Austin Has a Cataract

Austin was born with a unilateral congenital cataract that the hospital failed to notice. Austin's mom questioned the "reflective" pupil at his first appointment with his pediatrician. Since the hospital hadn't said anything about it, Austin's mom hoped she was just being paranoid. "Lesson learned," she remembers, "You are your child's best advocate."

Austin was sent to a pediatric ophthalmologist and he had surgery to remove his lens when he was six weeks old. Since that surgery, Austin wears a contact lens in the eye that no longer has a lens. The pediatric ophthalmologist prescribed patching for the strong eye until Austin is 8 or 9 years old. If patching is successful and glaucoma does not develop, Austin will likely be able to see fairly well out of his weaker eye.

Austin's mom adds, "This is not an easy journey, but it is a necessary one. I hope that his story helps some family realize the importance of eye health. Early intervention is your best chance of recovering vision in the affected eye."

For more information on Austin, visit his blog, here: http://visionisagift.blogspot.com/