Levi's Eyes

Thank you all so much for your prayers for us today! The long appointment went much better than I expected. Levi was a trooper! The doctor is amazing, and one of the best pediatric ophthalmologists in our area. I'm so thankful for how the Lord worked everything out.

Just a little background info about Levi's eyes - his left eye has had discharge/clogged tear duct since he was born. We have treated it multiple times with prescription cream, warm compresses, and massage, but nothing completely took care of it. Most babies eyes cross when they are newborn, but I started noticing Levi's left eye turning in more and more as he got older. I talked to our pediatrician about it (as well as several other people) and was told that we should watch it and he would probably grow out of it. When he was 7 months old, a complete stranger struck up a conversation with me about his eye. She was trained in opthalmology and she noticed how his eye was turning it. She encouraged me to go with my mama intuition and get him an appointment with a specialist. I began researching pediatric ophthalmologists in our area and found one I really liked in a larger city 40 minutes away. I called the office and of course I had to get a referral, so we went to the pediatrician and she said she would refer us. I completely forgot to tell her who I wanted to be referred to, but amazingly (thank you, Lord!) it was the same doctor I wanted to get in with! We had to wait three months for the appointment.

At the appointment today we found out that our sweet little man has Coloboma - basically, cleft eyes. 

Medical definition - A cleft or gap in some part of the eye, such as the iris, lens, or retina, that is caused by a defect in the development of the eyeball. How much coloboma affects a person's vision depends on the size and location of the cleft and on whether it occurs in one or both eyes. For example, someone with only a tiny defect in the iris may have normal vision. However, a person with large defects in the retina and optic nerve may have limited vision.

The doctor said that "Levi got lucky" with his right eye. The cleft does not interfere with his vision at all! Praising God for this!! Unfortunately his left eye is pretty bad. It is extremely near-sighted and the cleft is interfering with his vision. The doctor couldn't tell the extent of the cleft because Levi wouldn't cooperate and look in the different directions she needed him to.

We have to start patching the good eye (right) for three hours a day to help strengthen the left eye. Also Levi is getting glasses with a strong lens to help the near-sightedness. We go back for a check up in 6 weeks and we will talk more about the clogged tear duct. He may have to have a procedure done to clean it out, but we don't know for sure.

As soon as we left the doctor's office, we headed to order his glasses. They are a special kind that only a few opticals in our area carry. We are getting him the style of the green glasses, but his are going to be a gray-blue color. We'll go pick them up in 7-10 days.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I know the patch and glasses are going to be a huge adjustment for Levi. 

I will honestly say that it has been a rough day. I'm incredibly thankful for the God-given intuition we have as mamas because the doctor said Levi would likely have gone blind in his eye if we hadn't gotten it seen about this early. But, on the other hand, it is hard to see your baby facing more obstacles at such a young age. He's been through so much already. My heart is finding comfort and peace in Him who works ALL things together for good.

Thank you all again for your prayers! They mean the world to us!