Cranial Nerve Six Palsy

So last night I couldn't sleep. I thought long and hard about whether to post this or not. But in the end I decided that this blog was originally created for my daughter in hopes that she would look at it some day. Secondly, it's for me so I can look back and remember when things happen. So here I go....

Wednesday of this week I noticed Evelyn crossing her eyes when I picked her up after work. I didn't think much about it. So that night we went to one of Daniel's gigs. We weren't planning on staying long since Evelyn had a runny nose and cough. But she was just having so much fun that we stayed. While there we were all joking about Evelyn's eyes. So we figured that she probably just learned how to cross them today and was having fun doing it.

Thursday, Evelyn kept her left eye crossed most of the day and I began to worry. When Daniel got home, he said I should take her to the doctor for her cough and have them just check her eyes too.

So Friday morning I called the doctor and asked to speak to a nurse. I explained to her about the runny nose and cough. She thought it would be best for us to come in to make sure she didn't have bronchitis or pneumonia. I also told her about Evelyn's eyes. She didn't think it was a big deal, but since I was already going to be in...the doctor could check that to.

Friday afternoon we went to the doctor's office. The nurse immediatly noticed Evelyn's eye and was concerned. I wanted to tell her "See....so I'm not crazy." but I didn't. She took her temperature, which Evelyn didn't have one. The doctor came into the room and once again immediatly noticed Evelyn's eye. The first thing he said was "She didn't look like that on Tuesday!" Tueday of this week we had her 1 year check-up. Finally, I didn't feel like I was a crazy person. So this eye thing really just happened over night. He check her lungs....and basically said she has a virus. Then he said he wanted Evelyn to see an ophthalmologist. So he went to the front desk and asked them to set an appointment for Evelyn next week. Well, about 15 minutes later one of the front desk ladies came into the room and said "You need to see this ophthalmologist today!" She gave me directions, etc and Evelyn and I were on our way.

Ok....so here I am in the car, driving to an ophthalmologist that is in Belmont, and not knowing exactly what is going on. Once we arived, we were immediatly seen by the ophthalmologist. I was not ready for what was about to happen next. She asked me all kinds of medical questions and then started playing with Evelyn's eyes. Shining lights in them, turing the lights on and off, trying to get her to track things around the room, etc. Then she decided to dialate Evelyn's eyes. Evelyn wasn't fond of the eye drops, but was a real tropper playing in the lobby for 30 minutes while the drops worked.

After her eyes were dialated, the doctor looked one more time at her eyes (lights, tracking, the whole bit). Not fun for mom who had to pin her down. Then, the diagnosis came. I'm sitting in a chair with Evelyn in my lap. The same chair that all of you have sat in before when you go to the eye doctor. The ophthalmologist looks me and says "We need to schedule an MRI." I look at her in shock. She continues to explain that the MRI will rule out the tumor possibility. Immediatly, my brain began to go crazy...tumor...what?

So here is the deal....Evelyn has Cranial Nerve Six Palsy. Basically its when the six nerve stops working. The six nerve helps control the lateral movement of the eye. And since Evelyn's isn't working, her left eye can't move from one side to another. Her left eye is suck towards the inner part of here eye and makes her look cross eyed.

There are two main causes of Cranial Nerve Six Palsy. One, the virus she has caused it. In that case, it will most likely go away in 6 months or so but we may have to do some things to help it like a patch. The other main cause is a tumor. This is why the doctor wants to do an MRI, to rule out the tumor option.

So early next week (probably Monday or Tuesday), we will go to the hospital for Evelyn to have an MRI. Then we just get to wait for the test results. Most likly this has just been caused by the virus. But there is still that small chance, which is why we are doing the MRI.

So we just ask that all of our family and friends to be thinking about Evelyn and praying for her. We will keep you all posted on the results of the MRI and her progress.