My 7 year old has iritis

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Mike Bartolatz
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Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm

My 7 year old has iritis

Post by Mike Bartolatz »

Little_house



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 1

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:23 am Post subject: My 7 year old has Iritis :-(

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Hi everyone. Quick introduction, my name is Stef and I live in England with my husband and 3 children.Yesterday we went to the local eye infirmary and was told my little boy age 7 has iritis. They are very concerned but as I do not know much about my family medical history so they don't know what has caused it.
I'm quite worried as he is very bright but is having to take a lot of time off school as with the treatment he has been given he can't read properley - he said the words seem to jump around the page.
Is this going to affect him for the rest of his life then? Is there anything I can do to help?
The doctors seem to think it has some links to arthritis but from what I have read on this forum that isn't necessarily so.
I have so many questions but can't think of them all right now so I may have to come back to this and add more later.

Bye for now

Stef

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Mike Bartolatz



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2710
Location: Tacoma, Washington USA
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:35 am Post subject:

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hello Stef and welcome to the group!
I am going to move your introductiion to the Parent's forum where we can help you better.
that forum has allot of information on MODERN treatment of Uveitis in Kids and in my LAY opinion, it is of paramount importance to get a TRUE UVEITIS specialist involved early on in the care of any small child with uveitis as it can cause severe damage quickly and can also require chemotherapeutic medications and often surgery to prevent it from doing permanent damage to the childs eyes.
we also have a pamphlet that you can download and print out entitled:
Uveitis: A guide for Teachers and Parents. although it is geared toward modification of classroom for kids in the USA, many of the concepts can be applied everywhere in the attempt to keep the child engaged and learning while this is being treated.

If you are able to get treatment arranged with Mr William Ayliffe at the Croydon Eye Unit in London, that would be who I would have treat my Child. He is part of the NHS so your GP could help get referal to him.

I look forward to your continued posting to the PARENTS forum of this site.

Wishing you and your child the very best,
Mike Bartolatz
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Little_house
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:16 am

Post by Little_house »

Oops sorry I didn't realise this is where I had to put it. :oops:
Thank you for your help.
Mike Bartolatz
Posts: 6595
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm

Post by Mike Bartolatz »

no,
you did just fine posting to the Main introduction forum. other members from the UK will see it there and hopefully join in our discussion here at the Parent's forum.

Please ask any questions that you may develop as NOTHING is too trivial to ask, Often Iritis is related to Juvenile Ideopathic Arthritis and that is why the doctors mentioned the relationship to arthritis. there are many other causes as well so a complete medical history of your child should be documented as well as all autoimmune disease processes that might be present in your IMMEDIATE blood relatives listed.

ethnic background can give clues to possible relationship to autoimmune disease. exposure to pathogens in the past should also be conisidered via childhood disease.

I sincerely hope that you can get an evaluation by Mr Ayliffe for your child.

Wishing you the very best,
Mike Bartolatz
Mike Bartolatz
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rtaunton
Posts: 40
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2004 7:53 pm

Welcome!

Post by rtaunton »

First of all, welcome to the group! I'm sorry that you have to go down this road, but am thankful you are educating yourself in the early stages. Good for you! I have a daughter who is 11 with uveitis, but she was diagnosed at age 6. I remember her having a hard time reading and writing, she wasn't tracking properly. I was told by her eye guy that it wasn't from the uveitis....um, wrong! It will get better. I can truly tell you that there is so much hope! Finding the right specialist early on is the key.

Topical steroids with topical mydriatic/cycloplegic drops are the mainstay treatment for iritis (inflammation in the front/anterior part of the eye). The problem with this is only a specialist will move on in a timely matter to the next step if the first step fails. The average doc keeps them on the first step ladder until glaucoma or irreversable damage takes place. I didn't move on in a timely matter with my daughter. I was not computer savvy in the beginning of her dx. I did not ask to become educated on uveitis, beyond what I was being told. I think it is fantastic that you are reading up on your own so early into the diagnoses.

Learn to ask questions, and be persistant in getting referred to the Dr. Mike has suggested.

Welcome again!
Renee'
Renee'
Oregon
specedteacher
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:34 am

Welcome

Post by specedteacher »

Little House,

I'm sorry to hear about your son's difficulties. I am a special education teacher in Arizona and am just over my 3rd bout of Iritis.

If your son is having a hard time with reading, I would ask the school if they have the reading selections on a tape or CD. Many of the textbooks come with a teacher's set of CD's these days. As far as the writing goes, he could either dictate to a peer, a teacher's aide, or even to a computer (most of them can be set up to convert the spoken word into print. Look under accessibility options or speech options in the control panel (PC's).

You could also ask the teacher to enlarge handouts on a xerox machine. I find that the larger the print, the easier it is for me to deal with when my iritis is acting up.

I assume you're son is on break as we are at the moment, but when school starts up have a talk with his teacher about the iritis. Hopefully it'll be cleared up before then, but it can reoccur.

I hope these suggestions help. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Brian
Little_house
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:16 am

Post by Little_house »

Hi, thank you for all the replies.
Specedteacher, we're not on break until 3 weeks time here so I shall go into school and have a chat with her about that this evening thank you. I don't think the school really understand about his condition though. His headmaster has insisted he goes into school this week despite the eye doctor from the hospital saying he should have the week off! He seems to be coping well though.
We have to see the doctor again tomorrow so we will see how his is progressing with his treatment.

Thanks again

Stef x
Mike Bartolatz
Posts: 6595
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm

Post by Mike Bartolatz »

http://www.uveitis.org/kids/school/default.htm

here is a link to the pamphlet that helps with classroom conditions for kids with uveitis. it is for the USA but it might go a long way to help with getting the headmaster to understand the situatiion.
you can print it off and give a copy to those within the School system and also give a copy to his pediatrician and opthalmologist.

Wish you and your child the very best,
Mike
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