team brendon

Hello All! I thought I would give you a brief update on Brendon since we just returned from New York yesterday. Brendon was due for a check up on his artificial corneas so we went to New York on Sunday for a Monday morning appointment. Our appointment was originally scheduled for 3 weeks ago; however, that nasty H1N1 decided to hit our household so we had to cancel that trip. At least we’re over it now and don’t have to worry about taking the H1N1 vaccine that there is so much controversy around.

Once Dr. Aquavella saw his eyes, they decided that the damage to the right cornea was too severe to repair so they ended up replacing the cornea in the right eye completely on Monday. What we thought was going to be a 1 to 1.5 hour procedure turned into a 5+ hour procedure on Monday. Needless to say, Brendon was very sleepy and sick on his stomach all day Monday from being put to sleep for so long. He was finally able to keep down liquids around lunchtime on Tuesday.

The damage to the cornea in the right eye was caused by the fact that the contact would not stay in the eye. His eyelashes turn in and rub the cornea. Also, his eyes are very dry now too so that doesn’t help either. Dr. Aquavella was very pleased with the backs of both eyes (they both looked good and no signs of glaucoma, etc…). He also said that the left eye looked very good and no repair was needed to that eye (the eyelashes on this eye do not turn in and cause damage). They just cleaned it (they use baby shampoo to clean the artificial corneas) and put a very large contact lens in, which we hope will stay for a very long time. J They did get a contact lens in the right eye too. We are hoping it will stay long enough for us to get to Duke Eye Center to be fitted for a special lens that helps patients that have dry eyes. Dr. Aquavella referred us to a doctor at Duke that can work with Brendon going forward. This should reduce the number of trips we have to make to New York (YEAH!!!). This doctor will fit him for contacts, begin working with him on amblyopia (lazy eye) and hopefully be able to get him a prescription for his glasses that will help his vision.

Overall, Brendon is doing very well. His vision does seem to be improving – slowly but surely. He can get around on his own without running into objects (for the most part) and can even point out shapes in a book and tell you how many fingers you are holding up most of the time. It appears that he sees outlines of objects, but cannot see detail. He is doing well in Kindergarten and enjoys learning. He is being taught Braille now; however, we have high hopes that within the next year or two, Braille will be something he knows but not something he relies on to read.

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!!

Kelly