A couple of weeks ago, my four-year-old son came to me in the middle of the night complaining that he was seeing a red light. I didn't think much of it... thought perhaps there were some light flashing in from outside, or something. Well, I thought that until he said, "mommy, there it is right now." When I looked, of course, I saw nothing. He said he was really scared because he couldn't figure out how the red light got into his bedroom (and my bedroom, too, apparently). So, I told him to tell me if it happened again. I didn't hear anything about it for a couple of weeks and chalked it up to a vivid imagination. Yesterday he tells me that the reason he comes to my bed in the mornings is because he's scared of the red light. "mommy, it won't go away. It even comes through my eyes when they're closed." Okay, now I'm really freaked out. I asked him if this happens a lot. He said every day. I asked him if it's both eyes or just one. He said it's just one eye. I asked him to point to which eye... he points to the left eye. Later when questioned by Dad, he pointed to the same eye. He said that it happens when he wakes up. He said that the "light" moves. I asked him if he feels any pain when this happens and he said "no." I asked him if he can tell right before it's going to happen and he said "no."
I haven't had him draw a picture of what he's seeing, but I plan to do that tomorrow. I also want to try to figure out if he's actually seeing something illuminated, or if it's really a red spot. But, he's been clear that the "thing" is always red.
We have an appointment with a paediatric ophthalmologist on Tuesday. I'm just freaking out. I don't know how I'm going to wait the four days. Anyway, my questions are pretty typical... Have any of you had these experiences before? What symptoms seem particularly important? What questions should I ask the doctor?
Another thing to note is that he is a twin. Though born pre-term, he was hardly what I would consider to be premature. He was born at 36.5 weeks and weighed 4#10oz... He was little, but I don't think he would qualify for high risk of paediatric retinal abnormalities.
Thank you for your help.