By Josh Friesen
Sam and Hannah Amis weren’t anticipating anything unexpected when they brought their son Judd to his one-year pediatric checkup.
It was just a routine appointment. Then, the pediatrician saw something unusual in Judd’s right eye. A referral to a specialist gave way to a diagnosis: cataracts.
While cataracts in general isn’t rare, pediatric cataracts is, affecting about 3 to 4 per 10,000 children per year, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
“We were pretty blindsided,” Sam said. “Everybody said that the Casey Eye Institute was the place to go.”
Five surgeries later, Judd, who just turned 6, hasn’t let anything slow him down, and his vision continues to improve every day. An energetic kindergartner, Judd loves superheroes and playing baseball.
After their son was diagnosed with cataracts, however, Sam and Hannah weren’t sure what direction Judd’s health journey would take. It wasn’t long before they began seeing Douglas Fredrick, M.D., then the head of the Elks Children’s Eye Clinic’s pediatric ophthalmology division, and Kellyn Bellsmith, M.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology in the OHSU School of Medicine.
“The first thing they said to us was, ‘Nothing you did caused this,’” Sam said. “That was massive.”
“We just thank them for all their support and guidance and letting us know that progress is being made,” Sam said. “Making sure that those goals are being met and letting us know that was super beneficial.”
Sam Amis
At the OHSU Casey Eye Institute, Judd has undergone four surgeries. Fredrick performed the first surgery on Judd just before his second birthday to replace the cloudy lens of his right eye with an acrylic lens. After Fredrick left OHSU, Bellsmith stepped in to perform four more surgeries in three years to treat eye cloudiness on the retina, manage eye pressure and correct inward turning of the eye.
All the while, Judd handled everything with resilience, and Sam and Hannah felt like their needs were being met as parents.
“He was a total trooper,” Sam said. “The nurses were great helping him and distracting him.”
Judd has worn an eye patch on his good eye since the first surgery to strengthen the weaker eye. On Bellsmith’s recommendation, Judd also started virtual reality eye therapy, where Judd wears a virtual reality headset that blurs the vision of the good eye and forces the weaker eye to compensate, further strengthening it.
When Judd first began eye treatment, his affected eye had a visual acuity of 20/120. With guidance from Bellsmith and Judd’s own hard work, it’s now down to 20/30.
“That’s an incredible improvement,” Sam said. “He’s a bit proud. We make sure he realizes that the hard work he’s doing is working.”
Judd has passed some of the bigger hurdles in his health journey and has regular check-ins at the Elks Children’s Eye Clinic every six months. He’ll continue wearing his eye patch at least until he’s 8 years old, and Sam and Hannah are hopeful he won’t need additional surgeries.
Whatever lies ahead, the Amises are grateful for the care they received from the Casey Eye Institute and know it’ll be there for them moving forward.
“We just thank them for all their support and guidance and letting us know that progress is being made,” Sam said. “Making sure that those goals are being met and letting us know that was super beneficial.”
“It’s been an amazing place for care for Judd and help for us. Between the nurses and Dr. Bellsmith and Dr. Fredrick, it’s been great. The facility is super nice and isn’t a place that necessarily feels like a hospital.”
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