THE EYE REPORT

 BLESSINGS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES

Rose had her visit with Dr. Mungan, a Pediatric Opthamologist, on Friday. She has been diagnosed with Congenital Ptosis of the Right Eye. I was already aware of this and prepared for this diagnosis long before Friday. My dad has been telling me she had this since the moment she was born. Basically, all it means is that the nerve did not grow all the way into the eyelid on that side. It is just underdeveloped. Some mornings it is not noticeable at all. Sometimes when she smiles, I forget she has it. Then, there are other times when her right eye barely opens. There are mornings in which I put her in the shower with steam and massage it hoping it will open more. I have tried cold spoons on her eyelid because it appears swollen when this happens. However, the Dr. told me that was pointless (which I already knew) - seeing as to how this is not an inflammatory response to anything. Steam supposedly wouldn't help either according to the Dr.(I kinda think it works good actually). But, I am her mother, and I am at least trying to do something..... Helpful or not, It is hard to watch your child struggle to open her eye.



This is a reflection in the mirror.  It is her RIGHT EYE that has the Ptosis. 



 

OUR MAIN CONCERN: Rose has a strawberry hemangioma on her right side. It is located in the hairline directly above the right eye. This has never caused a problem, and it has never affected Rose in any way. However, when Rose FINALLY got some baby teeth.... at one year old... they came in fused together on that side. Well, it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together to see that something just didn't add up. Quite the coincidence that the hemangioma, the eye, and the teeth, are all directly in a straight line down the right side of her face.... and all of which are not normal. Dr. Patterson noted at Rose's 6month check up that she once had a patient that had a hemangioma under the eye-lid, and she advised that we should explore all options of Rose's eye. My dad, on the other hand, had never heard of one growing "inside" the eyelid. Key word here - is INSIDE. UNSEEN. So, Dad immediately made the appointment with a Pediatric Specialist. It's best to just eliminate all possible reasons for the Ptosis.

 

THE REPORT: Rose does not have any hemangiomas in her eye!!!! YAY for that!!! Dr. Mungan did say it was possible.... but statistically only happens about 1/10,000 hemangiomas. I'm not sure if Dr. Mungan has seen more than one himself. He was excellent with Rose. He dilated her eyes and did a complete examination himself. I can not explain how FANTASTIC Rose did at the appointment. She sat in the big girl chair and allowed him to thoroughly check her eyes. Not once did she pull away or push him away. Not once did she cry (and, if I might add, you could hear kids screaming up and down the hall). She was such a Big Girl!!! I could not have been any prouder of her behavior!!!

THE DECISION: It is correctable with surgery. He described the surgery like an "eye lift." He will do them on children her age, but in the past usually has to re-do the surgery around age 5-7, after the child grows a little. He said at this moment the Ptosis is NOT effecting her vision in any way; however, that can always change. He took plenty of measurements, and we go back in 6 months for another check. If the measurements are worse, we will do surgery. If they are the same, we will wait. He would ideally like to wait until she is age 5 before he does the surgery. So, I know Rose will eventually have to have the lid raised, and I'm OK with that. It could be way worse.... I am also very glad we are at least going to try to wait. I will know more about it in February. He will be able to have a comparison of measurements then - so I'll know if its is getting worse or staying the same. I asked if she could "get better" and grow out of this. The answer was NO. It will not go away or get better. It will need to be corrected. We just want to wait as long as we can to get the best results, so as long as this does not affect her vision or cause her pupil to stop growing, then age 5 is our goal!!!! Dad said the surgery was "nutin to it," and the only thing I should worry about was the anesthesia. So now... who can guess what my worry is???

WHAT ABOUT THE HEMANGIOMA?  Well, he mentioned that he could put her on Proprandolol to treat the hemangioma.  I quickly snapped back with a strong NO.  I had done my research on that one.  Not No, but HELL NO.  He did review the side effects to the drug with me that are most noteable when a child is placed on such a strong drug (increased heart rate, arrhythmias, hypertension), and even he agreed that I was making a wise choice.  He stated he would never treat a child with Proprandolol unless it was absolutely necessary.  And by that, I mean, if Rose was the 1/10,000 who actually got the hemangioma in her eyelid and it was affecting her vision.  But, its not, and she's not. So...  The one on her head does not bother me.  It does not bother her.  Her hair is covering it up.  Its smaller than my pinky fingernail - who cares.  And... its part of who she is now anyway...  if it goes away - great.  And, If it doesn't - who cares????