Anyone who has had a child knows what it’s like to dream about having an easy pregnancy, quick labor and delivery, and a healthy newborn baby that you get to take home from the hospital a couple of days later.

But that’s simply not always the reality. In the United States, about 380,000 babies are born prematurely each year. Many premature babies grow up to become healthy children and adults – you might not ever be able to tell that they got an early start in life. And that’s thanks to the many doctors and healthcare professionals who work hard in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to make sure premature babies have the best chance at life as they can.

Making a difference on day one

There are still some challenges that premature babies have to first overcome, however. The eyes develop the most during the last three months of pregnancy, so oftentimes premature babies are at risk of being diagnosed with Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). ROP is when abnormal blood vessels form in the retina due to a disruption in normal blood vessel growth in the womb.

One of our patients, Violet, was diagnosed with ROP after being born 10 weeks premature. She spent the first eight weeks of her life in the NICU at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

“It was during this stay in the NICU that we first met Dr. Facciani,” said Katey Carr, Violet’s mother. “Part of the wonderful care we received in the NICU is that every premature baby gets their eyes examined.”

During Violet’s examination with Dr. Facciani, it was found that Violet had Retinopathy of prematurity: stage 1 in one eye and stage 0 in the other. “Ever since then, we’ve been following up with Dr. Facciani because of her vision,” said Katey. “We noticed around her first birthday that she started to cross her eyes and during our next appointment with Dr. Facciani, he recommended that she get glasses,” said Katey.

100% Toddler

Now Violet wears purple glasses that are the perfect match for her name. Violet wears her glasses every day and usually asks to wear them because they help her see so much better.

As Violet continued to develop and grow, Dr. Facciani and the Vistar Eye Center team were with them each step of the way.

“We noticed she wasn’t walking quite as well as she should be and she didn’t learn to walk until nineteen months old,” said Katey. “During our next visit with Dr. Facciani and his team, he prescribed bifocals.”

“She’s really taken off running, playing, and walking,” said Katey. “She is 100% toddler.”

Best-in-class care for children

Now Violet sees Dr. Facciani for regularly-scheduled checkups and has even started saying Dr. Facciani’s name! We’re so glad that we could support Violet and her family from day one so she can develop and grow with excellent vision.