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On the other hand, R.D's squint was not just a cosmetic blemish for him. It was what defined who he was known as and who his friends were. It shaped his childhood and his personality. I could sense that from the little quiver in his voice as he spoke to me.
The two images that we see from both our eyes differ slightly due to the distance between our two eyes. Then how do we not see double? That is because our brain smartly merges the two images. Now in people who develop a squint, the deviant eye sends an image that is vastly different from the one sent by the other eye. In order to cope with this, our brain ignores the faulty image so that our sight is not hampered. However, there is a flip side to this clever solution that the brain finds.
In R.D's case, his circumstances might have played a role. However, there are many parents who believe that a child will outgrow their squint. There is a shade of truth to this theory... a baby can have intermittent squint till 2 months of age after which it should reduce and disappear by 4 months of age. However, the fact remains that if R.D had seen a squint specialist before the age of 5 years, his vision could have been saved. Expecting full recovery of vision after the age of 10 is difficult.
This morning, I woke up to such a beautiful view outside my window. The sun kissed clouds, the sky that couldn't make up its mind whether to be yellow or blue, the freshness in the air... the clock kept tugging at me to get about my business. But the sight deserved a second look. Sigh! Nature can be so pretty at times. Was it this beautiful every morning? We miss out on so many awesome things that nature presents to us...
My profession reminds me to marvel at one such awesome creation of nature - the human body. Unfortunately, most of the times these reminders come in the form of patients. Sometimes, it is only when something has gone wrong do we realize how lucky we were when it was right.
Mr R. D'sa wrote in to us yesterday about how he would like to undergo squint surgery. A chat with him gave me a glimpse of his world and how important this surgery was to him.
R.D had a squint since his childhood. However, he came from a family where you did not spend on doctors unless it was a dire emergency. His parents were mill workers who toiled hard to provide a decent meal for their family. For them, squint surgery was just a 'luxury' that R.D would have to go without.
Today, as a 28 years old graduate, who had been saving up for this since months, the squint surgery was a dream come true.
When the squint eye specialist examined I could almost feel his anticipation as he geared up to listen to the verdict. The doctor gently told him how he could undergo squint surgery for cosmetic purposes, but the amblyopia could not be helped now.
The two images that we see from both our eyes differ slightly due to the distance between our two eyes. Then how do we not see double? That is because our brain smartly merges the two images. Now in people who develop a squint, the deviant eye sends an image that is vastly different from the one sent by the other eye. In order to cope with this, our brain ignores the faulty image so that our sight is not hampered. However, there is a flip side to this clever solution that the brain finds.
Remember your teacher who would say, if you rest, you will rust? Similarly, because the faulty eye is not being used, it gradually loses its functionality. Like it happened with R.D, the person goes blind in that eye.
In R.D's case, his circumstances might have played a role. However, there are many parents who believe that a child will outgrow their squint. There is a shade of truth to this theory... a baby can have intermittent squint till 2 months of age after which it should reduce and disappear by 4 months of age. However, the fact remains that if R.D had seen a squint specialist before the age of 5 years, his vision could have been saved. Expecting full recovery of vision after the age of 10 is difficult.
As the saying goes,
Appreciate what you have, before time makes you appreciate what you had.
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