Anisometropia

Before you look at the title of this post and wonder if I've started speaking in tongues, let me say that this (anisometropia) is an eye condition.  More specifically, this is Andrew's eye condition.  We went to the pediatric eye specialist today, whose office is more than an hour away (yes, we got up with the chickens and had to WAKE THE KIDS -- a cardinal sin in our house -- leaving the house before 7 am in order to get there for our 8:10 appt) and  he was awesome.  LOVE this doctor.

Andrew was very cooperative and was having fun with all the gadgets the doc had, and we quickly determined that Andrew is colorblind and has a very weak right eye.  In order to see what the deal was with his right eye, we had to dilate his eyes (that was NOT fun) and let the doc do a more intensive eye exam.  Turns out he has this condition, anisometropia. What's that?  You don't know what that is?  Well, here you go!  This is a brief synopsis from the sheet the doc gave us:

...instead of the two eyes each having the same amount of nearsightedness or farsightedness, one eye has a greater amount than the other.  Greater amounts of anisometropia make it very difficult for children to use their eyes together because the eyes are out of balance with each other.  The children will depend on the better eye, and will tend not to want to use the other eye...Sometimes, children with anisometropia will develop amblyopia, or decreased vision, in one eye.  Wearing the glasses helps improve the vision, but often patching the eye with the better vision is needed to help the vision improve in the better eye.

SO.  What I got out of this is that the glasses he will be wearing are corrective...meaning that once his eyes get balanced out, he may not need glasses anymore.  Yay!  On the other hand, if his eyes do not balance out with the use of the glasses, we may need to get a patch for his good eye in order to force him to use the weak eye, making it stronger.  Personally, I am hoping for the former.  As much as I love pirates, I would prefer to not have to make my kiddo wear a patch over his eye for any length of time.

I am very encouraged and feeling so blessed to have access to such amazing medical care and technology.  I can't wait to see Andrew in his glasses...He's gonna be so handsome!  Believe me, there will be pics as soon as I get some!!