January 31, 2011

Corneal Infection

The cloudy patch forming over Bertrand's pupil.

Bertrand at the ophthalmologist's office.

Bertrand spent the weekend nursing a very red eye inspite of being on antibiotic drops. In fact, a cloudy patch started forming over the eye. Since I have a black belt in medical google search, this caused me a great deal of concern. I made a point to get Bertrand seen by his ophthalmologist first thing this morning.

Upon examination, Bertrand's ophthalmologist was grave. There is a severe infection in Bertrand's cornea. He couldn't tell the nature of the infection (bacterial or viral) or if it had progressed to the point of corneal perforation. He did however emphasize the seriousness of the condition (in 3rd world countries people lose the eye and even in 1st world countries there can be permanent vision loss) and immediately scheduled Bertrand for same day surgery.

At around 5pm today, Bertrand will undergo an anesthetized examination, biopsy (for a culture) and other possible intervention--like removing a particle if there is one. Bertrand was started on Zymar, a full spectrum 7-day antibiotic. He is not allowed to attend school or therapies until he is recovered. And, we DO expect him to recover. We think we caught the infection just in time.

Bottomline, we'll keep everyone posted. Bertrand will be very angry about the withholding of food & water until 5pm (for anesthesia), but other than that he should come out of everything okay. Oh and, Bertrand's fine motor skills have improved to the point of giving himself corneal infections. ;)

2 comments :

  1. Jasin's friend had a corneal infection and has her full sight still. Positive thinking! <3

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  2. Bertrand and the hands that treat him are in my prayers now and through surgery.

    I'm thinking he needs some cool shades for the coming sunny weather (probing self fingers), eh?

    If you don't know a good baby brand - tweet me, and I'll search for the ones I've seen on other children with diagnoses. Barbara

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