Our son has recently diagnosed with myopic astigmatism.
(Nearsighted Astigmatism, usually occurs when the front surface of the eye, the cornea, has an irregular curvature. Astigmatism is one of a group of eye conditions known as refractive errors. Refractive errors cause a disturbance in the way that light rays are focused within the eye. Astigmatism often occurs with nearsightedness and farsightedness, conditions also resulting from refractive errors. Astigmatism is not a disease nor does it mean that you have "bad eyes." It simply means that you have a variation or disturbance in the shape of your cornea. By:University of Michigan)
We didn't really see it coming, My husband's eyes are perfectly fine, mine are just starting to get blurry but it's not that serious and I'm already 28. It took me almost a month to accept it and I shed a lot of tears since the day that we found out... cried outside the clinic, when we got home, a couple of nights after that and lastly, when we picked up his prescription glasses. After I heard him saying "uh, this is awesome mommy, everything is so clear" the first time that he tried his glasses on, it made me melancholic and relieved at the same time.
Heavy thoughts are always on my head, I kept on worrying that my son will not live the normal life that I've always prayed and hoped for. In search for more information and comfort, I spend a lot of time googling and researching about refractive errors. Here are some of the facts for parents out there, these made me relieved:
1. Put down your guilt, it's not your fault! Astigmatism is already present at birth, obviously we cannot do anything about it. The design and curvature of our eyes is just 1 of the many things in life that are not in our hands.
2. Kids who have refractive errors usually do not complain simply because they thought whatever vision they have is just normal so there is no way that you will find out what's happening in your little one's eyes unless you have them check by an eye doctor so don't blame yourself for not noticing any signs, finding it soon and giving them the treatment needed.
3. Lastly, if ever you are wondering if putting them in front of the TV, Computer and iPad caused it, No! they did not, because before they even know how to use those devices, their corneas are already been formed to be like a shape of a football instead of a basketball.
Astigmatism is very common that's why they already developed a lot of treatment these days. Prescription glasses, contact lenses and Eye surgeries like Lasik is now much more precise and effective. We just need to know what will suite best for our kids. Our son is currently wearing a quite expensive specs. We gave him the best of what we can give, A lightweight comfortable frame with a thin carl zeiss lens that really makes everything more beautiful and defined than ever.
Our son is comfortably wearing his spectacles since we got them. It's part of his daily routine, he is so consistent and responsible about it and that makes him a good candidate to wear contact lenses soon. My worry that he will not live a normal life that he deserved shrunk down day by day as we saw our son doing whatever comes on his mind. I don't have to worry at all! We noticed that he is much active and ready to do things that he didn't even tried before.
Though we didn't expect it, we learned to embraced the situation as a blessing and an opportunity to be much closer as a family. Also, it made me realize that my son is not a baby anymore, he can already do countless things now and overcome situations that his mother couldn't even let go. Since the day that we got his spectacles, he showed a lot of improvements. He is much braver and confident than ever. Maybe it's his way of comforting his momma and its working! =)
