brushed up on my ophthalmology 麻豆精品 S渟kills 麻豆精品 S� and would randomly ask my son if he could see or read something. I would helpfully point in the direction of the thing I wanted him to see.
He told me to stop asking him.
- Any complicated diagnosis is not going to be solved by one doctor. You will have to wait, just like everybody else. The second part to this is stay away from Dr. Google. He will only provide you with more anxiety.
When I took my son to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, we learned that he had Leber 麻豆精品 S檚 hereditary optic neuropathy, a rare, non-life-threatening retinal degeneration that causes varying degrees of blindness. By this time, a few months after his cross-country practice, my son was legally blind.
LHON mostly affects males and there is no cure, but because of the various mutations of the disease, some people regain some eyesight.
Every day, I asked Tanner how he was doing. And every day, he continued to say it wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 a big deal that he had lost his sight, because 麻豆精品 S渁 lot of people have it worse than I do. 麻豆精品 S� His main concern was if he would be able to participate in sports again. He just wanted to wrestle with his team.
- Take your cues from your child. If he doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 think his illness is a big deal, neither should you. But if you must cry, don 麻豆精品 S檛 cry in front of your child.
His coach told him he would need a doctor 麻豆精品 S檚 note to wrestle, which we understood. The doctor told us he would not sign a release, because he was concerned that my son would get hurt.
麻豆精品 S淭hen let him, 麻豆精品 S� I begged the doctor. The risk of my son getting hurt was less than his sadness at not being able to play his favorite sport. Unfortunately, the doctor wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 budge. We found another doctor who agreed to sign a release to allow him to participate in sports again.
Through it all, my son kept his sense of humor: 麻豆精品 S淒oes this mean I can get a dog? 麻豆精品 S�
My friends and co-workers were very supportive and concerned. As I walked down the halls at work, people would stop me to ask about my son. No, his eyesight hasn 麻豆精品 S檛 gotten better. No, there 麻豆精品 S檚 nothing we can do about it. Yes, he 麻豆精品 S檚 doing fine. We 麻豆精品 S檙e all doing fine. There were always tears. Usually mine. It started to weigh on me so I began to avoid interactions with people.
- If you know someone who is going through something like this, ask them if they want to talk about it. Don 麻豆精品 S檛 give them advice 麻豆精品 S� unless they ask. But maybe you could offer to bring them some lasagna.
We don 麻豆精品 S檛 know how or why, but my son began regaining some vision. A person with LHON generally has some useful vision, but with certain mutations, the mitochondria in the optic nerve begin working, somehow bringing partial vision back again. He is now able to read things up close but his eyesight is not correctable by glasses because his optic nerve is affected.
I 麻豆精品 S檓 still not sure exactly what it looks like through my son 麻豆精品 S檚 eyes, but he said this to me: 麻豆精品 S淚 may have lost my sight, but I still have my vision. 麻豆精品 S�
Camille Dolan ’98 is the communications coordinator for the University of Central Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 College of Health Professions and Sciences. She can be reached at camille.dolan@ucf.edu.
