Feeling worried - DD referred to eye hospital

[vladthedisorganised]

DD was referred to the local eye hospital after a very routine eye check. DD apparently has a birthmark which came up on the retinal photograph: they were quick to reassure both of us that it was really nothing to worry about and the follow-up was really to ensure that it was logged on her notes rather than anything else. Her eyesight (unlike mine) is absolutely fine and it's been several months since the eye check, so not an urgent appointment.

Until now, I wasn't worried: but then the hospital tell me that the appointment is expected to take 3 hours, she will have very blurry vision for a few hours afterwards and will need dark glasses for the rest of the day.

I'm not normally emotional about these things (I had absolutely no issue with DD's vaccinations, for instance) but I'm beginning to wonder what they'll do to her for 3 hours! She has the ability to sit still of an average 5yo and it all sounds a bit daunting to say the least.

Has anyone had any experience of this? (preferably where it actually took 10 minutes and the child was absolutely fine afterwards...)

dd1 had a lengthy eye test where they did the usual tests first, then put drops in, send us away for an hour for them to work, and then carried on with various tests. So the three hour thing could just be an estimate to allow you to plan accordingly (snacks, books). It does sound like they just want to keep an eye on it (no pun intended) and have a decent baseline to work from in the future.

My daughter had numerous eye appointments at the same age. She had eye drops put in which dilated her pupils and gave her the blurred vision you mentioned. It was fine and she was fine, although the reasons for treatment were different to yours.

For what it's worth we have a hereditary eye disease in the family, so it was a slight worry, but the appointments were very straightforward and not traumatic.

And yes the lengthy appointment is because the eye drops take time to work. The time spent having anything done is tiny in comparison to all the waiting around. I think we went off to the cafe for a drink.

Don't worry, it is because the drops take ages to dilate the pupils, and they may need to apply the drops several times to get them to dilate sufficiently. I have been sent the drops before the appointment before, but then they have had to apply more when we got there.

The drops may feel uncomfortable - I would maybe take a few treats with you to take her mind off them.

Apparently depending on how dark your DC's eyes are, it can take longer - pale blue eyes dilate more easily. I don't know why.
The dark glasses will be because the pupils will still be dilated afterwards, and unable to contract again in bright light, but they will go back to normal gradually (ie by bedtime, probably) so don't worry about that either.

The actual measuring part will be very quick, and non-invasive; it's just the drops that are the unpleasant part.

Hi,

I've been going to the eye hospital since I was 3 i still go every 4weeks - I have multiple serious eye conditions.

Don't worry it'll be fine, her sight will be blurry due to the drops to dilate the pupils the glasses will stop her being irritated by the intense hospital lighting.

She won't actually be examined for three hours she will probably read a chart then wait to see a doctor then be examined and have drops and then wait about half an hour for them to work then examined again.

The drops to dilate don't hurt and ophthalmologists know how irritable kids can be when having eye examinations so they'll make it fun for her!

Good luck

Thank you so much, everyone - feeling much happier about it all!

As was said it s 3 hours due to waiting around seeing orthoptics opthamologist getting drops etc.