How would you like that cooked?

I've decided that if one of my children has any kind of medical condition and the doctor says there is a "rare" chance of another complication or side effect, then my child can be called "rare."

Evie was born with a VERY small congenital cataract in her right eye. She's seen 3 different pediatric ophthalmologists for it in her young lifetime and each has mentioned that it is probably the smallest one they have ever seen in a child. Each has also taken his or her turn at explaining that the chances of such a small congenital cataract affecting her vision are slim. Or should I say "rare?"

On a whim, since she will be starting kindergarten in the fall and because it has been quite some time since it was last checked out, I decided it was time to monitor progress. I'm SO glad I did. The vision in her right eye is just not up to par. The vision problems canNOT be attributed to near-sightedness, far-sightedness, or an astigmatism. In other words, it is not a vision problem correctable by glasses or lenses. It can be directly attributed to that little, tiny, barely noticeable cataract that had a rare chance of complications. The technical term for what she is developing is amblyopia. The layman's term for what she is developing is "lazy eye." The part of her brain that sends sight signals back and forth with her right eye has decided its just not worth working as hard to keep up with the left eye. This part of her brain has to be stimulated again to get its little rear in gear or it will continue to slowly shut down over time and the vision in her right eye would become quite poor at best, completely gone at worst. So, its time to stimulate those brain cells!

The solution...patch the GOOD eye and make the other one do all the work. So, for 2 hours a day, Evie will be wearing a patch over her left eye. Just call her "Patchy the Princess." The patches look like big eye-shaped band-aids and come in 4 fashion designs. Knowing Evie, she will try to coordinate them with her outfit. If you're interested, you can check them out at www.ortopadusa.com I'll post a picture of her with her patch as soon as I get one. Her doc says the process could take as little as two months or as long as a year to correct. She was excited about the idea of the patch until about 20 minutes into the process when she decided it itches, and is a little irritating. I think that her long eyelashes brush against it when she blinks. She was repeatedly asking to take it off. I don't blame her. It must be tough to be rare. I sometimes wonder what life is like for those parents who have kids that are well-done. Probably not near as exciting. I'll take exciting, thanks. Or should I say "make mine rare!?"