Can you see me now?

Well, I took the boy to the eye doctor Monday night. His right eye is great! He has 20/20 vision. His left eye not so much. That one is at 20/200. My heart sank when he was reading the letters on the wall, and he couldn't read more than the 2nd line. I was sitting there thinking it had to be a joke. I mean, those letters are HUGE. But, no, he's legally blind in that eye. The eye dr then did that whole "better one, better two" thing. At best, with glasses, the boy's vision will get to 20/60. So, he's excited to be getting glasses. One side will basically be glass, the other lens will have a strong prescription. The dr tried to convince me he's a good candidate for contacts because of that, and I said "He's 6! No way!"

The boy will also have to wear an eye patch over his good eye for 2 hours a day once the glasses do come in. (Arrrr Mateys!) He can't do it now, because then he wouldn't be able to see at all. The hope is that it will force his bad eye to work.

It may improve over time. It may not.

Having such poor vision in one eye does mean that his depth perception is off. That can explain why it's been so difficult to get him to write neatly and observe spaces when writing.

One of my best friends kept asking if I was ok with everything. I just kept thinking "Of course! Lots of kids need glasses" But last night I couldn't sleep, so I tried remembering what the term the doctor used was. I wanted information. I couldn't find it, but what I did find out is that if the sight in the other eye never gets better with correction, he won't be able to get a CDL. No big deal. Unless your child has only ever wanted to be a firefighter. Even now typing that I get a little teary.

But...I'm going to look at it this way. Who knows where technology will be in 10 years? I don't think 15 years ago anyone saw Lasix as a possibility. 10 years from now? Just imagine the possibilities. And my kid is AMAZING. I bet he does get better with corrective lenses.

And if not? He's still awesome, and he's still my son, and he can still have or do anything. This is just a minor thing, and so many have it so much worse. He will NEVER know that he's missing out on anything...because he won't be.