Visual Impairment

Hunter met with his new opthalmalogist today in Scottsdale. We were very impressed with him and happy that we found him.

Our next big challenge with Hunter is to get him to wear his glasses. Hunter is more near sighted than we thought and his prescription has been increased to a higher strength. Hunter is considered legally blind and without glasses he can only see 6 inches in front of his face. The problem we are having now is that he won't wear them. If he continues to fight us, he could form a "lazy eye". This means that his brain will no longer register what he sees at all and he will be completely blind. Fortunately, we still have time before he forms a lazy eye. Although, the process may be set in motion right now. If the process of lazy eye has started, it can still be reversed at his age. But, as he grows and becomes older, this problem will be harder to be reversed, if not impossible. They believe his problem stems from the Retinopathy of Prematurity he had during his NICU course.

Hunter has already broke the 3 pair of glasses that he has had. So, we are taking another direction with his glasses. Instead of going with the fashionable frames, we are getting him these rubber type frames that is pretty hard, if not - impossible, to break. He will have these until he gets used to wearing them. Then, we can change him back to the fashion frames. Right now, his vision is more important than any fashion frames and this is our focus.

We have been connected with a really nice lady here in Phoenix. She is with the Foundation for the Blind. These special type of frames are very expensive. Many insurance, including ours, will not cover them. However, she is helping us to obtain a grant that will cover the hundreds of dollars these unbreakable frames cost.

For now, Hunter and me are going to war with one another. He will wear his glasses whether he likes it or not. I'm prepared for him to fight me with everything he has. He has already showed me that. But, I will not allow him to form a lazy eye. I will be there every second that he pulls the glasses off to put them back on.