A few months later, I noticed it hadn't changed much and he was about to start school. I knew that he would go when he was 4 years old to get the hearing and eye tests, so I asked his teacher if she could see if he could go even though he was a year younger and get it looked at. She had the nurse look at it and decided that there was no concern, he was doing well in school and didn't appear to be having a hard time seeing. My daughter was to have her well check a couple months later, and I decided to ask the new pediatrician that we were going to about it then. I wasn't happy with the answers I had received so far, but I didn't necessarily think it was that big of a deal to need to be drastic and take matters into my own hands. At her well check, the dr looked at his eyes and said that they were moving together which was the big deal and since we were only 4 months out to his 4 yr old well check, we could wait until then. Which we did. Finally, it was his day to really talk about it. It had been a year and nothing had changed. The dr referred us to an eye dr and we went a few days later. We were told that his left eye was having a hard time strengthening and his right eye, which has perfect vision, was doing all the work. His left eye was essentially getting lazy. He needed glasses and to wear a patch a couple hours a day until further notice. I asked how long is further notice and the answer was until we say it's better. Meaning this could be a very LONG process. If nothing gets better, then the answer is surgery.
This information took me and my husband by complete surprise! I felt incredibly guilty for noticing the problem and not dealing with it sooner. The eye dr told us that if you catch it early, you have a chance of fixing it sooner. So to my husband and I, we felt like we had wasted an entire year that we could have been fixing this problem and instead we put it off. We were upset with some people along the way that told us to put it off. The entire thing was devastating for us. We felt for our kid, who by the way, took the eye test with no tears or worries, told us he could sit in the chair by himself, was super excited to hear that he would get glasses and will gladly tell you that they are "to help me see the wittle wetters (little letters)". So really, this was an issue my husband and I were having. Not our kid.
It's been a couple months and our child has taken it like a champ. It really showed my husband and I how to put things in perspective and go with the flow more like our 4 year old. He showed us that even amongst a shock or hard thing to think about dealing with, can be easy, not a big deal, and kind of fun! Every night at patch time, he gets excited, claims he's Nick Fury, grabs his eye pad and enjoys the down time. I don't want to take away from anyone that has dealt with or is dealing with far greater things in life with their children. My husband and I have been reminded multiple times and shown the humility of our situation in comparison to others. We are so grateful for a God that has walked through this with us and helped us see that this, in retrospect, and in the grand scheme of life, is a minor bump that is easy to take and fix, even if we don't like it. Most of all, we have seen God's grace, humility, laughter, and greatness in our 4 year old son, who has taught us that you take life as it comes and move on. Thank you, X, for that! Thank you for showing mommy and daddy to chill, to let it go and keep our perspective about things in life. Its never easy to hear that your child isn't "perfect", though we know none of them are. Its never easy to think that he may need glasses for the rest of his life or even surgery, but OH MY GOSH! If thats the worse that is happening right now, then THANK YOU LORD for this life we live. Please understand, that in writing this, I am making fun of my husband and I and how we sometimes take life too seriously and how we are not by any means saying that our problem is the worst you can deal with. We understand there are far more parents in this world that deal with far more, and they are in our prayers. I thank God for teaching us new things daily and how to take things in stride and not let life get us down. We are here to live and to serve Him and I am thankful for that opportunity and to see Him more and more in our brave, courageous, and strong 4 year old! Oh and X, you are so handsome with glasses!
