The course concept I have selected is the eye and to tell the story of my best friend Sydney. When Sydney was born, she only weighed 2 pounds and was very premature. She was born 4 months early and shocked the hospital with how hard she fought to stay alive. Her father was able to hold her in the palm of his hand and completely enclose it when she was in the hospital the few days after being introduced to the world. Finally, after a few months, she was able to go to her home and start her brand-new life. At a few months old, her father realized her eyes were different. Her eye would move and completely face the other direction randomly throughout the day. Being a new father and having your baby’s eye completely turn into the other direction was very scary, as one could imagine. It happened numerous times when he would play with her, so they decided to take her to the hospital to see what was wrong. She was diagnosed with a disease called Strabismus. Strabismus is usually called cross-eyed or wall-eyed. It is a vision condition in which a person cannot align both eyes simultaneously under normal conditions. One or both of the eyes may turn in, out, up or down. An eye turn may be consistent, which means the eye will turn at all times. Or it will be intermittent, which means it will only turn some of the time. Strabismus in children does not go away on its own and needs to be treated with surgery most of the time, or some other type of treated recommended by your doctor. But, strabismus in adults can go away on its own and normally doesn’t need to be treated, under certain conditions. When she was a year old, they decided to send her to surgery. During surgery, the doctor will make an opening through the conjunctiva, which is the thin layer of clear tissue covering the eye. Then, they will take the eye muscle and adjust the length or position of it. Changing the position or length of the muscle will make the eye work how it should normally work. Currently in class we are learning about vision and the parts of the eye and how they connect to one another. In strabismus your muscles no longer work together with the other parts of the eye, and it starts to “drift off”.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYjIW3KB35U
Citations:
Strabismus.org. (2019). Strabismus Treatment for Children and Adults | Exotropia. [online] Available at: https://www.strabismus.org [Accessed 19 Sep. 2019].
American Academy of Ophthalmology. (2019). What Is Strabismus?. [online] Available at: https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-strabismus [Accessed 19 Sep. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). How is strabismus surgery done?. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYjIW3KB35U [Accessed 19 Sep. 2019].
Allaboutvision.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/strabismus.htm [Accessed 19 Sep. 2019].