Eye On the Prize

We have spent the last 9 weeks trying to keep up with the rapid growth of Magnus' head.  Literally.  At just 18 days old, Magnus had his first appointment with his ocularist to get fitted for his first ocular prosthetic, called a scleral shell.  Think of it as a really thick contact lens that fits over his little eye, that helps the orbit expand as his head grows. 

Newborn Magnus

Our first appointment was spent getting to know Mr. Hughes, our ocularist, and becoming familiar with the prosthetic fitting process.  At the end of the appointment Magnus got his first scleral shell, a little piece of plastic the diameter of a pea.  While we waited for Mr. Hughes to make the prosthetic, we ogled at his curio of ocularist paraphernalia.

It mainly contained older ocular prosthetics, but there were also old advertisements from ocularists from the turn of the century.  My favorite is the prosthetic made for a show horse!

Here are 4 of Magnus' prostheses.  We go in every 1-2 weeks for a new, larger prosthesis, and the 5th one (not pictured because it's still in his eye socket) is a lot bigger than the 4th.  These are custom made from plastic at every visit.











 A lot of people ask "Does it hurt?" While it may by uncomfortable during insertion and removal, he is quite calm and unbothered shortly after the fitting.  Here he is chilling after a diaper change on the floor of the exam room.

What's really amazing to us is the transformation in his face.  When he was first born you couldn't even see his eyelashes, and now his left eye opens up a good deal.

About a month old

Around 6 weeks old

Just a few days ago, holding his head up.

At this time, the scleral shell is clear, giving us a neat view of his little eye.  If you ask us, we think it's pretty cool looking (think of all the goths who try so hard to have interesting looking eyes!)  Once the prosthetic is large enough, Mr. Hughes will paint it to match Magnus' normal sized eye.  We're not sure if it will move along symmetrically with the normal sized eye, but judging by the amount of movement in the little eye we think there will be at least some movement of the prosthetic. 

While these appointments can be traumatizing and scary for some parents, both Mattias and I love them.  Not only is Mr. Hughes a wonderful person, but each visit is a step in a positive direction, an act that ensures normal development in our growing little boy.