Strabisimus or Eye Issues

Child & Family Eye Care
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6700 Woodlands Pky, Ste 150, Spring, TX

They do some new eye therapys their. They are great.

Relax...somethings just slip by us. And WHO takes there 9 month old to the eye doctor? I would bet not one mother I know.

My daughter was diagnosed with esotropia at the age of 3 months. This is a form of strabismis. It has to do with the muscles that control the eyes. She had to wear a patch (on both eyes, at different times) for two hours a day. This helped to strengthen the eyes individually, so that they would focus together when they were not patched. We were told surgery might be required, but that it should be a last resort. If they do surgery at the infant age, it would probably be required again later (maybe twice), as the muscles develop. I would recommend getting a second opinion.

My 5 year old daughter has Accommodative Esotropia. We see Dr. Musgrove at the Houston Eye Association. She has had this since she was 3. She has gone through many prescription glasses. The doctor says she is doing well, but it could take another 7 years to completely correct this visual defect. If she continues to improve she won't need surgery, I pray this is true and can relate to your concerns.

First of all, if you are unsure you should get a second or even third opinion. Surgery is sometimes necessary, but most optomologist do seek other methods first. Don't panic, he may believe that surgery is necessary, but another doctor may disagree. Also, don't feel guilty, many of these problems go unnoticed.

Second, if he does need surgery, he may need more than one. The doctor we are seeing does about 100 of these surgeries every year. Make sure the one you see is very experienced. Most of the surgeries are successful, but surgery is surgery, there are always risks. So, I would seek out other doctors before I would make any decisions.

It is scary and for a long time I thought I should have caught this sooner. But I prayed about it and I now know whether she goes in for surgery or not she is going to be okay. Children bounce back so much easier then adults from surgery and if it is goods will, so be it. This took me a long time to reach this thought. Deep prayer, talking to my husband, allowing the guilt to come up to the surface and then releasing it. It is not your fault but you can make a difference now. Be your childs advocate, seek out other opinions and if in the end they all agree surgery is the only option, take it and realize you are doing it for your childs future, for their visual health.

Good news for you and me is that the sooner it is diagnosed the better. Children as young as ours usually respond to treatment and can overcome their eye defects.

Let go and let God. Seek his Face. Ask him to take your worry and every time you worry again, ask Him again. He never grows weary of our requests.

I have prayed for you and your child. Peace.

My son has strabismus due to premature birth at 25 weeks. We tried patching his eye when he was three and then again at four, but he kept pulling the patch off. At this poin, age five, we aren't doing anything. He has blindness issues due to early birth, but perhaps we can try it again later .

My daughter's first grade classmate wore a patch on her eye for an entire year for strabismus and her eyes are now great!

My friend's daughter turned four in the spring and had surgery when she was three to correct the strabismus, but it was overcorrected and now the doc wants to do surgery again to correct the overcorrection. The mom put her foot down and said "NO".

Use your best judgement.

D.,
I'm so glad many people have something for you on this. I'm hoping that Melissa's doctor is in your reach. I really feel good sent her to you, maybe only for the supportive insight. Don't beat yourself up we are all doing the best we can do. You are a wonderful mom and God gave your son to you because he knows your the best mom for him. My son has a lazy eye and I never noticed it before till my brother pointed it out. My brother had one till he had surgery and I guess having had one he noticed it on my son.

You are so smart to searching this out on the internet. But also try and find a support group, the usually are more informed than some doctors. Educate yourself and talk with others parents, this will help make that decision.

My son is going to take his 2 month old girl to the eye doctor, just to make sure there is no problem. I am so pround of him for thinking about this. But he keeps up with everything about babies, toddlers, and gets weekly newsletter on the babie and toddlers topics and one was on the eyes. Babies should see an eye doctor. But be sure and find one that has the equipment for babies, we are lucky we have one in our area, he only needs to take a picture and shows everything about the eye.

Good Luck.

okay un...finding info on this for you was not as simple as I expected it to be... however, the following is copied from a website for surgeons in New Jersey...

