An Update on Addison's Glasses

People will tell you that children change your life in ways you can't imagine, but they don't really go beyond those broad words of wisdom and drill down to what it means.

With that said, we are facing (and overcoming!) our latest challenge: Addison's eyesight and glasses.

Getting straight to the point, Addison has a lazy eye. It doesn't wander, but his brain doesn't use it and we will spend the next several years re-teaching his brain to understand that the eye is there and is receiving images that need to be processed. We'll do this through patching his good eye a few hours a day so we can improve the strength of his weak one.

Even as his brain begins to accept and interpret those images, his eye itself is physically elongated, causing him to be near-sighted. His prescription for his weak eye is a -8.50 and while that may improve over time, he will most likely need glasses for the rest of his life. And durable ones that aren't easily broken by a 4-year-old's lifestyle of play!

It's simple now to put this into a two-paragraph summation. But it took a few months, visits to three different doctors, a handful of follow up calls, countless trips to the eyeglass store, two pairs of broken glasses, research on an indestructible eyeglass brand (and perfect patch!), finding books to help him understand  and a constant stay-positive struggle with Addison to get to where we are.

So where are we, exactly?  We are accepting and educated of his condition, compassionate about his frustration with glasses and patching - and faithful that time and dedicated energy will pay off so he will have not just good- but great vision - as soon as possible. 

Amen.