Sarah was born with small, underdeveloped eyes and cataracts. She was completely blind for a few months, even after her initial cataract surgeries. Her left eye had glaucoma when she was born, and is completely blind due to a total retinal detachment. Her right eye developed glaucoma when she was 3 years old, a side-effect of her cataract surgery in infancy. We have lost count of all the surgeries and exams under anesthesia over the years. Suffice it to say that there have been many!
Despite her visual impairment, Sarah has had a normal childhood with many activities and hobbies. She learned Braille up till she started high school, although she primarily reads large print. Sarah is an avid reader, and loves art, including drawing, painting, and creating ceramics. She enjoys drama classes and being part of school theatre productions. For sports, she did Kempo Karate for several years, and is currently taking ice skating lessons.
About My Eyes
When I first started school, kids used to ask me about my eyes. I would point to each eye and say, "This is my fake eye, and this is my small eye with glaucoma." These days, kids see that I wear glasses, but they don't usually ask questions. My parents tell people that I have small, underdeveloped eyes and that I have glaucoma. For this webpage, I asked my mom to tell me the details about what is different about my eyes.
She told me that when I was born, my left eye had PHPV (Persistent Hyperplastic Primary Vitreous), a dense cataract, Anterior Segment Dysgenesis, and glaucoma. Then when I was about 12 weeks old they found out my left eye also had a total retinal detachment. My left eye is completely blind with no light perception. I wear a painted scleral shell (fake eye) over this eye, to make my face grow symmetrically, and also to make it look like a good eye.
My right eye is my 'good eye', but it also has some mild PHPV, microphthalmia, foveal hypoplasia, and anterior segment dysgenesis. I was born with a dense cataract in my right eye as well, and my eye is quite small compared to a normal eye. A condition called nystagmus causes my right eye to constantly shake, which can be very tiring, especially at the end of a long day at school. I was diagnosed with aphakic glaucoma when I was three years old, and have seen Dr. Freedman at Duke Eye Center ever since.
About My Blog
The goal of my blog is to increase awareness of glaucoma in children, and to unite kids like me living with visual impairment. I write about my life, and my experiences living with vision impairment. I hope that people with eye problems similar to mine will live life to the fullest, and know that a girl named Sarah can live a fulfilling life with similar eye conditions.Click here to read more.