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Back for good

Helping our son see made me and my ex see each other clearly too...


Published by: Jessica Gibb
Published on: 5 January 2012

Pride swelled as I walked my son Harry to the school gates for the first time.
‘Which side of the classroom do you sit on?'
‘The right!' he beamed. He gave me a wink, and then rushed off to his class. There was a time when I never believed this would be possible...
Two years ago Harry, five, was diagnosed with Coats' disease. The condition caused blood vessels in his eye to leak, and mucus to build up, blocking his vision.
I'd spotted a slight clouding of Harry's right eye in a photo. Concerned, I'd taken him to Sunderland Eye Infirmary.
‘He has Coats' disease, and it's getting worse,' the optician explained. ‘Without surgery, he could go completely blind.'
Harry had laser eye surgery, which slowed the leaking. I just prayed we'd caught it in time to stop it spreading to his left eye.
That was how our story ended when I spoke to Full House! back in January.
He's had one more bout of surgery and, in September, we went back to hospital for a check-up.
‘The surgery has closed the vessels and stopped the leaking,' the consultant said. ‘So, over time, it'll drain away.'
‘He won't lose the sight in his left eye?' I asked.
‘All signs show that he won't and, what's more, he's only lost 35 to 90 per cent of the vision in his right eye - and it could get better over time.'
We need to go in for check-ups every year. But for now, it seems we caught the condition just in time.
He needs to make small adjustments, like sitting on the right of the classroom so he can see the board properly with his left eye.
There was even better news when me and Harry's dad Dale, 36, got back together. We'd split just before he was diagnosed. This had showed us how much we loved each other.
In November, after 11 years together, we married. Harry made the best usher in his handsome little suit.
Seems the future looks bright, and Harry's eye op helped us all to see things a little clearer!
Lynsey Baxter, 29, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear