More on the Eyes

I emailed Jack's St. Louis ophthalmologist to tell him about Jack's eye gaze system and to let him know that we had Jack using the device at a distance of 2 feet without his glasses. I wanted to know what the optimum distance is for Jack with and without his glasses. He told me that with glasses Jack sees best at 2 feet and without his glasses he's not seeing much at 2 feet because he is so nearsighted. My question - why would you give Jack a prescription for glasses that gives him his best vision at only 2 feet in front of him? What does he see with his bifocals ... 2 inches in front of him? It makes me sad having just realized that Jack spends the majority of his day in bed watching television and he can't even see the darn thing. What's worse is that Jack doesn't even know that what he is seeing is not as good as it gets. It's just not right that this child cannot talk to me!

So now I have to psych myself up to call the local ophthalmologist and ask him for a new prescription for glasses that will allow Jack to see the distance from his bed to the TV. We'll then change out his glasses depending on what he is doing. Hopefully the guy won't give me any grief. Eventually, Jack will probably need new lens implants that will provide the best vision at what we determine to be his most ideal distance. I'm thinking it will be the distance to his eye gaze system. I anticipate several trips to St. Louis over the next year or two.

In other news .... I shared my "Dear Physician of the Future" letter with one of Jack's former STL docs (who is now the Director of Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles) and he wants to share the letter on the PICU listserv and post it on a website for pediatric critical care docs. He said "you could reach thousands of doctors by this route". He is a doctor who totally "gets it".

That's the update from here. Life continues to move along at breakneck speed here at the Schrooten Ranch. Where do I get off? I am so ready for a vacation all by myself for a few days!

Peace.