Jackson had a follow-up with his Ophthalmologist at the end of July regarding his glasses. I think we were in and out in about 10 minutes, which is kind of irritating because his doctor is in Rochester at OcuSight. So, it was an hour up there and an hour back for a 10 minute appointment. Oh well, we really like Dr. Markowitz and his staff and they really like Jackson so we'll deal with it. Daddy tagged along for this appointment so we all went out to lunch afterwards. Win! He's only wearing his glasses any where from two to six hours a day and should be wearing them more regularly. But, you try keeping a pair of eyeglasses on a 15 month old all day. And when it's super hot out, don't even bother trying. I can't blame him though, I hate wearing my glasses when it's hot out. That combined with his inability to understand "No" and the fact that they make excellent teethers have made it a little difficult. But we'll keep trying and eventually he'll get it.
Dr. Markowitz wasn't a huge fan of Jackson's frames as he felt they were too big for him. As in, they were more of a preschool frame rather than an infant/toddler frame. However, Jackson has the head of a preschooler and there wasn't much of a selection at Empire Vision when we went to pick them out. So, that's the best we could do with the selection and insurance that we have. In talking with the Optician (Barb) after the appointment, she wasn't concerned about them and thought they were just fine. Barb is awesome! We really like her. She helped us out by putting on the cable temples after we got the glasses from Empire Vision. The cable temple is the little hook on the back of his glasses that go around his ears that help them stay on better. And they totally do help. Without them, we'd be fighting with Jackson even more to keep them on. If we can't get him to keep them on for longer periods of time then we may have to think about switching to a band or something to keep them on his head. I really like how she recognizes us even after only being there a few times. I mean, really though, it's Jackson that she recognizes. But that's okay, I'm getting used to being recognized by my kid. I mean I already have practice being recognized only as Jason's old lady so it's not that much different. ;) LOL
We go back again in December for another follow-up. I did ask Dr. Markowitz how he knew what prescription Jackson needed and it's pretty similar to what I've been telling people who've asked. He used a retinoscope and placed lenses of varying power in front of Jackson's eyes and measured the reflection to determine his prescription. That and he's pretty good at his job and knows what he's doing (yes, he actually said that when I asked him how it was done). I found a really good article online which explains the eye exam process a little better. Check it out here.
We also asked whether or not his astigmatism in each eye were related to his Hydrocephalus or if it was more genetic. And the answer is....ding, ding, ding....blame the momma because it's not the Hydrocephalus, it's more genetic. I have an astigmatism in both eyes as well and had to get glasses in fourth grade. Although, it was because of his developmental delays that he was actually tested so at least we know now and not later. We also found out that the astigmatism isn't really making him near-sighted or far-sighted, it's just making everything blurry.
So, that's what's going on with Jackson's eyes. Next up: Speech!
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