To most people, red eye is an annoyance that ruins the occasional picture. Luckily, most cameras and photo software are armed and ready with things to avoid it. However, to a parent with a child with cataracts, it is a wonderful thing. You see, when your child has red eye, it means that he or she does not have cataracts. Red eye happens when light travels inside the eye, hits the retina and is reflected back. When there is a cataract on the lens, it doesn't let the light reflect. That's how our pediatrician found the cataracts. (Disclaimer: if your child doesn't have red eye in their pictures, chances are it is probably not cataracts. You probably have a really good camera!)
Looking back at Jack's earlier pictures and knowing what we know now has been a very educational experience, and we wanted to share it with those going through the same thing or those that are unfamiliar.
August 3, 2010 -Jack was 6 weeks old. He has red eye in both eyes, which means the cataracts either weren't present yet, or were not very opacified.
September 5, 2010 - the day of Jack's baptism. This was 2 days before we knew about the cataracts, but you can see that he only has red eye in the right eye. That means that the left cataract had opacified enough to block the reflection.
This picture was taken right before Jack's first surgery. He doesn't have red eye in this picture, but you can actually see the cataract in the left eye.
This picture was taken in the hospital the day after his first surgery. He still has a slight red eye in the right eye, which means that the right cataract had not opacified yet.
September 25, 2010 - In between the surgeries. At this point, he has MAJOR red eye in the left eye because the cataract had been removed, but the red eye is now gone in the right eye because the right cataract was starting to opacify.
Halloween 2010 - VICTORY! Both cataracts gone. Double red eyes are a good thing!
www.knowtheglow.com
ReplyDeleteGreat post....another potential reason for no red reflex at this informative site.
When our son was diagnosed with a cataract in his right eye at 15mos we were told to look back through his pictures and check for red eye. It was an amazing experience to go through the pictures and trace its development. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI agree with "An Ounce of Luck" - great post! Our son was diagnosed with cataracts at 2 and a half years and we found the same thing - going back through photos, we were shocked to find one (hard to find any since we have a good camera) in December of this year where he had red eye in only one eye. Sounds like our sons are on a similar track - my son just had surgery on his right eye and will have a lensectomy and IOL implant on his left eye pretty soon. Amazing to see photos of another little guy that look so similar to photos we've got of our little guy!!
ReplyDeleteSheri
www.stewartsnippets.blogspot.com
This gave me hope. i found out my 2 yr old had a cataract and was told she may not have developed that muscle and may never be able to fully use it. Discouraged, I looked and saw this red eye blog... I started looking through all her pictures and was saddened that I could not find such picture. The day of the surgery a friend of mine brough over a cd of pictures that she had put together of my baby that she had taken when she was 8 months old. the disk had over 900 pictures and we found 2 pictures where she had a red eye in her left eye. i was so happy. The brain did know the path and she is now on the road to recovery.
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