We are now just two months shy of the 2 year anniversary of Jacob's glasses and patching. He has amblyopia which means his right eye is much stronger than his left eye. We use patches to try to get the left eye to work harder and improve the vision in that eye. I was pretty nervous about how the patching and the glasses wearing was going to go from the beginning, I did not think he would really tolerate either, but I was wrong. He wears his glasses all day everyday and never even thinks to complain, he also has been a superstar about wearing his patch happily without complaining, at first it was only for 3 hours a day, we at one point were at 8 hours a day and for the majority of the time we have been at 6 hours a day. When we first started I had the false impression that we would be doing it for a couple months, I even thought I might only need one box of patches (50). I was wrong, he has been so great about doing what he is supposed to, but his eye was stubborn. The vision has improved SO much, but it improved much slower than everyone was expecting (including the eye doctor). When he is done with the patch for the day, he puts it on a poster, some I ordered, but there are only a few poster designs, so I made some. Here are all the posters (mostly in order). I also included a few pictures of what happens when I don't get a poster made for awhile when one is full. We have patches stuck to every stroller and carseat we own, some on backs of chairs in the car, dashboards, steering wheels, backpacks, wallets, t-shirts, etc...
Anyway, as we have been patching the vision has been improving, but the eye is drifting farther and farther inward, so tomorrow Jacob has surgery on the eye muscles to attempt to straighten his eye. After the surgery we will likely be patching for another year, but for less time each day. He will always need the glasses. We are so grateful for such a willing, positive, obedient boy and for modern medicine. He is more excited than nervous for tomorrow, he wants to see the new children's hospital, but he also found out he could have rootbeer flavored anesthesia and he is VERY excited about it.
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By the way, that's 550 patches on those posters (most hold 50 patches, 2 of the ones Dani made hold 100). We're again halfway through another poster, and who knows how many patches we've accidentally tossed or lost!
He really has been wonderful through this.
The last time I was there he was working on the one with his head and patches for his body. Will be thinking of him and praying for him tomorrow. I surely hope the surgery goes well and helps.
Mom
Wow--I can't believe he has been patching for 2 years. That is incredible. And I didn't know you had made all those charts for his patches--what a great mom. My heart goes out to both of you b/c I know how hard patching can be, but good for you for making it work!
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