Mia's Story
(child, unilateral cataract)
Hi there Mums, Dads and friends...
I had my beautiful daughter Mia in 2006 and unfortunately
she was born with a unilateral cataract. I am not great with
the terminology of the lens name but think it might be called
an intraocular lens? Anyway I don't know about any of you but
this was a very worrying time.
Mia was my first and the doctors found the problem when she
was just 2 days old. None of the midwives knew anything about
cataracts in children which is understandable but the doctor
who initially found it was terrible as she said ‘there
may be a problem’ and disappeared for over an hour and
no one could tell me what was going on. As you can imagine
every possibility was racing through my mind until eventually
she arrived back to tell me that we would have to see a
specialist doctor cause there was a problem with her eye. Still
not explaining any more!! But anyway this was Friday and the
doctor couldn't see us until Monday so as you can imagine it
was the longest weekend of our life.
Monday came and we met the specialist and we could not have
asked for a more compassionate and understanding doctor, who
was sympathetic and told us everything we needed to know and
was not worried about any number of questions we wanted to ask.
He then referred us to Mia's actual surgeon who we owe
everything to. He, again, was so friendly and reassuring that
she would be fine and that he would do everything he could to
help. At 4 weeks old she had her surgery to remove it and an
implant put in. It was 2 hour surgery and when she came out all
we wanted to do was cuddle her and never let go. She was
absolutely fine, the surgery went well. We were amazed that
there was no bruising and you could hardly see where they had
cut. The eye drops we had to do afterwards where like a
military operation we had to write everything down to make it
easier to remember what had been done and when. But I can say
it was well worth it!!!
Mia had contact lenses and glasses from about ten weeks old
because she was born with astigmatism as well. Which I believe
children are normally born with but it can disappear over time,
but as she was being treated for her cataract so she was able
to be treated for the astigmatism at the same time otherwise it
may not have been picked up until the routine eye check at 3
years. She no longer has her contact lenses and just has her
glasses. We patch her good eye every day and her eyes get
better and better. We only have to see her today to see how
well she has done, that every little bit of it was worth it.
She now is classed as having normal eyesight so our thanks go
out to the initial doctor and to her surgeon and everyone at
the ophthalmology department who have either helped or seen her
throughout her journey. I am very pleased to say that she is a
very happy and content little monster today. Latest news is
that she has her first pair of metal rim bifocals on order.
She is growing so fast. She looked like a real grown up when
she tried them on, not just 22 months.
Last updated: 05/08/08
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Childhood Cataract Network
