(child, unilateral cataract)
Ian was born with a unilateral cataract in his left eye, which was spotted at birth and removed at three weeks old. He now wears a soft lens in this eye every day where possible.
His cataract was very severe and was caused by a birth defect, therefore making the eye under developed which, in turn, caused the cataract.
Things went well for a few months but then he had to have scar tissue removed and a pupil created as old membrane grew over the eye. His pupil is now fixed and doesn’t retract to light but has now shrunk to a normal looking size.
At this time it seemed that there was no light at the end of the tunnel and as I had never heard of this we felt quite alone. We were asked to patch his right eye for 75% of the day which meant he slept most of the time as his small world must have seemed so dark! (I worried re his development too)
We continued to patch for two years, which apparently is the most effective window for his condition and now patching has ceased.
Now looking back he has come so far and is so fit and healthy (at the time you never think you will get through it but gradually you build up more knowledge and strength to cope with all the trials and tribulations the condition brings.
Now at two and a half, Ian gets regular EUAs to check for glaucoma and vision tests. It’s hard to tell how much he sees out of the eye, the doctors hope maybe 50% vision. I don’t expect it to be great but so far the eye is healthy and stable, and that’s what everyone set out to achieve initially.
Kids are so resilient to these things, I think it’s harder for the parents to watch them go through it, especially the daily battle we have trying to put the lens in and the worry of glaucoma, still hurts us but through all this we have come out stronger as a family and most importantly we have a happy healthy little boy who we know will go from strength to strength.