Dr. Salma KC Rai examining a young patient in Nepal. Photo from Seva Canada http://www.seva.ca
I just got this message from Heather Wardle at Seva Canada. Seva Canada is a fantastic organization that works to eliminate preventable blindness worldwide. They work with local partners around the world to help provide eye care to those most in need.
The picture to the right is Dr. Salma KC Rai, a Seva-trained ophthalmologist from Nepal, examining a young patient in Nepal. Dr. Salma, as she is affectionately known, won a Fellowship in Pediatric Ophthalmology from UBC and BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. In May (2010) she will return to Nepal where she’ll be one of 4 pediatric ophthalmologists working at the Seva-supported Lumbini Eye Institute.
Seva is currently working with Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology in eastern Africa. They have a desperate need for infant eye glasses there. They have many optical companies who have donated children’s glasses, but none for ages 2 and under.
Here’s what Heather wrote:
Basically, I need hundreds [of eye glasses] in total, but would be happy with any, either new or used frames.
As I mentioned, our partner in Africa is the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology based in Moshi, Tanzania. The co-founder, Dr. Paul Courtright, is trying to establish pediatric eye care programs throughout eastern Africa and since there are no kids frames available in Africa, I try to send him a steady supply. I have several optical companies (Perfect Optical, OGI and IVKO) that have donated children’s frames, but no infant ones (I’d say age 2 and under). They can make the lenses there, but baby frames can’t be found in Africa for love or money. Can you help?
Khadija, a little Tanzanian girl with cataracts in both eyes, received sight-restoring surgery. Photo courtesy of KCCO and Seva Canada http://www.seva.ca
The problem is that there is a lot of childhood cataract in Africa, on top of regular refractive error problems, and these infants desperately need glasses after surgery and regular refraction for years after. Without glasses, as you know, their eyesight will never develop properly, so it is urgent. People can look at our website http://www.seva.ca/default.htm to see who we are and what we do.
The frames will be used in Tanzania, Malawi, Madagascar, Zambia and beyond. I have a big box of children’s frames waiting to go to the airport to ship to Tanzania and would love to add as many infant/baby frames as possible to it.
They can mail their infant frames to our office at:
Seva Canada Society
100-2000 West 12th Ave.
Vancouver, B.C. V6J 2G2
If they want more information about what we’re doing with the frames, they should include their contact information so I can stay in touch.
If anyone wants to call me for more information, I’d be deighted to speak with them.
I know this community is extremely generous, and I’m hoping at least some of you are in a position to help out.
A young Cambodian girl after cataract surgery. Childhood cataract is much more common in the developing world. After cataract surgery children need follow-up for life and in the early years they must have their eyes checked often and new glasses provided. Photo by karl Grobl, courtesy of Seva Canada http://www.seva.ca
As a recap, here are a couple of ways you could help:
If you have infant frames that you no longer need, that are in good repair, please consider mailing them to Seva Canada at the address above.
If you have any contacts with infant eyeglasses frame suppliers, please pass along this request, and ask if they can help with a donation of infant frames.
It can be hard to find optical shops that have a good selection of frames for kids, and that are reasonable, and nearby. So what type of shop did you go buy your child’s glasses from?
Hmmm… is there something related to little ones in glasses that we haven’t tried yet???? Not that I know of! We went to the ophthalmologist on Friday due to Elliana’s eyes becoming more over corrected. (major bummer) It appears that she is reacting atypically. As time progresses her eyes are turning in more rather than becoming straighter as traditionally happens. She now has a Fresnel prism placed on her glasses. My first question was, “What is that?” I understand that it similar to the prisms used in the exams. I asked how it is different than a lens. It does not affect the distance at which the light focuses on the back of the eye, rather bounces light in a different way (sorry, still not sure on this.) Googling Fresnel Prisms on glasses has me just about as confused. The article Management of Strabismus and Amblyopia: a Practical Guide byBy John A. Pratt-Johnson, Geraldine Tillson says that “Occasionally, a patient with an acquired esotropia and the full optical correction in place may have a much larger angle esotropia on the prism cover test than appears to be present at a casual glance…the prism estimated as needed to neutralize the deviation is inadequate and more and more prism is required.” It sounds like this treatment is rare. We pretty much put a stick on prism over her strong eye because it may act as an occluder. We go back on Friday for more tests and the article says something about testing for fusion with a synoptophore or the Whorth four-dot test. None of which I know anything about. Unfortunately, we also have to put atropine drops in both of her eyes for the next 3 days in order to get a good read on her vision this Friday. Since she is older and more verbal about her eyes – she is NOT a happy camper and has expressed her distaste for the eye drops and has screamed all morning. 2 more mornings of drops. Wish me luck and let me know if you know anything else about the prisms!
