The good news is that we survived an earthquake today that measured 5.8 on the Richter Scale. I was at Children's National Medical Center in DC with my three girls when it hit. What an experience that was! For a few seconds there, I was sure the building was coming down.
The bad news is that we learned that Veronica's ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) has progressed to stage 3 in her right eye. It is not to the point that treatment is necessary but if it gets any worse, surgery will be required to prevent vision loss. Needless to say, this was disappointing news to hear. And although she presents as a "normal" term baby right now, this was just another reminder of her extreme prematurity and the fact that there will be additional hurdles to overcome in her future. This news could have been worse, but I just feel like she has already been through enough. And we were still feeling so overjoyed to have her home that hearing this news was like it was raining on our parade. So we will return for another eye exam in two weeks to see if there have been any changes and we will continue to go for exams until the ROP resolves on it's own or through surgical intervention. And on a side note, the eye exam in and of itself is traumatic to watch. I was never present for her exams in the NICU but had been warned that the exam is difficult to watch. Today I learned why. I hate to think that she has many more of those in her future.
Please say some prayers that the ROP will not progress and that surgery will not be needed. Thank you!!
That article you posted about the boy born at 22 WEEKS who is now a 'normal' kindergarten student was amazing! I hope Veronica enjoys the same great health as that little boy!! What a miracle.
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