The three days at MUSC earlier this week also included further assessments of Samuel's vision and hearing. Regardless of the outcome, I love getting more information! The more we know about what's going on with Mr. Samuel, the better we can be at helping him along :)
During the bronchoscopy, Samuel also got the newborn hearing screening. By the time Samuel was stable enough to do the test, he was old enough that he had to be sedated in order to complete it... newborns usually sleep right through it, which is what you want... toddlers, not so much :) But, sedating Samuel meant a potential step backwards with his breathing. With this risk in mind, we decided to wait until he would already be sedated to do the screening. This bronch was it!
The hearing screening showed some slight hearing loss, but could be a bit inconclusive. Samuel has had some major thick secretions lately, and the hearing loss was slight enough that the increased secretions/possible head cold could be the cause. So we will plan to repeat the hearing screening one more time at his next bronch. Fingers crossed!
We also visited the eye doctor, who's office is on the first floor of the Children's hospital - perfect! Samuel's last visit to the eye doctor was in August, 2010, so we were particularly excited to visit again. In August the doc confirmed that Samuel's strabimus was still there, but that the nystagmus was still gone, which had been the news he gave us in May, 2010. In other words, his eyes no longer shake or go cross eyed, but they do still point out (the opposite of cross eyed) and go what I call "googlie eyed" from time to time. Samuel still has the strabismus, and now also a little bit of amblyopia. Amblyopia is basically when one eye is weaker than the other... kind of like a "lazy eye". It's not terrible, but his left is weaker than his right. The good news is that it can be corrected if treated in early childhood!
So, we started patching :) I can't lie, it's absolutely adorable. Poor kid. DB asked if it was really necessary - he was feeling bad for all Samuel has been through... my answer was better now than when he's 10 years old and fighting us. Ha ha! Since his left eye is weaker than his right, Samuel wears a patch on his right eye for two hours per day. He doesn't mind it at all... such a good sport.
The doc also dilated Samuel's eyes and did a vision check - this was a first, and I was a bit nervous. Check it out - Samuel doesn't need glasses! This is absolutely incredible! Due to the high levels of oxygen Samuel needed, and for such prolonged periods of time, no one would be surprised if Samuel was nearly, or maybe all the way, blind. Oxygen at such high levels just kills your vision. But, our little man seems to be okay :) YEA!
During the bronchoscopy, Samuel also got the newborn hearing screening. By the time Samuel was stable enough to do the test, he was old enough that he had to be sedated in order to complete it... newborns usually sleep right through it, which is what you want... toddlers, not so much :) But, sedating Samuel meant a potential step backwards with his breathing. With this risk in mind, we decided to wait until he would already be sedated to do the screening. This bronch was it!
The hearing screening showed some slight hearing loss, but could be a bit inconclusive. Samuel has had some major thick secretions lately, and the hearing loss was slight enough that the increased secretions/possible head cold could be the cause. So we will plan to repeat the hearing screening one more time at his next bronch. Fingers crossed!
We also visited the eye doctor, who's office is on the first floor of the Children's hospital - perfect! Samuel's last visit to the eye doctor was in August, 2010, so we were particularly excited to visit again. In August the doc confirmed that Samuel's strabimus was still there, but that the nystagmus was still gone, which had been the news he gave us in May, 2010. In other words, his eyes no longer shake or go cross eyed, but they do still point out (the opposite of cross eyed) and go what I call "googlie eyed" from time to time. Samuel still has the strabismus, and now also a little bit of amblyopia. Amblyopia is basically when one eye is weaker than the other... kind of like a "lazy eye". It's not terrible, but his left is weaker than his right. The good news is that it can be corrected if treated in early childhood!
So, we started patching :) I can't lie, it's absolutely adorable. Poor kid. DB asked if it was really necessary - he was feeling bad for all Samuel has been through... my answer was better now than when he's 10 years old and fighting us. Ha ha! Since his left eye is weaker than his right, Samuel wears a patch on his right eye for two hours per day. He doesn't mind it at all... such a good sport.
The doc also dilated Samuel's eyes and did a vision check - this was a first, and I was a bit nervous. Check it out - Samuel doesn't need glasses! This is absolutely incredible! Due to the high levels of oxygen Samuel needed, and for such prolonged periods of time, no one would be surprised if Samuel was nearly, or maybe all the way, blind. Oxygen at such high levels just kills your vision. But, our little man seems to be okay :) YEA!
Either Samuel really took it to heart when we told him he was a rockstar... or he just got his eyes dilated :) Can I tell you that every person we passed smiled at his cuteness when we walked down the hall with these glasses on?! Love it!
The great news is that Samuel could care less about his patched eye :) Plus, we got all sorts of fun patches... the yellow one shown here matches the straps and lightening bolts on his AFO's, but there are also stars, soccer balls, flames, etc.
Back on the home front...
We...
... love...
... to...
... PAINT!
Olivia making sure her new dog friend gets lots of pats :) 
Nothing better than a good reading of Trashy Town!All three babies LOVE this book, I would highly recommend it... thank you, Cher :)
Cheese!
Cheese!
Everyone loves a ride on the tractor!
In fact, I'm pretty sure that mowing the lawn isn't exactly a chore anymore :)
2 comments:
aunt maddie can help with the patches:). she's a pro!
Hey Byrnes!!! I was a patch eyed rock star too :) Hope you see you guys in April!
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