Eli Mae is 3 months old and underwent surgery to remove a congenital cataract from her left eye in late 2022. Her ophthalmologist is really happy with how her eye has healed from the surgery so far, however, she has a small pupil that doesn’t seem to dilate regardless of how many drops they use. Eli Mae will be back to see them in another 4 weeks to see how the eye is progressing. She was only 10 days old when her parents noticed her left pupil was much smaller than her right, which is a stressful experience for any family.

Her mum says "Eli Mae faces many years of eye patching, contact lenses and trips to the Queensland Children’s Hospital to visit the specialists in the hopes that she will have some sight in her left eye". They will be patching Eli Mae’s ‘good’ eye for 2 hours per day, to give her left eye time to get stronger ❤️

Eli Mae apparently gets very frustrated and tired while patching but every day is getting easier and there are always big smiles when the patch comes off! Her mum said "Two hours of awake patching is actually more difficult than it sounds, as Eli Mae gets very frustrated after about 30 mins and most times decides she’d rather be asleep. Thankfully her sisters are pretty loud and also like to play with her, which has helped keep her awake!"

We are sending all our love and support to Eli Mae and her family on this journey! Follow along at @eliana.mae2022