Strabismus
What Is Strabismus?
Strabismus is the medical term for misaligned eyes. The eyes may become misaligned horizontally or vertically for a variety of different reasons. When the eyes are turned inward the condition is referred to as “Esotropia.” When the eyes turn outward it is called “Exotropia.” One eye may appear to be turned in or out most of the time, or the deviating eye may alternate. In most cases of strabismus the eyes and the eye muscles are perfectly healthy.

The true cause of this family of disorders is not fully understood, but it appears to be neurologic in origin, representing an imbalance in the brain circuits that control eye movements and alignment. It often appears that one eye is predominantly involved or to blame in these conditions, but it’s important to understand that the disorder actually involves both eyes. Eye movements are very highly coordinated by the brain, with each eye very closely linked to the movements of the other. It’s like a very sophisticated ballet. If anything should go wrong with one eye, the opposite eye is automatically affected and involved. The majority of strabismus occurs during childhood, but it may happen to adults, too. The causes, however, are very different in these two groups of patients. The condition is most often congenital or of unknown origin in otherwise healthy children. Diabetes, thyroid disease, head trauma, strokes and tumors are a few of the more common causes of adult-onset strabismus.

For more information on strabismus or to arrange an appointment with one of the top child eye surgeons in the northern New Jersey area, contact our laser eye surgery and vision correction center.

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Early Detection is Key
Strabismus is serious because it may lead to loss of vision in one eye and also prevents the development of normal binocular vision. Poor vision in one eye may develop because the brain may start to ignore the image from the misaligned eye (amblyopia). In order for the eyes to work together and see in three dimensions (depth perception) they must be aligned on the same visual target. The brain then combines these two pictures into one three-dimensional image that gives us depth perception.

When the eyes are misaligned the brain is presented with two very different pictures that it cannot combine into one image. The brain responds by ignoring one of the images to avoid visual confusion. The child then loses depth perception and may also lose vision in the “ignored” eye. If a child reaches the age of 7 or 8 with eyes that are not aligned, he or she may never develop normal depth perception. If strabismus occurs in an adult patient it often causes disabling double-vision. It is also clear that the abnormal appearance of misaligned eyes can have a significant social impact on a patient’s life. Self-esteem as well as work and personal relationships can be adversely affected by this condition.

A child’s visual system is actively developing up to about the age of 7 or 8. Vision or depth perception that has been lost due to strabismus can be regained if appropriate treatment is received before this window of time closes. Treatment to restore normal alignment can generally regain some, if not all, depth perception if it is performed before that critical age has passed. In general, the earlier the alignment is restored the better the visual outcome.

Because early detection directly affects the success of the strabismus treatment, you must seek qualified medical care for your child upon the first signs of a visual disorder. It is important you receive care from one of the experienced child eye surgeons in your area. New Jersey ophthalmologist Dr. Bianchi is a specialized pediatric ophthalmologist experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of strabismus. He will perform a thorough eye examination on your child in order to detect the presence of any disorder and recommend an appropriate course of treatment.

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Treatment of Strabismus
The treatment offered depends on the kind of strabismus a child has. Some forms of strabismus respond to eyeglasses alone and others require surgery. Some require both. Occasionally, even bifocal glasses are necessary. Often patching will be necessary to treat amblyopia that is commonly associated with strabismus.

Prisms ground into eyeglasses may be able to correct small misalignments in adults, but surgery is required for moderate to large deviations. Many doctors have told their adult strabismus patients for years, incorrectly, that surgery won’t help them or would only be “cosmetic.” In fact, surgery on adults has real medical benefits: eliminating double vision, improving depth perception and enlarging the field of vision.

Many patients report improved self-esteem, communication skills, job opportunities, reading and driving with successful treatment. If you believe your child suffers from one of these disorders, contact Dr. Bianchi in Westwood, New Jersey at our modern laser eye surgery and vision correction center, serving the Pascack Valley area for over 25 years.

