In late 2023, Brandee Artale was breastfeeding her newborn daughter, Madison Artale, when she noticed something weird about the baby's eyes. "I was really looking at her," she told Good Morning America. "I was like, something just looks weird in her eyes. It looked kind of cloudy in a way."
She and her husband Andrew took Madison to their pediatrician. They were then referred to Dr. Paul Rychwalski, a pediatric ophthalmologist and chief of ophthalmology at Children’s Nebraska. He credits the parents' quick action with helping to save their daughter's vision.
"It was really crucial that the parents were curious when Brandee saw something that didn't quite seem right," the doctor explained. "It was very important." Madison ended up being diagnosed with congenital cataracts, which is a condition that is present at birth and is extremely rare that it only occurs in around 3 in every 10,000 births, according to the medical professional.
Within a span of nearly nine months, Madison has had to get three surgeries. "We were not prepared at all," Brandee recalled of her daughter's diagnosis. "We thought that she was a healthy, happy baby."
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The little girl now wears glasses to help her vision. "She was fighting it at first and then she finally could see things. She looked at me like, 'Mom, I see you,' and I was just bawling," Brandee explained. "You absolutely get to see her take everything in. When I look at her and see her eyes, especially when she's happy, you see the happiness in her eyes so much better."
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