Natalie's Chalazion on her eye.

My daughter, Natalie who is 19 months old has been dealing with a Chalazion on her right eye for about 4 months now...dating back to early December.

"Chalazion is a small lump and refers to a swelling in the eyelid caused by chronic inflammation of one of the small oil producing glands (meibomian glands) located in the upper and lower eyelids. A chalazion is usually a reaction to trapped oil secretions and not caused by bacteria, although the site can become secondarily infected by bacteria. When a chalazion is small and without symptoms, it may disappear without treatment. If the chalazion is large, it may cause blurred vision by distorting the shape of the eye. A chalazion is sometimes confused with a stye which also appears as a lump in the eyelid."

Natalie's started out as a small bump the same color as her skin on her lower eye lid. It began slowly getting bigger so we brought it up at one of her appointments with her pediatrician. He informed us it was just a stye and that it would go away on its own. Well right before Christmas it got WAY bigger and began getting a red tint to it so we brought her back to her pediatrician again. He told us that he is sorry there is nothing he can do and its just going to have to go away on its own.

Well, a few weeks later it got EVEN larger and began to actually scab up with a greenish scab. It was a darker red and I could tell it was really beginning to bother her. Not only was it physically bothering her but it was mentally bothering me! Every time I took her to the daycare at the gym all of the other children were asking what was wrong with her eye. :( 

I took her to the doctor for the third time and was pretty much demanding that the doctor refer me to a specialist or do SOMETHING about her eye not getting any better. He told me there was nothing any specialist would do about it unless it was blocking her vision.

Matt and I had a different idea after this appointment...we would just take her to a specialist ourselves! We found a local Optometrist and took her in for an evaluation. Immediately, the optometrist told us it was NOT a stye but a chalazion. (Funny thing because I looked it up her symptoms on Google and was comparing pictures and I found the SAME thing so this time Google was in my favor) She also told us that it was infected and needed to be taken care of as soon as possible to prevent scarring on her eye! She also told us the surgery could possibly cause scarring where her bottom eye lashes were so they may never grow back. So of course Matt and I are FURIOUS that within 10 minutes of seeing an eye care specialist we have an answer, a treatment plan, and an infection on our hands.

Prior to visiting this eye doctor it took me all of 10 minutes to come across Chalazion on google. Why couldn't her doctor have figured this out one of the 3 different times we brought her to him? The eye specialist referred us to some ophthalmologists who would actually perform the surgery so from there we set up a consultation.

When I got home I called the doctors office pretty upset and told the doctor what had happened. He was mad that we took her out of his practice and care for a second opinion. He kept stating, "I'm not perfect." ...which I understand that nobody is perfect but if a patient has came to you 3 different times with worsening symptoms over a period of a few months you should probably take them seriously!

We got on the computer and started looking up pediatric eye surgeons and doctors and with our luck none of them had any openings within 2 weeks so we were left with choosing one that is 2 hours away from our home. We scheduled an appointment for her evaluation and were given a steroid/ antibiotic ointment to put on her eye 2 times a day. Since using this ointment her eye has looked SO much better. The infection is gone, it is not as swollen but it is still pink and obvious that there is something wrong with her eye.

So after 2 appointments 2 hours away with this eye surgeon we finally have a date scheduled for her eye surgery!!! It is scheduled for March 18th and as long as her pre op. appointment goes well a week before her surgery then the dates shouldn't change. The surgeon told us that her surgery should take all of 10 minutes. They basically flip back the eye lid and lance/ drain all of the fluid and patch her eye up. They will send her home with some more ointment to prevent the chalazion from coming back too.

Here is a picture of Natalie's eye about 1 month ago (it looks a lot better now)

 

I will take a picture of her right before her surgery, right after, and a few days after her surgery to show the recovery process. Her doctor has since then apologized for misdiagnosing her Chalazion and he told us he has informed everyone in his practice. This makes us feel a lot better! So just remember that not everyone is perfect and doctors DO make mistakes so a second opinion never hurts. :) 

Look forward to an update on March 18th and please pray for us that everything goes well.