I was checking some of my crafting blogs and ran across this post over at Colored Buttons. It is completely unrelated to young kids in glasses, but I was drawn to her daughter, Shira’s self portraits when she was a student and how significant a role her glasses played in the drawings. Trixi gave me permission to share them with you – I just think they are so sweet! At 3, Elliana is drawing pictures of herself, but never includes her glasses. When children get glasses at a young age, are they just so much a part of them that they don’t notice them? Is it the age? I have been wondering if I should encourage her to add them to her drawings or just ignore the fact that they are not present. Any thoughts? What do your children do?
Today is Little Four Eyes’ 2 year birthday! It’s crazy to look back over those first posts when I had no idea if there was anyone else out there going through the same things, if anyone would read and share their wisdom. That first month in 2008, we got just under 300 views, now we get nearly twice that number each day. We have more than 300 posts, but even more exciting, over 2,000 comments! I hope you’ll forgive my tooting our horn today.
illustration copyright Megan Nishi, 2009
So a big thank you to everyone who has read, written, submitted photos, commented, passed along links… You all have made this a great community that I have really come to love. And my apologies for not getting photos uploaded recently, I have a bunch of great ones that I hope to get up soon.
Many of you know my daughter Elliana is 3 1/2 now and we caught her amblyopia a little before she turned one. She has a high myopia, Strabismus, and 3 months ago had Bilateral Lateral Rectus Surgery on the muscles of both of her eyes. We welcomed Nicholas into the world in November and I feel like our family was truly blessed, as we were told he was most likely headed for the NICU 3 weeks early. Instead, he came out 8 1/2 pounds, in ok health, and was able to come home with us after several days. Being more aware of eyes this time around and knowing our family’s vision history, I have been paying close attention to his eyes. Our PO says they should have their eyes straight by 3 months and he is now 4 months and his left eye still wanders inward quite often. We are rooting for him that he can straighten these eyes out. Our first official PO visit for him is in a couple months, I will keep you updated!
Recently, the question has come up in the Little Four Eyes facebook group about what our kids say about how well they see – particularly once they get their glasses. Zoe has never really told me that she sees better (or worse) with her glasses, though when we talk about why she wears glasses, she accepts my explanation that they help her to see.
So have your kids said anything, one way or the other about seeing differently with their glasses? Did they say something right away, or did it take a while?
Sometimes it is hard to remember why we are patching. After placing the patch over our child’s stronger eye vision or pealing a sticky patch away from their reddend skin, it is easy to say, “We’ll skip patching today.” The most important thing to remember though, is that if your child’s Opthamologist asks for 4 hours every day, we as parents, MUST make 4 hours every day happen.
I am reading the book “Children with Visual Imparents, a Parents’ Guide,” and came across some words that must be shared. This book is a fabulous resource and I am hoping to write a book review when I am finished. The chapter I just read was on medical issues, treatment, and professionals written by Steven Stiles, O.D. and Robert Knox, M.D. There is a section on Amblyopia and they write, “It is very important that you realize the number one factor in the success of eye patching is to keep the patch on the eye as prescribed by the doctor (p.29).” Our chidren’s doctors may tell us what we need to do to give our kids a chance at improving their vision, but it is our responsibility to make sure that we follow through with this task, no matter how difficult. The best time to treat it is NOW, when our kids are young. Just think of this,
“Damage to the eye caused by failure to wear the patch will likely be permanent.”
Aubrie and I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The pages were filled with colorful images & each page had glasses on it. Some of the glasses were hidden & some were not. This made reading the book especially fun because Aubrie really enjoyed searching the pages to see how many glasses we could spot!
Randy Kazandy had to get glasses in this story because he saw in double. At first he really hated his glasses, and he would do anything he could think of to get rid of them. He threw them in the garbage, put them in sand, and even let the car back over them – anything he could imagine he tried! Every time he broke his glasses, his Mom would offer him a new pair.
