UPDATE in 1st post. Need voice of reason - and maybe p&pt

[noodle]

I took DD to her 5-year-old well visit yesterday, and while she is mostly fine, she totally flunked the vision screening. (This, by the way, was heartwrenching, not so much for the result, but that she was trying desperately to cooperate with the process; she just couldn't.)
I figured she was just having an unfortunate early onset of my crappy eye genes, but when the doctor checked her eyes, she said, "Hmmmm. There may be a lens abnormality. I'm having a lot of difficulty seeing her retinas." And she checked her eyes again and wrote down the name of an ophthalmologist here in town. There are no local pediatric ophthalmologists.
Here's my dilemma: take DD to the doc she recommended (who happens to be part of the same network of medical offices, for whatever that's worth) or take her to a pediatric ophthalmologist in the nearest big city (two hours away)?
(You can maybe tell where I'm leaning, but my DH had a strong and opposite opinion).
Thanks.

UPDATE:
Saw the ped opth. yesterday. We were able to get in there much more promptly than waiting for an appointment with the local doc.
She is fine. She does have some anatomical weirdness (the kind where the doctor brings in other doctors to see :rolleyes: -- actually, he was very respectful about this and asked both my daughter and myself if it was ok to show her interesting eyes to a couple of other doctors, both of whom were gentle and funny with her), but her lenses are clear and she's healthy. Thank goodness!
She is markedly nearsighted, and we'll be shopping for glasses tomorrow. Should be entertaining. ;)

[MamaMolly]

Hmmmm. I'm guessing DH wasn't at the visit? The reason I say this is because he might not really 'get' how bad the test was. I could see my DH being like this.

There is nothing to keep you from going to see both doctors. I might take DD to the near one if you can in more quickly, then use the pediatric one for a 2nd opinion or back up. If the wait is the same for the both then I'd be inclined to go to the pediatric one.

[caleymama]

First of all, I'm sorry you are dealing with this. :hug:

If it were my DD, I would take her to see the local ophthalmologist and see what they say. At 5 I would think she would do okay in a regular Dr office for a visit. You can always go to the city pediatric eye Dr for another consultation. Of course that's assuming you can get in to see the local Dr soon.

[minnie-zb]

Go to your local opthamologist. If you feel like you need a second opinion than go farther afield.

[lil_acorn]

I think I would just take her to the one close to town and see what they say. If there is a cause for concern and follow up needed, then I would take her to the pediatric opth.

[egoldber]

I might take DD to the near one if you can in more quickly, then use the pediatric one for a 2nd opinion or back up

:yeahthat: I would start with the close one. I would call and see of there is someone there that they recommend as being good with younger kids, but I would think she would be fine.

And FWIW, a ped is not an expert at eyes, so I would try not to freak out about what he said too much.

[HIU8]

I don't know how helpful this will be. Eye issues run in my family (1-2 people in every generation). My niece has accomodative esotropia. DD-we thought had it, but it turned out to be psuedo AE instead. Both DD and my niece went to Hopkins for evals and follow up (and my niece goes every 6 weeks as her eyeglass prescription is constantly changing). We did both start with pediatric opthamologists in our area, but ended up at Hopkins for a variety of reasons. Plus, Hopkins is only 1 hour and worth it in my opinion and my sister's opinion.

With a child, I would go see an expert no matter where they were located. Chances are for follow up and continued care, you can go to the doc local, but for initial eval I would go to someone who specializes in working with and diagnosing children. That's just my 2 cents though.

[maydaymommy]

Pediatric Ophthalmologist.

It may take a while to get an appointment, so if you can't deal with waiting that long, go to the local provider. My thought process is that if you see the local, non-specialist you may always wonder if it was diagnosed correctly or dealt with appropriately. If you go straight to the pediatric specialist, you may be more confident. Then again, if you really trust your pediatrician, I would double check with them to see if they think you should see the specialist or the local person. I always ask what they would do if it were their child.

I had to see a pediatric ophthalmologist with our baby recently. I called for an appointment and got one several months out, but asked to be on their cancellation list in case something opened up sooner. Sure enough, I got a call after just a week or two for an opening.

The doctor I saw was SO skilled at problems with babies/kids, and SO good at dealing with the baby. I'm glad I went for the specialist!

[n2ou]

I would take her to the local opthamologist. If the findings are of great concern, you would possibly need a second opinion and then you can travel to the pediatric opthamologist.

I picked my son's pediatric opthamologist out of the phone book. So , when the talks of surgery etc. came up, I did some research on a well-renowned pediatric opthamologist and drove 2 hours to see him for a second opinion. He a) confirmed the diagnosis and treatment plan and b) told me that I had (completely by chance)picked one of the best pediatric opthamologist in our state, former head of the local children's hospital. Now, we still see here, and I drive 45 min since she changed offices.

HTH,

Simone

[MoJo]

I started going to a regular ophthalmologist when I was 6, and my mom says it's one of the best things she ever did. He was well-respected and she had a lot of confidence in him. I never had any issues with him.

I'd guess it depends a great deal on each of the individual doctors.

I'm guessing you're leaning towards the pediatric doctor, but have you heard anything at all about the one in your town?

[Andi98989]

I would start with the local doctor and go to the specialist for a second opinion if you need one.

You might want to check out http://www.infantsee.org/ and see if the local doctor participates in this. Maybe that would help reassure that they have experience dealing with kids?

[MamaKath]

I would go to your local doctor first AND make an appointment with the ped dr as well. Often well-known ped ophthalmologists take awhile to get into.

Not sure what area you are in, but we used a fantastic pediatric ophthalmologist in NJ; Dr. Anthony Caputo.

[noodle]

THANK YOU ALL!
I'm calling both doctors today. I need to have her checked as soon as possible so I can stop fretting.
I really appreciate the support. We're new in town and I very much needed someone to "talk" to . . . LOVE this board.

[noodle]

bumping for update