Question:
My son, who is almost 10, just had a routine optometry appointment. He has
had routine ophthalmology and optometry exams since he was an infant. With
the exception of being mildly farsighted, everything has always been normal.
This last appointment, the optometrist (our first visit with him) casually
said he was going to write an additional prescription for sunglasses because
my son had several small cataracts in his left eye! He then went on to say
they were congenital and we didn't need to do anything about them right now.
We spoke to a nurse whose daughter has congenital cataracts, and she said we
should get a second opinion concerning surgery. I am wondering if it is
common to get a diagnosis of congenital cataracts at 10 years old and can
they be mild enough to safely leave alone and just watch annually?
Answer:
I was born with congenital cataracts (as was my father, brother etc). It was
not until last year, at the ripe old age of 34 did I have IOL surgery in
both eyes.
My brother had his at 15. My Dad in his early 20's, and young Charlie Black,
on this list, was a wee infant I believe, and I know a local family whose
son has dev delay (related to myelin breakdown, not DS) was one of the
youngest ever, at only a few months old.
Those cataracts had been with me since birth, but it was only in the last
five years that they really started to interfere with my vision, and
actually it was at my absolute insistance that the surgery ever happened, as
the surgeon beleived it would not make much, if any difference, saying he
thought that my vision deterioration was due to retinal damage, not the
cataracts. Luckily the retinal guy agreed with me and the cataract guy was
wrong. I now know what they mean when they say "gift of sight". Trees have
leaves, there are mountains in the distance, everyone became instantly 10
years older, and the creatures on Monsters Inc have textured coats. It was a
very very very exciting time for me.
Anyway, in answer to your question, a second opinion with a pediatrict
cataract specialist would not hurt, but yes, chances are they just need to
be monitored.
The suregry, by the way, although not without risks, was relatively painless
with a very quick recovery. The only thing that noone told me (or at least I
didn't understand) is that once you have a fake lens in your eye, it
functions much the same as a fixed focal length camera, and cannot adjust
and focus, so reading glasses are absolutely necessary for anyone who has
the surgery.
