Besides having to wear prescription glasses due to Morning Glory Syndrome, Sarah also has to wear an eye patch on her good eye in hopes to improve her lazy eye. We are still new at it and amidst of monitoring if will help or not.
Sarah was asked to wear an eye patch on her left eye for 2 hours a day. Again, we were prepared for it months before we even visited the doctor, thanks to Dr Google. We occasionally would cover her left eye with our hand and called it 'Pirate Exercise'. After her consultation with the eye doctor and had the confirmation that she does have to wear an eye patch, we prepped her even more.
I let her choose eye patch designs, let her see pictures of kids wearing eye patches and I also got ready an eye patching chart with stickers for a sense of accomplishment.
We had to wait a week for Sarah's glasses at that time and we were advised to patch her eye when she is wearing glasses but during that week, this was what Sarah did to one of her baby dolls. I knew that we were on the right track. haha
While I was browsing for eye patches, Sarah took a peak at I was doing and saw these; specifically the pink one. It was rather cheap so I made Jhon to order it (it was on Shopee and he has an account). It took slightly longer than expected and we ended up getting a standard Nexcare eye patch which I will be talking about it later.
All Season patches are so soft to the touch and can tell it is breathable and comfortable to use. No need to mention too much of the aesthetics, it is obviously so cute and appealing to children. So cute that can even go out jalan-jalan with it.
We had Nexcare as a backup. It costs more and unfortunately, putting aside the design, it does not fair compare to the All Season in terms of breathability and comfortability. The material is similar to a cloth band aid and it's a nay to us.
Quick Tip:
If the adhesive is too strong, put the patch over a clean cloth (i.e. shirt or pants) once or twice so removing the patch is less painful. Wetting the edges of the patch also helps loosen the adhesive while removing.
Her first patch was from Nexcare. She was eager to use it and did not threw a fuss. For some reason, I was tearing up when I looked at her wearing the patch. Firstly, her mood totally changed, she does not make eye contact anymore and what was worse, she said she "couldn't see". She can see but what she meant it was blurry (how blur, I don't know) and would have her hands and arms in front of her, trying to feel her way around.
I video called Jhon to show him and Sarah can barely look at the screen. She kept repeating that she "couldn't see" and when it was time to hang up, she wanted to press the red button as she always does but had problems. I believe due to having one of her eye covered, her perception of depth was also off so she was "tapping" on the left of the handphone. Wah. To see your own child struggle even just a little bit can really make your heart aches.
Treats while patching helps a lot. It eases any discomfort she had. Her first 2 days of patching only lasted for 1 hour. She was pretty cranky after 1 hour and being it her first experience, I gave her some slack. But on her eye patching chart, I only gave her half a star. I encouraged her to get a full star so she has to do 2 hours.
On the 3rd day, she did her full 2 hours after her nap time and she has been receiving full stars ever since. Every time she gets her eye patched, there is always an adjusting period. Sometimes, she would close her eyes for a while, get quiet and mellow but after a while, she got used to it.
Yes, she has gotten bumps here and there while patching so we have to really keep an eye on her. Usually this time, we would snack and listen to children songs or just play with each other.
I created Sarah's patching chart using Canva and modified it here and there. There was no need to but I also write the timings when we patch. Sarah was so into the stickers that she wanted to patch again so she can get another sticker. haha I eventually gave her 2, 1 for her chart and 1 for her to decorate her cardboard house.
It has been 2 weeks now and everything has been going well. Sarah seems to have a better mood while patching now. It is she either getting used to it or her eye muscles are improving or both.
I have no idea how long this patching journey will last for us. I guess as long as it shows improvement until she gets stagnant. Until then, we can only know more next month on her eye check up appointment.
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