Severe longsightedness in daughter

onomatopoeia99

Rubik wrote: »

I said exactly the same thing!

And in case anyone isn't old enough to know what the frames looked like:

Boys got the exact same design, in brown, or mottled brown / light brown. They were no more appealing than those pictured.

Rubik

Thankfully, there is so much choice nowadays for children - I've even seen frames with Star Wars, Disney , Marvel, etc characters on them.

PS - I wanted the blue frames, as I was never a pink girly type of girl but I wasn't allowed them.

onomatopoeia99

All of the childhood photos of me from age 7 I'm wearing mottled brown versions of those frames. Think I was doing my A levels when I first had a thin metal pair with 'gold' coating (that rubbed off!)

Sunshinesally

Hello OP,

You are in shock at the moment. You are thinking the worse so perhaps you need some answers. Things will be OK. My child is shortsighted -16 and has worn glasses since the age of 3, my child is successful, sporty, predicted level 8's in GCSE's, never been bullied, confident, popular. There are children with much worse conditions.
Will you get a hospital appointment or is it just through the optician? You could always get a second opinion if you want to be sure.

goodwithsaving

MrBrindle wrote: »

I cannot believe it, she has never complained to us about not being able to see something, or never exhibited any signs like a squint or lazy eye developing. ......
I don't wish to offend anyone who wears glasses, as a lot in our family do, but we're very upset tonight. .......
and will probably need to wear them for the rest of her life.

I've worn glasses since I started walking (the two were linked), I understand that at the time my parents were upset, however I have never thought twice about it. My lazy eye (corrected 4 times) and falling over things (no depth of field) are all part of my character. Sure, sometimes I get annoyed with glasses but I wear contact lenses on those days.
The thing to make sure she has a good pair of are sunglasses. Buy decent ones. Make sure she gets deccent sleep too. My eyes are useless when I'm tired.

My eyes have never improved, but learning to live with it has.

I also wear a hearing aid.

I got bullied a bit at school but soon learned to stand up for myself.


I think it's a slight overreaction but can understand why given you are her parent. My mother has felt guilty for the operations etc. at times but as I point out, it's manageable and I have vision = I am fortunate. It's just who I am.

Beans27

ooooh, I remember the 80's Deirdre Barlow glasses well! Don't beat yourself up, I remember it being pointed out at school that I couldn't see anything and getting glasses about 5, probably the most obvious place for it to get picked up on really.
I'm short sighted, -14 and -12 I think last time I saw the optician, so can't see further than my nose without my glasses. No big deal, there's plenty of options as your daughter gets older for playing sport etc.

Februarycat

I'm very short sighted and worn glasses from around age 6, and now in my 50s, I remember the teacher noticed I could not see the board properly and told my mum.


Try not to worry your daughter can always try contacts when she is older, or she may well like wearing glasses. These days wearing glasses is fashionable, and so many nice frames to pick from.
I remember the NHS ones I had a blue pair, but they were just a spare pair, my mum luckily use to buy me a nice frame with having to wear them all the time

Februarycat

Beans27 wrote: »

ooooh, I remember the 80's Deirdre Barlow glasses well! Don't beat yourself up, I remember it being pointed out at school that I couldn't see anything and getting glasses about 5, probably the most obvious place for it to get picked up on really.
I'm short sighted, -14 and -12 I think last time I saw the optician, so can't see further than my nose without my glasses. No big deal, there's plenty of options as your daughter gets older for playing sport etc.

Yes I remember the Deirdre Barlow look, I had a pair I seem to remember in my 20s, I expect they will be back in fashion again.

MrBrindle

Thanks for all the replies.

Just to address those that say we're overreacting. Fair enough, it's understandable compared to what others have to go through. We've been through the mill recently as a family, and without going into detail, it's been a very hard year - we only lost our dog around 3 weeks ago, so this just feels like another big kick in the stomach.

As one poster said, yes, I suffer from anxiety and OCD, so my thinking pattern is very catastrophic right now - Will her eyes get worse? Is she going to struggle in school? All the way into thinking if she could go blind etc? The latter, worst thoughts being ones which are difficult to ignore for a person like me.

I keep thinking have we done something wrong? She's always been a fussy eater, so I've read some articles today about poor eyesight being linked to diets. Obviously I don't know what truth lies in those theories. Not sure how helpful reading those things are either, I guess we don't need to beat ourselves up any further.

The irony in all of this is when I was a teen, I used to wear fake buddy holly style glasses, as I thought they were cool and trendy - so don't know why this is so upsetting!

Regarding the hospital appt, no, we were not offered that. She will be seen after 6 months to see how her eyes are getting along, and then may be referred if no improvement. We went to specsavers btw, so I don't know if it's better we go to an independent as well for a second opinion? They were very good there though. This was all calculated using the machinery, and she didn't do the normal style eye test (reading letters / words etc). Guess times have changed these days?

Thanks all.

Rubik

Please stop blaming yourselves and overthinking this. Don't read any more Dr Google articles - they aren't helping and only adding to your anxiety.

If you make this in to a big thing, then your daughter will feel self-conscious in her glasses, and may refuse to wear them. Celebrate with her that she can finally see clearly, and start to enjoy what many people take for granted - decent eyesight.

It's natural to have all the "what if" questions - but unless you have a crystal ball or a time machine and can predict/visit the future, none of us know what will happen, or what the future holds for us. Focus on the here and now - and your children.

Specsavers is fine, we've used them for years, but if you feel a second opinion is needed - after your daughter has worn her glasses all the time for a few weeks - the, by all means visit another optician.

Young children who can't ready properly or fully distinguish letters don't receive the "reading" test - there's no point.

I'm sorry your dog passed away, but please, please don't overreact or overthink about the glasses and the eyesight - it will just make your anxiety worse. If you have any worries or concerns, just pop back to the opticians, I'm sure they will have a chat with you and alleviate your worries.