The website I got the above infor from is:

http://www.westwoodeye.com/html/pediatric.html

There is also a book about how, why and when on the actual surgery... I highly suggest you buy it or borrow it and read it before you make your final decision. It may give you a lot moe insight on the necessity of the surgery...

here is the link to the book:

http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Medicine/Op...=

I am so sorry this has caused you so much worry over your son. Sometimes doctors give out way more information than is necessary making things sound far worse than they are. All in the name of Full Discloser...

I hope this information on your son's condition is helpful in some way and can allow you to breath a little easier...

Good Luck!!! ;-)

Dear D., My daughter has been wearing glasses since she was fourteen months and was told it was hereditary from her dad. He also felt so responsible for this but sometimes it isn't your fault nor was it his. They also talked surgery but her eyes seemed to stablize so no surgery was needed. They also told us when she was 7 yrs old that she would never wear contacts but at the age of 18 she got them. So with technology the was it is don't take every thing the drs say as gospel. They really don't know every thing. My daughter is now 30 and doing great.

D. - we are in a similar situation. My son was diagnosed with Amblyopia when he was 3 years old. Our pediatrician "caught it" when doing his annual checkup and he had basically no sight in the left eye. I, of course, thought I should have KNOWN something was wrong, I should have KNOWN since he was my baby! He had phsical therapy from the time he was 6 months until about 1 1/2 years old for his little misshapened head - he even wore that awful helmet on his head to try to reshapen it - all this because he would not lay on his right side - not even when manipulated by wedges and so forth - I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, huh? Now, we think of course he didn't want to lay on that side of his body - HE COULDN'T SEE IF HE DID!! Well, long story short - we could not have known, it is not our fault, we cannot and could not see into his brain and the see that the connectivity with his eye was not functioning correctly. Our son is now 5 years old, he has worn glasses since a little over 3 years old - we are currently seeing Dr. Lai at Houston Eye Associates (a specialist) and follow his advice regarding therapy for our son. There is a website that I was able to "vent" at because there are so many families dealing with Strabismus, Amblyopia, etc. - go to www.preventblindness.org - extremely informative web sight. Good luck to you guys - we feel your pain - but ya gotta get over the guilt and go forward it is a treatble condition.

Hi,
I am now 60 years old and when I was born, I was severely crosseyed. I too wore glasses at age 2. When I was 4 I had the surgery. It came out fine and I was no longer crosseyed. Back in those days, they really did not understand how the brain is wired and they did not give me any eye exercises or anything like that. I learned to see out of 1 eye at a time. I switched so fast that I did not even know it and they only discovered it when I was about 13 or 14. I made As and Bs in school and the only problem that I have is depth perception. The strabismus did not affect my eyesight in the least - I still have fairly decent vision. The biggest problem is that as I have aged, whatever eye I am not using tends to wander - farther and farther. People can not often tell if I am actually looking at them.
While it is true that our brains are hard wired at birth for vision; this can be overcome. Only you can tell if you want him to have the surgery. What kind of strabismus does he have? I know that in school, kids are often cruel and a cross eyed child would be prone to being made fun of. I think if they give him certain eye exercises right off the bat that they can get his eyes functioning OK.
I mainly wanted to let you know that whatever you decide to do or not do, your child can learn to read and to function and that it has no bearing on his intelligence or lack of it. My biggest challenge is that I am lousy at any kind of sport that involves percision - no baseball, basketball etc - because the ball is never centered for me. I could swim, do most gymnastics and I loved dance of all kinds.
Anything you can do to help train his eyes is good; however beating yourself up is not the answer. This is a problem that is not all that noticable. As you can tell, my folks and even I did not know that I was only using one eye at a time from the age of 4 to 13 or 14! You are a wonderful mom and I know that you are caring and giving because you are a massage therapist and people don't go into that profession if they are prone to not feeling for other people. There is nothing you could have done - even if you had noticed this earlier.
Knowledge is power. You have taken all the first steps. Learn all you can and then make an informed decision that will be good for both you and your son. Don't discount what the Doctor says but take it along with all the info you have and then make your choices. Remember that you are not alone. G. Jones-Kachtik
PS I never saw double. They say that they can do surgery on me now; but if they bring the eye in too much I could. I still have not made any decisions about that - mainly because I am beyone people making fun of me for it.

