Day 69

Maks had his third eye exam this morning. We have been really worried for this since the retinopathy worsened from the first exam to the second exam. Logan was able to be there this time, and I requested that the ophthalmologist be there as well to be able to get real-time and first-hand views of Maksim's eyes. Usually the nurse does the exam and takes pictures of the inside of the eye, and the doctor reviews them at a later time. Since the doctor was there, Logan got to ask him lots of questions.

This is what we found out:
1. Maks still has retinopathy of prematurity in both eyes.
2. His eyes this week don't look worse than last week.
3. Last week, Maks had areas of retinopathy in zone 1, or the central part of his vision.
4. This week, the areas of retinopathy have moved out of zone 1 and into zone 2, the less central part of his vision. There are three zones of vision. Zone 1 is central; zone 3 is peripheral; and zone 2 is the area in the middle.
5. The Avastin injection has only been performed twice in the EIRMC NICU. The ophthalmologist showed Logan a picture of the eyes of a patient it was performed on before the injection and after. Logan said the blood vessels in the first picture were very tortuous and "angry" (much worse-looking than Maksim's pictures), and the consecutive pictures after the injections showed marked improvement.
6. The doctor is concerned about Maksim's eyes and will continue to follow up with him on a weekly basis. This is to help catch sudden worsening of the retinopathy that can lead to blindness.
7. Maks will most likely require a laser treatment called pan-retinal photo coagulation, which coagulates the existing blood vessels so they don't continue to grow and cause further damage. This leads to permanent blindness in the area of treatment.

At this point, the ophthalmologist said treatment with Avastin may need to be considered. Although many doctors have seen this medication work very well for their patients, I still have many reserves regarding its use on Maks. We pray and are hopeful that the areas of retinopathy will continue to work their way into the periphery, so if eventual laser treatment is required, the resultant blindness will be less noticeable to Maks.

So many people around the world have been praying for our Miracle Maks. Logan and I can't adequately express the amount of gratitude and humility we have towards you all. Thank you for your concern for Maksim, and more importantly, thank you for your prayers and faith. Please continue to pray for him and our family as new challenges and difficulties arise every day.


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