Two Outa Three Ain't Bad

Today was retinal specialist day.  So at 10:30 I packed up Emma, Nathan and Annika and took them to the retinal specialist's office.  There was a new tech--a nice guy, but one I'd never seen before.  I had decided last time when the tech was struggling to get the kids eye pressure that I wouldn't do it this time.  We've never had anything, but a normal reading, the fluid in their eyes has been going down, and they're KIDS for heaven sake--not an age group prone to eye pressure problems. (Shush.  I know kids aren't prone to problems with their macula, but still.)

As Tech Guy pulled out the pen-thingy that they have to touch your eye with 13 times to get a reading, I said, "I don't want to do eye pressure readings today."  He looked at me, a bit aghast.  Then he glanced around the room thinking rapidly.  He opened Annika's chart.

"We did it last time," he pointed out.

"Yep," I said.  "And we've never had anything, but a normal reading, right?  I'll do it next time, but I don't think we need to do it today."

He seemed befuddled.  I was making him buck procedure and he was obviously uncomfortable with that.  He kept saying things like, "OK. And we aren't doing the eye pressure right now, but we might in a few minutes."  Then we'd switch kids and a different one would have their turn having an exam.

Tech Guy went out to check and see if it was OK that we didn't do the eye pressure, but when Dr. Two came in, he was hunky-dory about it.  It's one of the many reasons I like Dr. Two.  He's cool with that kinda stuff and he lets me be in charge.

After an exam with Dr. Two, we got the kid's eye scans done.  Then I sent the kid's to the waiting room to fight over the iPad play together quietly, while I sat comfortably out of earshot in an exam room with Dr. Two.

"Are any of the kids doing a better job at taking their medications than others?"

"No.  They all take their meds at the same time everyday.  Why?  Are some receiving more benefit than others?"

The short answer was, yes.  While Emma was showing marked improvement not only in her left eye, but also in the side vision on her already blind right eye.  Annika was showing slight improvement.  Hopefully.  At the very least, she's holding steady.  The scans showed some improvement in her central vision, where it matters most.  Yet, she had additional fluid in her lower vision, more indicative of the fluid sloshing rather than dissipating.

But Nathan had actually gotten worse.  In light of that, Dr. Two and I also talked about the results of the blood work that had been done at the hospital previously.  Emma and Annika were retaining a bit of carbon dioxide--an expected side effect.  But Nathan was complete with in normal range.  This, coupled with the increasing of the fluid, could mean that Nate's not on the right dose of medication.

That really didn't surprise me when I thought about it.  Nathan and Annika were on the exact same dose, even though Nathan is 9 and Annika is only 5.  Nate's head and shoulders taller than Annika and probably weighs 75% more. So Dr Two and I decided to raise Nate's medication 50%.  Emma will take two pills a day, Annika one and Nate one and half.

We come back to see what that's doing in three months.  Meanwhile, Beck will come in later this month for his biannual screening.  Stay tuned.