Well, it wasn't pink eye. I had developed an ulcer in my eye. He said I probably got an allergen, like grass or something like that, in my eye and since I sleep in my contacts (they are Night and Day so it's allowable!) it got irritated and caused an ulcer. He said both of my eyes looked irritated. I was banned from my contacts for five days, had to take steroid/antibiotic drops several times a day, and was assured that it would be much better shortly as long as I did as I was told. So I did--mostly. I was on vacation so it was really hard to go to the beach with my glasses! But I did my best and my eyes started feeling better pretty quickly.
Today, I had my follow up appointment and my "annual" eye exam. I used quotation marks because I honestly have not been to the eye doctor since Imma was about a week old. I know what you're thinking--why do your eyes get messed up in June? Oh, you were wondering why I didn't go to the eye doctor! Well, mostly because I usually end up getting yelled at for not going to the eye doctor. I have literally never gone for a follow-up with the same eye doctor until now and I'm glad I did because this doctor is really great. I may actually go back next year!
When I scheduled my follow-up appointment, I remembered that Imma had recently gotten a note from our school nurse saying she needed to have her eyes checked. It's not too surprising, considering both Brian and I have had glasses or contacts most of our lives. So, I decided to take the little gal along with me. It was easy enough to make that appointment two weeks ago, much harder to actually follow through with it today. She was very reluctant to go. She kept telling me her eye wasn't hurt and she didn't need to see a doctor. When she realized she was going--she started saying things like, "Okay but not for Imma. For Mommy. Mommy's eye is ouchy!"
I think it was helpful for her that she got to see my eye exam first and realized none of it hurt--though I hate the glaucoma test and almost refused myself (I said, "I didn't have glaucoma two weeks ago, what are the chances I have it now?") and Imma actually refused to do that part and I don't blame her. She sat in the chair in the examination room while the doctor was examining my eyes and giving me the vision test making all sorts of silly observations. "Mommy is in a rocket ship. Mommy has two eyes. It's ouchy!" She was very cute and very distracting but the doctor was able to work through her silliness and it turns out my vision is actually better now than it was 6 years ago. I was asking how that was possible and he explained that it may have something to do with fluid and pressure in my eyes. I thought about it later and it would make sense that I would have a lot of fluid in my eyes and probably higher pressure since I had just had a baby the last time I went to the doctor. My ulcer is all healed up, which is awesome and my eyes are great, except for a giant floater I have in my right eye. I was definitely already aware of this. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do about it for now except for pray it goes away soon.
Next, it was Ms. Imma's turn. I didn't know if she was going to freak out or behave. I used to warn people in the doctor's position by saying, "She has autism." People are fairly familiar with that term and, at the time, I was being told she did have autism. But now that I know that she doesn't have autism, I have to say things like, "She has a language processing disorder so she might not understand everything you say and you might not understand everything she says." This ended up being good enough and he was able to get her to do everything she needed to do. She covered up one eye, read letters, looked at the light, etc. all like a trooper. She even answered some of his questions and told him about the "webs" she played in at the beach. It turns out Imma's vision is very good. She was even able to read some of the letters on the 20/15 line. He said she might have a bit of astigmatism in one eye but that she will most likely grow out of this. He said she didn't need glasses at all, which is awesome because I think glasses would last on Imma for a bout 15 minutes at best.
The second Imma walked out of the office and back into the lobby, she turned into a wild woman, running around and climbing on everything. I don't know if it was pint up nerves or excess energy but it was a huge contrast between how she behaved in the doctor's office and in the lobby. I wish I had some sort of an idea what triggers these bursts of goofiness.
To celebrate Imma's success (okay, to fulfill the bribe I had made to get her out the door) we went to Braum's for ice cream. I wish I had pictures of her at the doctor's office but it seemed a little unusual to ask for pictures for my blog so the pictures of the ice cream will have to do!
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| Imma and her perfect eyes enjoying her ice cream |
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| My beautiful girl |
If you are local and you are looking for a good optometrist for your little ones, even if they are special needs, I do highly recommend Dr. Schmidlap at Rockwall Precision Eye Care. It's not what I would call a "kid's" eye doctor per se--no trains or fish tanks or animal posters--but he was really patient and calm with Imma (and me for that matter!) and I think those are the qualities kids really need when they go to the doctor. Sometimes all of the things we usually look for in a kid's medical practice can be over-stimulating and I think it helped Imma not to be distracted because she was in a "grown-up" setting. She was a little disappointed when she realized she wasn't getting a lollipop but she got over it when I told her about the ice cream.
Next, we need to visit the dentist. . . .
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