Some milestones for Y -
- Learning to skate/rollerblade for the last month and a half and doing pretty well so far. I used to think skating would not provide much exercise but it appears I was wrong; atleast in the initial stages it seems to be hard on the legs and thighs! From initially just lifting her feet high and walking to now smoothly coasting for short stretches, Y seems to be enjoying her weekly class so far.
- Transitioning to Anna's scooter, a much larger and taller one since she outgrew her own scooter. It took Y no time to learn how to manage on just 2 wheels instead of 3.
- Reading! She has been a slightly slow starter just like her brother inspite of having books and bibliophiles in her DNA and home ever since she was an infant. Fortunately I never fussed about them picking up reading. Just like Ads, she has leapfrogged into it and is now comfortable with the equivalent of the Ladybird 2 and 3 series and is asking to read the Geronimo Stilton books now!
The biggest transition has been to start wearing an eye patch for 4 consecutive hours everyday, for the last 2 months. She was diagnosed with lazy eye in November and has been so good with wearing the patch. I am super-proud of her! The patches prescribed by the ophthalmologist had adhesive on them and irritated her eyes no end. A couple of times, when we peeled it away it left bruises which later drew blood. I had to order a 100% cotton eye patch that could be fitted onto the spectacles, from the UK. They were simply not available online in India. Of course these cloth patches don't work as effectively as the adhesive ones, but we will find out when we meet the ophthalmologist again at the end of this month. We hope the lazy eye problem is corrected and she does not have to patch any more. The issue, as always, has been social. Random people exclaiming and asking OMG what happened? does not really help us. We know that when we step out inside the community, there will be atleast two people who ask us about the patch. I used to get livid with people's curiosity. I would never ask a child I do not know, why he is limping/wearing a patch/wearing braces etc etc but this is India and people are always curious :( But wiser people have advised me that explaining to others calmly makes a big difference to the way Y views herself, and it helps her articulate to others when they ask as well. So I am trying to subdue my natural reaction of annoyance and do what is best for my baby!
If she has to continue with the patch for some more time, I anticipate there is a lot of counseling and some delicate social navigation in store for us. But - as always - teaching moments aplenty, both for mommy and baby!!!
She is a real sport! Many young ids who dont know better also ask her directly I have seen, and then she shies away - I am sure she will get confident with replying to them! xoxo
ReplyDeleteYes we are getting there.
DeleteAww..Hope her problem is corrected soon. I hear you when you say dealing with the people is more a problem than the actual one. The wise advice is indeed wise, only if I could also master it when needed!
ReplyDeleteThanks Uma...I didn't even think about it in a rational way until told :)
DeleteOh my! I read your blog and feel like I know you - we went through the same thing with my then 5 year old, with the eye-patches. A was diagnosed with something similar last May and had to wear a patch for 6 hours a day, every day. After we explained to him why it will help, there was not a single day he put up a fight/complained/whined. 6 hours meant he wore it school and partly to day-care too - not sure what the reaction there was, but he never came back with any stories/tears. And as you point out, its the thoughtless adults who bugged (me more than him) with their tactless questions. The most irritating being, is this because he watches too much TV!!! Its easier said than done, but I guess ignoring them is the only thing to do. I do have a point to my rambling comment here - actually two points: The first, even though I expected A to have to wear the patch for years based on what i read online, the doc told us his eye had improved dramatically after 6 months of continuous wear!! It may still revert (there is always that chance) but so far so good - no patch :). So please hang in there - I am sure the diligence will pay off sooner than you expect. And two - we used the adhesive patch from 3M most of the time, but whenever he had rashes that were more serious than a band-aid could protect, we did use the Patchpals eyeglass patch. We probably used the cloth for 20% of the time, so I am sure its not as bad as they make it out to be (in terms of effectiveness). I hope the next visit or soon after - you get to see her excitement when she is told she no longer has to wear it :)
ReplyDeleteAarthi, thanks for dropping by and very sweet of you to have posted such a long and helpful comment! Good to know your son does not have to wear the patch any more. I certainly hope Y does not need to wear it for much longer. We have a doctor's appointment in a week/10 days. We will see!
DeleteHey Aparna, my daughter has been diagnosed with a lazy eye since 2 years and we have been patching her. Most of the part you mentioned is correct & the best is to ignore :) For the patches, would like to recommend what we have been doing as the market ones are very difficult to remove. Take a dressing strip(white patti) put some cotton inside,fold it, place it on eyes and stick medical tape on it. it is easily removed, hence less painful. Give it a try.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sweety, we will. waiting to see what the doc says. If we have to continue the patch then we need to get smarter :)
DeleteHi Aparna, I visited your blog after ages and enjoyed reading all the posts as always. I'm not sure if Y still does patching or not, but I'd like to recommend the Ortopad brand of eye patches. We started patching for my elder one Nithya since the tiny age of 3 months. So, yes, I understand the pain of doing it all but its definitely been so worth it for us. Nithya is almost 6 now and she has been using this brand of patches ever since she was a baby and they haven't left a single mark on her face at all. I believe there are available on Amazon.in too. Good luck with everything !
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