Dannielynn Hope’s Eye Condition
The late Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead’s daughter, Dannielynn Hope, is suffering from strabismus, also known as being “cross-eyed,” and is currently receiving treatment. The disorder occurs in about 5% of children and is sometimes corrected through the use of a patch (over the “strong” eye in order to strengthen the “weak” one). My daughter had the opposite problem (”lazy eye”) and the patch worked wonders even though some children require surgery.
Larry spoke to ET’s Mark Steines about the situation. Here’s what he said:
“She has strabismus, which is a turning in of one of her eyes, and it’s something that we’ve been looking out for for a while. I’ve been taking her to the doctors and … Anna had taken Dannielynn to the doctor [in the Bahamas] to see about it when she was just a few months old.”
“I got her a little pirate doll to show her that people wear patches, and it’s okay. And daddy wears a patch if he has to to show her it’s okay. I’ve been really aggressive with the patch as much as I can be. At first she was really open to it and it didn’t really bother her. Now, she’s gotten a little smart because she can pull it off, so it’s a little bit harder for me to patch her.”
Dannielynn could face surgery if the eye patch or medicated eye drops (to dilate the pupil fails) don’t work. The idea, understandably upsets Larry.
“I’m going to do everything to make sure that it’s corrected,” says Larry, “but having lost Anna and [her son] Daniel and my dad — my dad just came out of a simple surgery and he died — it’s just tough for me to think about surgeries with [Dannielynn].”
Larry also addresses the possibility that Anna Nicole’s behavior during pregnancy caused the medical condition:
“All of the opinions that I had [from doctors], every one of them said that it’s very, very unlikely, because no one knows one-hundred percent what causes [strabismus],” says Larry. “But I point-blank ask every single doctor, ‘Could any medications that Anna was on have caused this?’ and they said that it’s more likely that a genetic reason could have caused it.”
I hope that little Dannielynn’s eye improves with the noninvasive treatment options - she’s not even two years old and she’s been through enough already.
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POSTED IN: Celebrity Dads, Larry Birkhead
1 opinion for Dannielynn Hope’s Eye Condition
JENNIFER
Jan 23, 2008 at 12:58 pm
KEEP HER SAFE LARRY
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