Congenital Glaucoma

Just over a month ago Christian was diagnosed with Congenital Glaucoma. For several weeks he'd been having some redness and swelling to his left eye, so I finallly decided to take him to the doctor.

(I posted this picture a while ago and under it made a comment about how I couldn't get him to open his eyes. It all makes sense now. Poor fella.)

I'm sure you're wondering, "What the heck is Congenital Glaucoma?" Well, when Christian was born two parts of his eyes that were suppose to separate, didn't. Because they didn't, the fluid the eye makes can not drain. So, instead it builds up causing the eyes to swell and the pressure to increase. If the pressure keeps building up, the optic nerve (the nerve in the back of the eye) gets damaged, eventually leading to blindness. Fortunately, the prognosis is good and with surgery our little man should have full functioning vision.

(This is how he smiles most of the time. With his eyes closed)

The last month has been rough though. Christian seems like a different baby. My heart aches for him. When we go outside, his eyes are ALWAYS closed (the increase in pressure makes him extremely sensitive to light). When I lay him down to play, he only keeps his eyes open for a short time, and some mornings he won't open his eyes for hours. He doesn't stay awake for long periods of time, I think his eyes start to bother him, so he just closes them and goes to sleep. His eyes are cloudy and he always looks tired.

The medications he's on to help only seemed to be making him worse, so last week I took him back to his doctor. He confirmed my suspicions (the pressure in the eye should range between 12 and 22. Christians' was 41 in his right eye and 50 in his left) and had us move his scheduled surgery up to this Thursday. I am nervous about sending my little boy into surgery but I'm also feeling extremely blessed there is a cure, relieved he won't have to suffer much longer, and grateful for technology and doctors who can heal him.

Please keep our little one in your prayers this Thursday.