This past November, Chloë, a young patient at McMaster Children’s Hospital, discovered that hard work and determination really pay off. It was during a clinic appointment that seven-year-old Chloë and her family received the extraordinary news that, for the first time in her life, she was able to see out of both her eyes.
What makes this story amazing is that when Chloë was six-years-old, doctors discovered she had severe Amblyopia, a condition where her brain had not been exchanging signals with one of her eyes since birth. By the time it was detected, Chloë was functionally blind in her left eye. Too young to articulate that anything was wrong, she could barely even detect light and motion in her left eye.
Since eyesight is basically set by age seven, there was a strong possibility that Chloë would never regain sight in that eye, an outcome that would have a tremendous impact on the rest of her life. The impacts of vision loss include having a 23 times greater risk of losing sight in her good eye through injury.
The realization of Chloë’s condition prompted immediate action. A rigorous patching regimen began that involved wearing a patch over her good eye for six hours everyday, in hopes that it would strengthen the affected eye. Chloë? has been extremely committed to this routine since her condition was first discovered.
Facing extremely low odds, Chloë’s commitment was rewarded when doctors were able to share the amazing news that surpassed their wildest dreams - Chloë’s vision has actually improved so dramatically that, for the first time in her life, tests revealed that she can now see out of both eyes at the same time. This wonderful discovery means that not only is Chloë physically more safe thanks to gaining some depth perception, but the elevated risk to her strong eye is now significantly reduced.
Chloë’s patching regimen will continue for some time to prevent any regression in the amblyopic eye but she and her family could not be more ecstatic.
“As parents, you want to remain hopeful, but you end up balancing that hope with reality. The reality is that most children with Chloë’s condition don’t achieve such a positive outcome. We credit Mac Kids with putting together a very aggressive treatment plan that capitalized on Chloë’s feisty and determined personality. Our daughter can now see with two eyes – we never could have imagined such incredible news,” says mom Jennifer.
Chloë is one of thousands of children who benefit from the specialized care and expertise only available in this region at McMaster Children’s Hospital. The campaign to redevelop the Pediatric Ophthalmology Clinic at Mac Kids is underway and your support will help ensure that we have the best facility and equipment to provide the highest standard of care available to children like Chloë.
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