Lauren: Waking Up with Crossed Eyes

Описание: For more information about pediatric ophthalmology at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, please visit https://childrens.dartmouth-health.or...
or call 603-650-5123.

After struggling with a cold and fever, Lauren woke up one morning with her eyes fixed inward. She was dizzy, sick to her stomach and couldn't see well because of the double vision. One eye would drift back and forth. "It made me feel like I was the only one with this sickness," says Lauren.

After no improvement the next two days, Lauren's mom, Kristina, brought her to the doctor to have the situation checked. Her doctor was worried it was seizure related but that was ruled out. The next step was to see a specialist at the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD). According to Dr. Erin Salcone, Lauren's Ophthalmologist at CHaD, "I was worried about her suppressing her vision in one eye -- that could end up as permanent vision loss. I told the family that we need her to come in and have the surgery done at the Outpatient Surgery Center ." Kristina said, "They made her feel special. It was her day."

Dr. Salcone commented, "She seemed at ease, the nurses are wonderful working with children. I found that she took charge of the situation -- she asked the appropriate questions." Lauren remembers, "I decorated the mask they would use to put me to sleep and they gave me a heated blanket -- it was so warm!" Kristina said, "She wasn't scared at all, that was the important thing. As soon as she said, 'I have pain', immediately she had pain medicine -- and it was gone, immediately."

Lauren had a great outcome and her vision is continuing to develop normally. After talking with Lauren's mom, she noted that from a parents' point of view, they were so impressed and felt comfortable taking their daughter down to Lebanon have the surgery. In Dr. Salcone's view, "The Outpatient Surgery Center is an ideal location for the surgeon and our patients and their families.

The nursing staff is accustomed to working with these patients and the equipment is top-notch. The follow-up with the patients such as calling the next day as well as the overall attention to detail makes it a wonderful place to receive care." The Harris family feels that for anything they would need to have done on an outpatient basis, they would choose Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the Outpatient Surgery Center.

Dartmouth Health Children’s is the only comprehensive pediatric healthcare system in the region. Fully integrated in Dartmouth Health and anchored for more than 30 years by CHaD - Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH - Dartmouth Health Children’s promotes health, advances knowledge, and delivers the best patient and family-centered care for infants, children, and adolescents across New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth Health Children’s conducts groundbreaking research and educates the next generations of health professionals as the primary pediatric partner of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Highly skilled and collaborative child health professionals provide care in multiple settings across the region. Outpatient specialty visits and same-day surgery services are available at CHaD and Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics Manchester. Primary care appointments in general pediatrics are available at Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics in Bedford, Concord, Lebanon, Manchester and Nashua, NH and Bennington, VT; as well as at Dartmouth Health members: Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, Cheshire Medical Center, New London Hospital and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center. For more information about Dartmouth Health Children’s, visit www.childrens.dartmouth-health.org or contact us at (603) 650‐KIDS.