Hi D.,

Your child is fortunate that you got him to the doctor when he was so young. My daughter didn't have strabismus ("crossed eyes"), which can be observed--she had amblyopia ("lazy eye") which cannot be observed, and can cause permanent damage (no depth perception) if not corrected before age 8. I didn't take her to a pediatric ophthalmologist until she was 5, since she flunked the kindergarten eye screening (and she read early!). I believe all parents should take kids for a healthy eye check up by age 3, because the pediatric ophthalmologists are skilled at getting youngsters tested quickly, can make it fun for parent and child, are trained specialists for infants and young children, and can diagnose serious problems and correct them before it's too late.

I made the mistake of taking my child to an adult ophthalmologist who over-patched the good eye, so she ended up with reverse amblyopia, and that's when I took her to a pediatric ophthalmologist, and things turned out well. She began with glasses at age 5, and was able to wear contacts by age 10.

So, lay off the guilt and thank yourself for being on top of things. Do whatever you need to do to address your anxiety (counseling? biofeedback? meditation? exercise? routine massages?), as your child will pick up on this and may become anxious himself. You, your husband, and your child can learn to take things in stride, deal with them, move on, and keep laughing. It could be a lot worse!

Gather information and make an informed decision. The Internet is awesome for gathering information, and it does not take the place of a doctor's diagnosis. Get two or three opinions from pediatric ophthalmologists. Ask other parents in your community. Ask the pediatric ophthalmologist if you can speak with other parents whose child has the same diagnosis and went through surgery. Talk to a school nurse and a pediatric nurse. Vision therapy is something I would consider as an adjunct therapy if surgery isn't able to correct the problem. These are my thoughts. Best of luck, relax, and enJOY your family and life! jenifer

Get an apppt w/ David Cook at Texas Children's - he's the go-to Doctor for this.

Hi D.,

My son had Strabismus and he had the surgery at about 21 months. We had noticed that he would cross one eye only when he was focusing on something for a period of time (this is why we decided to take him to get checked). We took him to one eye doctor who quickly said he not only had this, but was pretty far sighted, so he told us how they usually try to put kids in glasses to see if this corrects the problem first and then if it doesn't, they will try the surgery (this appt. was very short and he was quick to the point). Well we tried this but my son would never keep the glasses on (he didn't really like anything on his head for a long period of time). Anyway, we knew this would not work and plus I had a strange feeling about the optomolegist we had seen (my husband and I had a "gut" feeling that we did not like him and we did not want to take him back). Well we are glad we didn't! We went to another Optomologist that was recommended to us and he was great. He took a lot of time with us and explained what everything meant and what the treatments/outcomes would be. Oh and also confirmed that my son WAS NOT indeed far sighted like the previous doctor had said, so the eyeglasses would have done more damage than good (thank god he wouldn't keep them on, not to mention they probably hurt his eyes)! So anyway, he said that since he was so young, that the best thing would be to do the surgery to correct the problem at an early age. This was the best thing we did. It was a quick "in and out" surgery (done on a Friday and was able to return to daycare on Monday). I will admit it didn't "look" pretty afterwards and for the couple of days after, but he was able to see as soon as he opened his eyes when we got home (although sensitive to light for a few hours) the very next day he was able to do normal activities. He is 5 now and has had his eyes checked every six months since the surgery and everything is great (no signs of the Strabismus and no need for glasses either). So I guess I am trying to say, just use your own judgement when listening to what the doctor is telling you before making your decisions. Make sure they take the time to explain everything to you in detaila and that you trust what they are saying. Surgery may not be necessary for everyone with this eye condition right away (or even ever), but it was the best decision we made for our son! Good luck with whatever you decided to do and I hope it all works out and you have a healthy little boy :o)