I think this struggle is something we, as parents to small children in glasses, can relate to very well! By the end of the story, Randy’s father showed Randy his own new glasses which helped him convince Randy Kazandy that glasses aregreat! Randy Kazandy then loved his glasses and wanted to try out lots of different glasses & colors.
There have been some questions lately on how my 3 year old daughter, Elliana, is doing 2 months after her surgery. I have been meaning to post an update and just haven’t had the chance.
My daughter is just one of many kids who have Lateral Rectus Eye Muscle Surgery and each child reacts differently. Please remember that I am not an expert, just a loving parent, so this is by no means medical advice or how other children may react.
Our Ophthalmologist said that she appears to be adjusting harder than most and is struggling a bit. I also just had a new baby (he is 3 months old) so the last 3 months have really rocked my daughters’ world. She is now down to waking up with nightmares only 1 or 2 times every night and is having less bathroom accidents (Se was potty trained for a whole year prior to surgery) Thankfully, her light sensitivity seems to have disappeared. We have also started giving her temple massages, which seem to help relax her.
My biggest worry for recovery is that we would have to go in again for surgery. We were told that 10% of our PO’s patients need to go in for “touch ups,” as the surgery is based on measurements, but each child’s eyes reacts differently. They overcorrected her eyes because statistically, eyes will drift outward again following surgery. Because of this, her eyes were crossing in a lot in the beginning. They still seem to me to be inward, but the PO said it is because I am not used to seeing her eyes straight. When her glasses are off (right before bed) her eyes are all over the place. I am told this is normal.
Right now, I am still a little worried, but it seems like her eyes just need a little more time to get used to their new position. The prescription in her stronger eye has changed from -1 to -3. I am told this is also normal as her brain is recognizing the weaker eye and making adjustments. Here are some pictures to help tell her story. I promise she is usually smiling from ear to ear, but HATES to look at the camera.
The first picture was taken in December before the surgery. The second picture was taken the day after and the third picture is from today – 2 months after the surgery. The only way I could get her to look at the camera was to let her eat the candy from the candy necklace she just made =)
Have you ever heard of Ficklets? Not me. At least not until a few weeks ago when someone online introduced me to them. But they are cute and apparently make all the difference for some children who would rather not wear glasses at all.
We were thrown into the world of children’s glasses back around December when we found out our oldest (5yrs old) has Amblyopia. He has between now and when he turns 10 for his brain and eyes to work together to strengthen the focus in his left eye. If glasses don’t work, there is the patching technique. ( I did get ahead of myself by establishing another contact online who actually makes attractive patches for kids. She made one for Brendan which we are not using yet, but may start soon. I plan to introduce this product to the Opthamologists at Brendan’s next appointment this month). Watch for my review on this patch in the near future.
Back to the Ficklets. These are eyeglass charms in their own way and they aren’t expensive. Brendan picked out the pair of blue dogs but Ros at Ficklets sent him a set of soccer balls too, and he chooses to wear one of each. I will add, he’s been wearing these for weeks and they stay on great! In the short time he’s had his glasses (and he wears them almost 24/7) the frame is already bent and I found a small crack in one lens ( ughhh)- he’s a boy, what can I say?
All that to say, the Ficklets have hung on VERY well. They are attached by a small rubber band you twist around the eyeglass frame and wrap onto the ficklet. Only recently did one pop off and we just used our “backup” rubber band that came with the pack to replace the missing band. I’ve never worn braces myself but know others who have and these bands remind me of tiny brace bands.
If you have a child who must wear glasses and just WILL not do it, you should consider looking into Ficklets. Ficklets might just give them the boost they need to overcome their self-consciousness about wearing glasses. Click here to read what others are saying about the difference Ficklets made in their childrens’ lives. I especially like the flower-ficklets for little girls, but I don’t have one of those 😉
We did receive our Ficklets free in exchange for providing a review of them on my blog. Ficklets has a variety of charms available so be sure to check them out! The Ficklet motto is…”Give four-eyes a fresh perspective.”
This review was done by me and previously posted at my blog HallofFameMoms.com.
1 in a 1000 children are living with juvenile arthritis. My 3 year old daughter is one of them. She was diagnosed at 20 months.
