Congenital Cataracts

 About a month ago, Casey was holding Liam and said, "Brynn, what is this in his eye?"  I went to look, and there was a large cloudy spot in his pupil.  I immediately went to my computer and googled "cataracts and Down syndrome"  and sure enough that was something that babies with Down syndrome could have.  I thought that it wasn't a big deal, and figured next time I was visiting the doctor, I'd ask him about it. That weekend I came down with strep and had to go visit the urgent care, and took Liam with me so the doctor could check his eyes.  He confirmed he had a cataract and referred me to a pediatric ophthalmologist. 

A few days later we visited a doctor at Timpanogos hospital.  He said that there is actually a cataract in both eyes, and they were so big, very little light was getting into his eye. He was pretty much blind.  Because of Liam's heart conditions, age, and size, he didn't feel confident with him and his team, so he referred us to a doctor at Primary Children's Hospital.  We were scheduled to see Dr. Dries from the Moran Eye Center three weeks later on January 27th. 

A few days ago, Casey's sweet Grandpa Jackson passed away and the funeral was scheduled for Monday.  I called Dr. Dries' office and tried to reschedule his appointment.  His next available appointment was March 31!  They said they would check with one of the other specialists at the Moran Eye Center and get back to me. I immediately got a call from another doctors office, Dr. Young, who said this is actually very serious and they would need to see him as soon as possible.  We scheduled an appointment the next day and have his surgery Monday (we'll have to miss the funeral anyway!  Sad!).  She will do one eye Monday, and then the following eye the following Monday.  The reason why it is so important to get this done is because the way his little brain is developing, if he doesn't use his eyes to see, his brain may not develope so he will never be able to use his eyes in the future. 

Dr. Young will take out his lens, and they won't put a new one in because he is so young and little, and research has been done and found out that they develop cataracts on the new lens.  So, this means he'll either have to wear glasses, or I'll have to put contact lenses in his eyes every day.  I don't know which one we'll do yet.  Either way, I'm glad my little guy will be able to actually see my face and know who his mommy is!