Pirate in Training

When Zane had his yearly eye exam in April it was discovered this his left eye had very poor vision compared to his right eye - we are talking like 4-5 line difference on the eye chart.  His eye doctor gave us a new prescription for glasses with the left lens being quite a bit thicker than the right to accomodate the difference in vision between the two eyes.  We were told to wear these glasses all of the time and to check back in 6 weeks.  That brings us to last week when he had his check back appointment.  Sadly there was no change.  Zane was diagnosed with amblyopia which in laymen's terms is a "lazy eye".  Due to his left eye being so much worse off in the vision department, his brain has basically decided to only use the right (good) eye.  He does not have a "droopy" eye like many "lazy eyes" are...but it could easily get that way the longer his brain doesn't use the eye and overcompensates with the right eye.  Since I've been asked by our family a lot, I wanted to make it clear that this has NOTHING to do with his Diabetes.  Yes, there can be complications to his vision/eyes due to his Diabetes IF it is not controlled properly, but thankfully, we are in GREAT control of his Diabetes and don't for-see any complications in his future.  His doctor has commented that he has VERY healthy eyes!

To make sure he doesn't develop the "droopy" eye and to retrain his brain to again use his left eye, he needs to do "Patch Therapy".  For 2 hours a day he has to wear a patch over his right eye (the good eye) and only use his left eye.  To make this the most effective, he needs to be doing "detailed" things during this (so, not just watching TV), to really strain the brain to use that left eye to the best of its ability.  We have dubbed these activities during Patch Therapy as "Patch Projects" - the best things per the doctor are putting together Legos, playing computer/video games, puzzles, writing, reading (when he is able to) etc.  Thankfully, these are all things Zane loves to do.  But regardless of these tasks being things he loves to do, this whole process has taken some convincing, bribery and strategy on Josh and I'd parts.  When Zane first heard from his doctor what "patch therapy" was, he broke down on the floor of the office crying - BROKE.MY.HEART to say the least.  I was so angry about it, so angry that he had to do this - so much so, I almost said "no-way, not doing it".  Yes, there are many more things in life that can/are worse, but I still feel like this kid cannot go to a medical appointment without something being wrong.  I was having a pity party in my head - but I got over it as quickly as I could and picked Zane up and gave him some pep talks.  By the time we left his appointment, he was "ok" with it.  Thankfully we can split up the 2 hours a day and he is NOT supposed to do this at school (thank God)... right now he does an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon/evening.  He will have to do this 7 days a week for 2-3 years (that's the real bummer), but we have our next check-back appointment in December to see if this is working (God, I hope so).

After his appointment we headed to Target where I bought him a new Lego set (this is where the bribery came in).  He wanted one of the big ($40-$50) sets and even though my guilt meter was on high alert - I decided to use this "want" of his to form a strategy (and more bribery)...I told him he could get a smaller one today and I would make him a sticker chart and when it was full, he could pick out a big Lego set - he had to earn it.  So every night after his 2nd hour, he puts a sticker on his chart.  He counts down the days every night until he get his Lego.

We are very lucky that Zane is such an adaptable kid and pretty much just rolls with whatever punches are thrown at him - but that doesn't mean this new chapter hasn't posed its own challenges.  We have had a couple of meltdowns, but for the most part he has been great about it!  I don't think he understands the concept of how long he's going to have to do this, but I have told him, it will be until he's probably 7 or 8 and so far he's been ok with it - hopefully that continues!