Around 20% of these children, particularly young girls, are eventually diagnosed with uveitis. For my daughter, this happened one year after her original diagnosis. It hit fast, and it hit hard. With systemic prednisone, prednisilone eye drops, and an increased dose of methotrexate, we were able to halt the first flare.
Yet, her vision problems were just beginning. Uveitis can cause numerous secondary problems, and my daughter seemed to get most of them.
She has synechia. Even after months of atropine drops her pupils will not fully dilate.
She has a small cataract in her right eye.
She has amblyopia. The vision in her left eye is 20/25 while her right eye has recently improved to 20/200 from 20/400.
She wears glasses for far-sightedness and astigmatism. Yay! A normal childhood issue!
So many problems for such a tiny girl. However, we are not throwing ourselves a pity party. My daughter is strong, brave, and wise beyond her years. She doesn’t remember life before uveitis. I do, and there are times when I feel so very alone in this battle. Patching, medications, appointments – she can’t do any of that alone. We do it for her to save her sight. Some children with uveitis go blind. But not my daughter. At least not today, and not tomorrow either. Right now, in her doctor’s words, she is winning.
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.
I’m reposting this comment from Stacy in hopes that others will have information for her. -Ann Z
I have a 15 month old son, Ethan, and we just had our first visit with a pediatric ophthalmologist. I feel very disappointed, frustrated and scared after this appointment. We took our son to the ophthalmologist because his left eye turns in. I was not terribly worried because I had amblyopia as a child and anticipated that at the most we would be patching our son’s eye. The eye doctor told us that Ethan’s right eye has 20/20 vision, but his left eye is extremely nearsighted and that he had something called “myelinated retinal nerve fibers.” The eye doctor told us we would need to patch his right eye and that he would need to wear glasses with a Rx of -8.5 in the left lens. He told us we could “read up” on these myelinated retinal nerve fibers as it is a rare condition. He also said that with patching and glasses (6-8 hours a day) that a reasonable vision expectation for Ethan would possibly be 20/50. I feel lost. All I can find on “myelinated retinal nerve fibers” are medical journals full of jargon that I do not understand!!! I’m still unclear as to what Ethan’s actual diagnosis is or how long we will need to patch and wear glasses. All I know is that I am to return in 2 months to check his vision again. We are seeking a second opinion. But has anyone been told their child has “myelinated retinal nerve fibers?” Any help would be soo appreciated! I feel defeated.
When my daughter Dagny was five months old she would cross her eyes when she was upset about something. It was a phase that only lasted a few weeks and I was relieved when it stopped. At her one year well-baby checkup her pediatrician asked me if I noticed her right eye turning in. It was so slight that I often thought I might be imagining it but it worsened rapidly over the next few months while I waited for her optical appointment. Her eye crossing became a source of stress for me. Somehow I connected it to my failure as a mother. I know this is completely unrealistic but I knew it must be my fault. I felt as if people were judging her, and me, for it.
On the day of the appointment we sat in the waiting room for hours waiting to be seen. I was nervous the entire time and Dagny was beginning to get antsy. I was relieved when we finally met the staff. They were warm and welcoming. I found out that my daughter is farsighted and she was given a prescription for glasses. We made progress and I was anxious to get the glasses. I rushed home and began calling optical stores in my area. There are many within walking distance so I knew we would be just fine but one after another the stores told me that they could not help me with a child of 15 months.
“We don’t have glasses that small.”
“I have never worked with a baby before.”
“Maybe you can call another branch. I am not really…uh…can you hold please?”
After making over a dozen phone calls I broke down and cried. I felt defeated. All of the emotions came out at once. I did not want my baby to face this obstacle so early in life. I never had glasses soI could not relate to her vision problems and I know that this will be something she will always have to deal with.
We finally found eyeglasses nearly an hour away. She has had them for a few days now. She wore them all day at first but she is already struggling with them. She bent them on day two and today scratched a lens. I am just going to keep smiling and putting them back on her face. We go back in a couple months to see if her vision has changed any. She still crosses her eyes. I was told that the glasses would correct this but I was not told if it would be instantaneous or gradually.
Dagny's new glasses
I will learn to accept this over time as I learn more about her condition and what I can do to help her. It’s not the worst thing ever and I am so glad that we caught it early. Besides it is the cutest thing ever when a 15 month old says “gyasses.”
-Ann Z
For Little Eyes 
