Its that time again. No, not time to make the doughnuts.
Time to take Miss Bonnie back to Dean McGee for her eye exam.
These visits are always wrought with anticipation for us. Did her vision change? By how much? Do we have a good idea of her diagnosis?
Today was no different.
Bonnie has been stressed for days over this appointment. She hates the eye drops, and she really gets worked up over the idea of having them. And, today was no different. She was tense and scared until they finally got the eye drops into her eyes.
It was a difficult process, and hard to keep her in the chair. I held her hand while the nurse opened her eyes. And, unfortunately, there was one eye that the drop didn't fall into. Much to my surprise, Bonnie told the nurse that she didn't feel any stinging in that eye, and she didn't think it had gone in.
So, we went back to our positions where I held her hand and the nurse opened her eye again, and Bonnie cried. But, we got her eyes dilated.
And, after it was over, she said, "It wasn't that bad." I reminded her that she needs to remember that for the next visit, because she has the whole process built up to be so much worse in her mind. I hate to watch her worry so much over these appointments.
After the eye drops, she was able to relax and answer all of the doctor's questions.
I just wish the doctor could answer all of my questions. And, don't get me wrong, our doctor is top-notch. Its just that we all suspect that Bonnie has RP, but we haven't been able to prove it yet. We're all concerned that Bonnie seems to be losing her peripheral vision. She trips over anything that isn't taller than her knees at this point, because she just doesn't ever see it. I think its worse than this time last year, but I can't tell for certain. However, if it is, this kind of a narrowing tunnel of vision is very classic for RP.
On one hand, I will be so heartbroken if it truly is RP, and on another hand, I'll be glad to finally have a firm answer to know what we're dealing with.
The doctor isn't sure yet.
So, we go back in a little while to have some additional tests done on her peripheral vision. This will give us a baseline, and then we'll return for the same tests to see if she is truly losing any of her peripheral sight.
If so, we'll have a bit more of a definite answer.
Until then, we're still keeping the faith.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Back to OKC
5 comments:
Juliana gets those drops too. We keep Lindor balls on hand and pop one in right after she makes the big inhale for the yelp. She has to chose between the chocolate and the holler.
Still, it's hard.
Ouch. Alexander is like that with injections. He has so much fear associated with them that the pre-event is much worse than the real thing.
I'm so sorry you don't have answers yet. Waiting is hard even if the outcome may not be what you want. Sending support your way.
Ronda
We had those drops this year, too. L's eyes were "fuzzy" for so long!
Rhonda, what happened with the woman you sat with on the plane ages ago whose...mother (?) had been successfully treated for a similar problem? (Did I make that all up?)
I hope you have some answers soon.
Kate - I need to update on that! Yes, I called the clinic in Germany and they are waiting on some trial results before they want to do anything with children. However, once they receive positive results and feel comfortable with proceeding, they are supposed to get in touch with me.
I've been wondering. Thanks for letting us know. It still sounds hopeful...just not immediately hopeful.
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