It was a two appointment day for Evie.  This morning we had an appointment with an ophthalmologist here at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital named Dr. Tychsen.  Another CP mom suggested I look into seeing him while down here as he has a lot of experience when it comes to eyes and children with CP and is familiar with Dr. Park.  Evelyn had strabismus surgery in Dec. 2015 and though her eyes improved (no longer crossing) her right eye still drifts outwards.  We do see someone back home but we didn’t think it would hurt to get a second opinion.  We were able to secure a consultation for today and after some miscommunication/confusion, we made it to the clinic.

Evie received a full eye exam.  She did great at identifying pictures on the screen across the room.  They use a picture board beside the chair to help identify what kids see, which I thought was cool.  Ev was able to verbally answer but she pointed too.  She had to cover each eye and look at the pictures.  She received eye drops to dilate her eyes, which wasn’t the most fun, but for the rest of the afternoon she liked saying she had BIG eyes.  Her prescription was tested using a machine and her tracking was looked at.

After her drops started to work it was time to meet Dr. Tychsen (his associate conducted the first part of the appointment).  He checked Evie’s eyes himself using his “funny hat” with the light.  He said they agreed with our observation on how her eye drifts, especially in light and that she has double vision at times (would explain her struggle with some activities).  He even gave us glasses to put on so we can get a sense of what she sees, and it was hard to see.  I could see two Evelyn’s but layered on top of the other.  My eyes hurt after 10 seconds of wearing those glasses but it was good to understand what our poor girl sees sometimes.  He agreed that she would need another eye surgery (as does our doctor) and mentioned that 20% of kids with strabismus do need another corrective surgery.  Dr. Tychsen also mentioned that it was fortunate that Evie didn’t have other eye issues some children with CP have and that the one she has, is an issue many children without CP have.  He also said her actual vision was fine, so no glasses needed at this point.  We have an appointment with our ophthalmologist in May so we will be looking into scheduling another corrective surgery (hopefully the last one!).

Today at therapy Evelyn did surprisingly well (30 minutes before hand was not as pretty as she had a meltdown).  She listened to Rebecca and cooperated when Rebecca took her range measurements.  She then used the scooter again followed by completing a obstacle course where she had to side step on a squishy balance beam and walk on stepping stones of different textures.  Walking on different surfaces helps make new connections in the brain.  Evie then completed a second obstacle course including walking on a long balance beam.  She did really well keeping her feet on the beam, something she often finds hard.  She then walked on the treadmill at a higher speed than before and finished the session on the swing!

 

 

After therapy we had ribs from Pappy’s Smokehouse.  It is one of the top three places for ribs in St. Louis and everyone approved!  An exciting thing about dinner was seeing how Evelyn was sitting in her chair…cross legged!  This was never an easy position for her to maintain and since her surgery (three weeks ago already!) we can see how much more flexible she is.  Really love seeing all these changes!

 

Happy Hump Day!