Got Tears?

So my little man has never produced any tears when crying. Doug worried about it much more than I did for the first year. I had briefly researched online, and found that in some children it can take up to a year to begin producing tears, although this is rare. When I took Luke in for his nine month appointment our Dr. told us the same thing...just wait it out.

At our one year appointment our pediatrician though it would be prudent to consult with an opthalmologist. She gave me several names of local pediatric opthalmologists, some of which were at Primary Children's and another that was not. I initially made my apt at the Primary Children's office but the wait was two months! I was of course a little worried and could get into the other office in less than two weeks, so I decided to meet with the other doctor as well.

The first doctor was very nice, but admitted he had never seen anything like Luke's symptoms before. He was very cautious, and told me that if Luke ever gets anything in his eye we should call his office immediately and bring him in to get his eye flushed out. He also mentioned that he thought that Luke may be missing the large tear ducts that produce tears in response to emotion. He mentioned doing a CT scan or MRI to check for the lacrimal glands in his eye. He wanted to do more research and he would get back to us.

I left feeling more worried than before. I went and bought eye wash and eye drops to keep with me at all times just in case. I researched on the internet to find out how common "alacrima" was and what it might mean. Of course the only information I could find said that having no tears was extremely rare and usually related to a genetic problem. Ugh!

This morning we met with the pediatric opthalmologist at Primary Children's. I tried to prepare myself mentally for what they might say. Would they want to do genetic testing? Would he need to be sedated for an MRI or CT scan......?

To our relief and surprise, the Doctor at Primary Children's told us he doesnt think anything is wrong with Luke. He has traveled all over the world and practiced almost 15 years, and has only seen "alacrima" or the absence of tears, twice in his career and Luke does not exhibit any of the symptoms! Apparently most of the children who truly have this genetic alteration go blind quite quickly. The Doctor felt that Luke has plenty of moisture in his eye, and this prevents infection or any excessive dryness, but that Luke just has less than normal tear production. Whew!

Thank Heaven for experienced and competent physicians, and most of all for a healthy happy boy!