Judson Owen

Well it has been a while but I am back. I will not even begin to catch up from the past year so I will just start with where we are today. Judson is here and will be a 4 weeks old Thursday. He was born with an under developed eye and from what we know so far is that he has minimal to no vision from it. Microphthalmia is the medical term for this abnormality. I have been able to go on other web sites and blog spots but have never read anything like what Judson has. Most cases of microphthalmia that is discussed on the internet is associated with other more severe chromosomal abnormalities or delays of some other sort. Judson doesn't show any signs of those. I hope my blog spot will be there for other mothers who may find themselves exactly where I was a few weeks ago, searching for information.



Judson had his first eye exam last week and we were thrilled to know that he has a perfect right eye with what seems to be perfect vision. I was clueless to know what would happen at this first exam. So it all was a surprise to me. The Dr. dilated both eyes which is harmless except that Judson cannot open his "little eye" very far. A speculum was placed in the eye to hold the lid open so it could be seen well enough. That was the worst part but necessary. We were also informed that methods to improve vision in the little eye is available but minimal sight would be all that could be accomplished. And that is if he has sight at all in that eye. We will probably just leave that little eye alone. He can get a prosthetic shell to fit over his little eye when he is around 4 but that seems far off to me. I am thinking of asking if we can get one sooner. I would rather Judson have to adapt to something new like that when he is 2 or so than when he is 4. We go for an ultrasound tomorrow and that will give us more info about his vision and the size difference.



A family in the area has a child with the same problem and she has offered so much information about raising a child with a small eye. Her daughter is beautiful and you would never know that she has a small eye with the shell in place. Our conversation was so encouraging.



Most of you know this information already about Judson but I figured if I was going to start blogging about it then I should star from the beginning. Thanks for reading.



Alicia