Mikey visits the eye doctor

Giving an eye exam to a child with Down syndrome, autism, and ADHD can be a challenge but not if you put him under anesthesia first. So that is where I was this morning. I took Mikey to Schneider Children's Hospital to be knocked out so that the eye doctor, Dr. Kronwith, could get a reading on the pressure in his eyes. Mikey is frequently on steroids for his breathing problems and steroids can cause glaucoma, so it is important that his eye pressure be checked on a regular basis.

Mikey was very good while we were waiting and didn't get upset until it was time to go in. We sat in the admitting office watching Sesame Street and reading Mastering JavaServer Faces. I'll let you guess who was doing what. I had to put drops in to dilate his eyes and that was lots of fun for both of us. We waited for about 45 minutes and then it was time to do the procedure. I held him while they put the IV in and he struggled like crazy. They injected something into the IV and he was out in 10 seconds. The procedure took 5 minutes, another 10 minutes to wake him up from the anesthesia (I think he wanted to go back to bed - he doesn't like being woken up at 6:45 AM), and it was time to go home.

The results of the exam were normal. Mikey was back to his old self so quickly that I was able to drop him off at ACDS for his respite and socialization program. If Mikey can stay healthy we can stay away from the steroids and we won't have to go through this again.

By the way, this was actually the third time we tried to do this exam. The first time, Michel couldn't get out of work to take him. The second time, I forgot to bring the eye drops. Third time pays for all. Dr. Kronwith has been a good sport through it all so I can't complain about him.