My Visits to the Eye Specialist

I made 2 visits to the Eye Specialist in the past 2 weeks. I had a fall on 15 Jul morning in the bathroom and knocked my left forehead. Minor fall which I cried only a little bit. However, Momi started noticing that something is not quite right with my right eye for a short while in that morning. The next day, Sunday afternoon, I freaked out Momi when she saw my right eye rolled upwards while my left eye looked straight at the TV. It occurred a few times and it totally freaked her out and got her worried and sleepless over the next few days. She was worried that my eye could be injuried due to the fall. Actually hor, other than that eye-rolling part, I was pretty much the usual cheeky little monkey.

Finally, on 18 Jul, I was brought down to NUH Eye Surgery Clinic for a thorough check-up by the eye specialist. Boy! I hate that place. The nurses were nasty when they pried my eyes open to administer eye drops into my eyes. The doctors gave me toys to distract me but they shined this nasty light into my eyes which was very very irritating. I refused to cooperate during the check and it was difficult to establish what was really wrong with my right eye. The preliminary diagnosis was that there were no injuries to my right eye. The rolling up of the eye was coincidentally detected by Momi after the fall. There could be a cataract in my right eye which causes my vision to be blurry and hence, my eye rolled upwards. Cataract? I also not sure, but I heard Momi asking how could it happen in young babies when it is an old people disease... Anyway, I was scheduled for another detailed checkup by another children eye disease specialist a week later on 25 Jul 2006. I had to fast so that I could be sedated for a detailed eye check. Shoots.

On 25 Jul, Momi and Dadi brought me to NUH again. Had to endure the nasty procedures of applying eye drops to dilate my pupils and drink that yucky medicine which will knock me out. The medicine works like magic cos I was totally conked out in 5 minutes. I was not even aware of the whole eye examination process. I slept almost 2 hours in a stretch and woke up with an eye patch over my left eye (which Momi calls the 'good' eye), which I tried to peel off several times.

Here's the part which I missed out but updated by Momi:-
Dr Ganga did not find any eye injuries in my right eye. There was a clouding in my lens, meaning that I have a congenital cataract. He sees about 15 to 20 young patients who are born with this eye condition each year. For my case, my right eye vision is poorer than my left eye due to the cataract. The rolling up of the right eye could be a reflex action tiggered by the brain as the vision on the right eye is poorer and the brain is signalling to rely on the left eye for better vision. If this is not correct, I could have "lazy eyes" in future, meaning my right eyesight would deteriorate as I rely more on the left eye to see.
This problem can be corrected by surgically remove the cataract, but I am too young to undergo surgery now. For the time being, I am required to patch my good eye (the left eye) 4 hours a day during my awake time to train my right eye not to be lazy.

I do not really like the eye patch cos it is irritating and it blocks my vision. I managed to peel it off a few times. Momi said it is a matter of getting used to it. She tried to entice me with TV programs to wear the eye patch. Dadi also got me a stylo black eye patch to wear and tried to play "pirates" with me. I'm supposed to be this nasty one-eyed Pirate Rara....but....but... it didn't quite work. Haha!!!

Anyway, today is Nai Nai and me and she has been tasked to stick that eye patch on me. Do u think it would work? Haha!!! Of course not lah! The old people don't believe in this eye-patching. She kept asking Momi how could I have developed a cataract in the first place.... See how lah. I have another dreaded appointment with Dr Ganga in 3 weeks time. In the meantime, I would have to engage in continuous battles with Momi and Dadi with the patch eye session each day... Don't think Momi and Dadi would be lenient like Nai Nai. I have to prepare myself for an eye surgery lah. :p