Your stories- Brendan’s glasses

Hi, I’m pretty new to Little Four Eyes and this is my first “guest” post. I can’t remember exactly how, but I think I may have found Little Four Eyes by searching the web after I found out my oldest, Brendan, was going to need glasses. My husband and I have two boys, Jack and Brendan (they will be 4 and 6 this spring).

Brendan started kindergarten in the fall and as is the practice, he got an eye exam at school. They sent a paper home with him saying -nothing really specific other than the results of the test led them to believe he needed to be seen by a professional. So we visited our family doctor’s office and he was tested there and I could even see there was a problem. So off to the Opthamologist we go!

After some testing there I was told he had Amblyopia. His left eye was about 20/40 or 20/60. Thus, one eye is weaker than the other. The good news is that it was caught at a young age and he has between now and when he turns 10 yrs old for his brain and eye to work together and improve that weak eye. He is in glasses right now and he really is very good about wearing them. We picked up his new glasses around the end of December. And can I just say, boy, is he hard on them 😉 We already have a small crack and the frame was bent. But thats a boy for you.

At first I wasn’t sure if they were helping him, but apparently his eyes had to adjust and he has told me the glasses do help him see better. Today was our first appointment back to have his eyes checked. His eye has improved a little! The doctor says she’ll see him again in two more months and we don’t have to patch right now. However, as a momblogger/product reviewer over at my blog HallofFameMoms I contacted Camille at FrameHuggers and she sent me a patch made specifically for Brendan’s glasses so that we could try it and do a review of them on my blog. The doctor said we could go ahead and try the patch at home if we want to. I also left a brochure for FrameHuggers with the doctor.

Glasses are nothing new to me or my husband. We have to wear them on occasion. My worst eye is my left- I think its far sighted. I also have astigmatism in both eyes. My husband has to wear them when he drives. But having a child in glasses IS something to get used to. Since Brendan has to wear them all the time except to sleep and bathe its up to me mostly to make sure he puts them on in the morning. I’ve had to make second trips to school because we’ve forgotten them in the morning. I also clean them everyday for him- whether he thinks they need it or not. How can he see through that smeary lens? 😉

The doctor says he will need to wear the glasses till he is 10 yrs old, even if his eye keeps improving. After the 10 yr old mark, there is nothing that can be done to retrain that eye. Whatever improvement has been made, that will be that. Hopefully he will not have to wear glasses beyond that.

On a final note this experience has made me aware (as I am currently considering homeschooling the boys next year) of how important it is to get our kid’s eyes checked at a young age. I may not have noticed his Amblyopia on my own. Since the school did that initial exam and made me aware, I know now to make sure I have my youngest tested soon.

Post written by Tracy Zdelar, blogger/editor at Hall of Fame Moms.

7 responses to “Your stories- Brendan’s glasses”

Thank you for sharing your story. It is encouraging to hear stories of vision improvements. I was diagnosed with amblyopia when I was 6. I wore bifocals from time I was 6 until I was 14. I was never patched and now I no longer wear glasses. So, I think there is a good chance your son will not need glasses for the rest of his life.

We just found out this week that our 15 month old son will be patched and wearing glasses. He is extremely nearsighted (his Rx is -8.5) in his left eye. He also has myelinated retinal nerve fibers and a slightly smaller optic nerve in his left eye. But he has 20/20 vision in his right eye. We are hoping the vision therapy will improve his left eye and that the myelinated fibers and smaller optic nerve will not impede his progress. I really love hearing other parents’ stories of success for their children because it gives me hope for my own son.

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Thank you for sharing this story & your son is quite handsome in his new glasses! Don’t worry about him being hard on them – I think it’s a part of it. My 4 year old daughter often breaks her frames & I have to clean them constantly for her. He’ll also get used to wearing them which should help in remembering them in the morning. Aubrie got glasses at 20 months & now she asks for her glasses first thing in the morning. She always reminds me when I forget. Also, if you have any siblings with small kids they should get eye checks too. My doctor said it’s highly genetic that my sisters could have children that would need glasses. I hadn’t even thought of all of this because my husband and I don’t have glasses nor do any of my family members. Luckily my 2 year old son doesn’t need glasses. My 6 month old niece will get an eye test soon and I’m hoping she doesn’t need them as well.

~Annie

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Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it! Have any of you more experienced parents bought RX glasses for your children from some of these cheaper frame companies for a backup pair? I know our ins. pays for one pair per year. If we can maintain his glasses and if he RX doesn’t change we will start having an extra pair soon as now we can get a new pair for 2010. What are your suggestions about this?

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Hi Tracy,
Our first year we had that same problem & struggled. We had a lot of duck taped frames at times 🙂 I have ordered a pair of glasses from Zenni Optical. I however got sunglasses for fun b/c Aubrie always wanted a pair & we just couldn’t spend $250 on a fun pair of sunglasses. It took awhile & there were a lot of things to consider because it wasn’t easy to find a size to fit her face. I would recommend it to you though. Just be sure to pay more for high index lenses (thin lenses) – we did not for sunglasse & that was OK, but it would be very noticeable if we didn’t for regular glasses because they are extremely thick. Best of luck – they have a lot of choices 🙂

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