Hagen Update

Hagen LOVES our dog Spice.  He gets so excited to see her and he just mauls her to death.  She licks his face and hands, he giggles, and she lays there while he tugs at her ears and pulls her hair out.  I have to say I am pretty darn happy that he isn't scared of her, because some kids have major dog paranoia.  Hagen throws a major temper fit if someone goes outside and doesn't take him.  He just toddles around and observes what the other kids are doing.  He spent over an hour sitting in the sand box with the kids the other day and I watched them out the window while I cleaned away in the kitchen.  This boy is ALL boy!

Hagen also had an eye appointment on Tuesday.  We seem to learn a little something new about his ocular albinism every time we take him in.  We have been told in the past that he will have photo-phobia which is basically an aversion to sunlight.  People with photo-phobia experience the uncomfortable feeling we all have when you have been in a dark room for awhile and then the light is suddenly turned on.  The problem with this is that people with photo-phobia don't adjust to the sunlight and it is constantly painful on their eyes.  I have been pretty concerned about this prospect because, well that would just stink.  Anyway on Tuesday we found out that so far Hagen shows no signs of trans-illumination. This basically means that on an Ocular Albinism patient they usually have light that leaks through their irises (the colored part of your eye), whereas on a normal eye, light can only enter through the pupil.  After observing Hagen in the sunlight and him not really acting like it bothers him, and then having his eyes dialated and closely examined we are once again surprised and elated at how well his is doing! Maybe his life won't be so "different" after all!