Three weeks ago, my 6-yr-old got hit in the eye with a very soft snowball. Didn't hurt a bit, he said. 24 hrs. later he was seeing 4 black spots in that eye. They multiplied so much over the next few hrs. that he told me "There's so many, I can't count that high." I took him to the emergency room. Exam showed nothing unusual. ER doc said go to well-respected opthamologist--Dr. A. (30+ yrs. in the field). Went to Dr. A. Exam showed nothing unusual. Nothing prescribed. Dr. A. said call back if no change or it gets worse.

Almost daily I ask and my boy tells me spots still there. Other day I asked he said two of them have grown bigger and all the little ones are still there. I call Dr. A. Dr. A's partner wants to see him. Dr. B. (20+ yrs. in the field) examines eye, then announces that my boy's retina looks fine. "Oh, good," I replied, "then what could it be?" Dr. B repeats "Well, retina looks fine--really good." "Uh, Okaaay," I repeat, averting my eyes, beginning to feel a little 'hinky.' "Then could it be something else, I don't know, a macula problem or maybe swelling or inflammation or something?" "I just don't see any problem," he states, "the retina looks really good." "Well," I said, feeling really weird, "those spots have been there for 3 weeks. I thought there'd be some improvement by now. When he said two of them had gotten bigger, it really concerned me, and that's what prompted my call."

Dr. B. says, "It's possible that when he suffered this injury, he just became more aware of and more prone to seeing, uh, more sensitive, perhaps, to seeing these things "

WTF??? He's saying my baby's 'seeing things?'

I just sat there for a minute, silent, dumbfounded. Then simply said, "Thank you" (for your Expert opinion, I wanted to add), then " come on sweetie, I think we're finished here."

Does he really think my kid's making this up for attention? Let me tell you, my child doesn't even like me to ask about them. He always grunts & acts exasperated when I ask because he has to stop and consciously look around to find them. He then matter-of-factly answers my questions about them and we go on about our business.

I am so insulted and now, fearful. I do believe there was no obvious sign of injury. But if a person is seeing black spots after a blow to the eye, something has to be wrong! But, what is it? And in happy, healthy 6-yr-olds, wouldn't their body's natural healing properties have healed it by now?

I'm trying to be reasonable and wait another week or two, but I'm worried sick that by waiting, I could be risking his eyesight. Please respond if you have any ideas, opinions--I've searched the web for hours and can't find anything definitive. And I really hate waiting!

Yeehaw:

How strange.
Shorten up your post, stating what happened, the findings and doc's opinion and post it here:
http://med-aapos.bu.edu/publicinfo/publicinfo.html

Post by clicking on "enter your request for information..." Post takes awhile to show up, so don't duplicate it.

This is an excellent PEDIATRIC opthalmology (and adult strabismus) site and the questions are answered by a Pediatric Opthalmologist, Dr. R. Enzenauer and a Neuro-developmental Optometrist, Dr. M. Bowan. I think Dr. E's away for a few days but he will answer your questions as soon as he can. He (they) will be able to tell you if children can develop psychosomatic symptoms.

Not to alarm you, but I must tell you I have black (blind) spots in both my eyes and my retinas LOOK fine, too. At first my opth thought I was an hysterical middle-aged woman. He got the second part right, anyway. After four years he still doesn't know what's wrong, but now I've got abnormal ERGs, OCTs and VEPs to back me up. (ERG & VEP measure electrical activity in the eye/brain, OCT maps thickness of retinal layers with a laser.) Docs, for lack of a better diagnosis, are calling it a form of retinal degeneration.

So, keep after this until you find out what is really going on.

Good luck.

Moe

"Let me tell you, my child doesn't even like me to ask about them. He always grunts & acts exasperated when I ask because he has to stop and consciously look around to find them. He then matter-of-factly answers my questions about them and we go on about our business."

This is in no way stating that you are a "hysterical mom" or anything like that. I must comment about what you stated in quotes above on your post. If he has to stop and look around for the floaters, and that is what you seem to be describing, then most likely they aren't as noticable as they had been. Since you went to see an ophthalmologist, then recieved a second opinion as well, and both came out fine, I would probably drop the subject with your son for a while and see if HE brings it up on his own. IF his vision seems to be impaired or he tells you he is seeing flashes of light or develops eye pain or light sensitivity, then get him seen again. Don't ask him all the time since at his age, he may begin the think that he's supposed to see certain things, or feel certain ways or you wouldn't be asking. Otherwise, he is most likely fine and had some mild inflammation due to the snowball which has since subsided. Floaters will decrease in most cases as the inflammation goes away. Wait and see. Again, I hope you don't take this the wrong way. Been there myself.