Nine-year-old Connor Viva is from Florence, Nova Scotia. He attends grade four at Florence Elementary School. He wants to be a referee or a school bus driver when he grows up.
Connor has been a patient at the Orthoptic Clinic at Northside General Hospital since he was just 7 months old. He explains his illness as a ‘Pirate Patch’. He wears his patch to treat amblyopia – which is secondary to his strabismus (misalignment of the eyes). Amblyopia, also called “lazy eye”, is a disorder of sight that involves decreased vision in an eye. Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles which prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point.
Connor now visits the Orthoptic Clinic for checkups every 3 months with his mom, Tracey. Connor likes Xbox and NHL and at school he likes recess, lunch, music and gym class. Connors advice when going to see the doctor is “Don’t be Nervous”.
Approximately 1300 patients visit the Orthoptic Clinic annually and the majority of these patients are children. This is the only clinic in Cape Breton.
Photo Credits: White Photography
