The Eyes Have It

It's been awhile since I have written.
Bryce had his yearly eye exam with his pediatric ophthalmologist last week. He had to have surgery on his eyes when he was 4. I can't remember the exact name for what he had, but it was similar to a lazy eye, except what he had deteriorated his vision. His eye muscles were weak, and his left eye had always been the worst. A few years after the surgery, his vision was 20/20 and he no longer had to wear his glasses! (he had been wearing then since he was 15 months). About a year ago during an eye exam through the school, they discovered that his muscles were again weak, and that the vision in his left eye was once again getting bad. I made an appointment for him, and we were told that the vision in his right eye was better than 20/20, but the vision in his left eye was quite bad. Bryce never knew his eye wasn't working correctly, because his brain had totally shut off usage of that eye to compensate for the lack of sight, and he was relying solely on his right eye..... which explained the lack of depth perception that Mark and I suspected Bryce had. Anyway, the appointment went great! With the use of glasses or a contact (that's right.... just one) the muscles have strengthened. He can now see a regular optometrist.
Bryce's health is our number one concern, he has always been a healthy child. I feel that we have some sort of control over his health by the foods that he eats, or does not eat for that matter, the exercise he gets and definitely by the amount of sleep he gets each night. But the health of his eyes scares me, I feel as if I have less control, and vision is such a vital sense! His doctor has been amazing and he really helps put us at ease with the situation. I'm a little sad that in the future we will have to rely on someone else for advice, guidance, and diagnosis. When we walked out of the office, I almost felt as if a chapter was closing in our life.

Alicia