shout it from the roof tops!!!

sarah had her 8 week follow-up visit with dr. byrd, her opthamalogist today. we are FINALLY seeing some improvement in her vision! hallelujah!!! at her last appointment, sarah's corrected vision in her left eye was 20/30 and this time it was 20/10 corrected!!! and the BIG NEWS...sarah "bad eye", her right eye has improved from 20/80 corrected to 20/40 corrected! tim was able to come to today's appt, so i felt like we got a lot more answers. its just so much info to absorb...

sarah's vision is "poor"...but not worse than other glasses wearers. as dr. byrd put it, "we are shooting for the stars" and looking for perfection. sarah could go on her whole life with vision like she has. we just want her vision to be better. and at sarah's age, it is correct-able.

at some point in sarah's infancy, her right eye wasn't working as well as her left. so her brain quit trying to use her right eye. this is what happens in almost all body parts. its a "use it or lose it" thing. so, we are trying to convince sarah's brain to use her right eye again.

dr. byrd kept referring to sarah's patch wearing as "brain-vision training". again, this means we are trying to strengthen the messages/pathways that send info from sarah's brain to her eye. this is the same thing i do as an occupational therapist with muscle groups. the saying "practice makes perfect"? that's so true! i hear lots of people refer to "muscle memory" these days...its like a new catch phrase for golf and other sports. same basic concept. we are giving sarah's brain a "work out" when she patches.

so we are still patching 3 hours a day/7 days a week. the "goal" is for sarah to have 20/30 corrected vision in her right eye. dr. byrd said we can back off a little on patching once we hit that level.

a few other interesting tidbits i learned today...
babe ruth was completely blind in one eye! and he was babe ruth :)...
lots of people have mentioned to me that when they were kids, they had to patch all waking hours. dr. byrd said as science has progressed, they have realized that patching can be "too much of a good thing". so, all of you out there who suffered with your patch all day, nowadays, you would probably be on a schedule like sarah!!!

so we are immensely grateful for the progress that sarah has made! all day i've been on the brink of tears thinking about how amazing it is! we are so thankful for all of the prayers that have been lifted up on our behalf! we go to see dr. byrd again in 8 weeks. please continue to join us in prayer that sarah's little eye will continue to improve. i know its vain, but i really hope that sarah will be through patching before she gets to the age that kids will pick on her for it. glasses are enough, right?