No pressure readings

Today we went to a new pediatric ophthalmologist who specializes in glaucoma. First off, I like him as a doctor and as a person, so that makes things nicer. He's on time and runs a tighter ship in the office than Natalie's primary ophthalmologist, which I appreciate.

But the bad news was that he wasn't able to get a valid pressure reading on her eyes during the office visit. To check the pressure, he puts something that looks like a pen against her eye. She had this done while awake about a year ago in another office and did great, but one year later, she's a different child...moving around, interacting with her world, and not tolerating people putting things on her eye! I have to say, I'm thankful for the child she's become, because it shows that she's growing, but in this one area, it's a pain. But, hey, this is a "normal" pain of being a mom: taking your child to a doctor and not having her completely complacent!

Anyway, the plan is to come back again, this time two hours after giving her Benadryl, and right at her nap time, and try to take the pressure readings while she's asleep. He said he would try several times before giving up and saying we have to do it under anesthesia.

For those who have just joined us, Natalie has cupping of the optic nerve, which can be an indication of glaucoma, but she hasn't had the high pressure (yet) associated with glaucoma (she's had low pressure readings once while awake and once under anesthesia at the same time as an ENT scope). However, her prescription for glasses has gotten worse, so that's a concern and could be an indication of glaucoma. It's common for people with RTS to have glaucoma, and it's also common for people with RTS to have cupping of the optic nerve without glaucoma, so we'll have to get her eye pressure checked on a regular basis for quite some time to rule out glaucoma.