i don't have any experience with this eye condition, but i do have experience as a mom. 1st of all, stop beating yourself up. it doesn't help to stress over what could have been done months ago. concentrate on what you CAN do, now. the internet is a great tool to educate yourself, just remember much of what you read will be what worked for someone, and it may not work or be advisable for your son. you can get lots of info, weigh the pros and cons. compare different treatments. try other options before surgery, but remember that may be the best option. get a time frame from the dr. how long can you try other things before surgery will be necessary, what age is the best for surgery, etc. don't let the dr. rush you through an appt. have a written list of questions, and write the answers. then compare with what you find on the internet. good luck,

My little boy is 8 years old and we've been treating it since he was two. We go to pediatric opthomologist O.B.Jackson in Austin, who also did the surgery when he was two. Our biggest challenge has been keeping him wearing the glasses and patching as the doctor recommended. My active guy has lost and demolished so many pairs, but I do see an improvement despite this. This is partially a genetic condition and I think it is triggered by fever at about 18 months, though I've seen tinier guys going into Dr. Jackson's office. Really it has to do with muscles in the eyes and the surgery (it was very short and he went home right away after waking up) really did help, there were no marks made on his face because it concerned the muscles around the eyes (not the eye itself) and could be reached without going through the skin. His eyes were red for a day or two but then that was totally gone. He has only shared one distant memory of seeing himself with red eyes and doesn't remember the surgery itself. We did it young and then patched and use glasses. The goal is to have his eyes working perfectly together between the age of 7 and 9. We are almost there, though if he takes his glasses off when tired his one eye moves slightly (so much better!) We are not using vision therapy, but I would definitely talk with your specialist to have him/her explain the recommended treatment again. Don't beat yourself up about this, this is one of those things that you keep looking at the child and saying to yourself, "I wonder if that eye is wandering...I think it is...is it?"

I have strabismus, chronic diplopia (double vision) due to a car accident. I was told I needed surgery in addition to the glasses. I was also told the surgery had a 25% chance of making my eyes worse. Due to circumstances beyond my control and due to the high percentage risk of getting worse, I elected against the surgery and instead used acupuncture and it worked so amazingly that my optomotrist and opthamologist said they'd never seen anything like it. I started out with multiple vision...seeing 5 of everything and the acupuncture made it so that I saw only double and in some positions of my neck, I could see clearly. I had to relearn how to hold my neck to see the best but the acupuuncture cured most of the condition so much that the doctors told me that I would've been lucky if I'd had such great results from the surgery (Something they hadn't bothered to tell me when they were advocating for the surgery...they made it sound almost guaranteed that it would "cure" me).

My acupuncturist is no longer in austin but if you're interested I'm sure someone on this list could guide you to a good one.

Good luck to you!
L.

Hi D.,
my granddaugter has been wearing wearing classes since she was 2 she is now 6 been wearing bi foclils for3 yrs now they are trying everything so they dont have to do surgery they take her to an eye specilest ,so there is light at the end of the tunnel relax he is small young he will get to wear he will put them on his self he'll be fine
kanette

My husband has this.. along with his brothers and sisters. While his siblings' eye problems sorted themselves out (at least to where they are not so noticeable) his did not. He now has one permanently "crossed-eye".
His mother didn't take him to see a doctor until it was almost too late.. the doctor prescribed glasses that cover the good eye so the other will train itself and sort itself out. He never wore these glasses and regrets it.
The only thing I can say to you is don't beat yourself up, he is still quite young.. the younger you catch it the easier it is to correct. If your child has been prescribed glasses that cover one eye (or sometimes a patch) please make sure he keeps it on, that's one of the best things you can do for him. I am not my husband, and can not speak for him but he has told me how much he regrets not having kept on that patch.
I know that you are worried about the surgery, but my husband has always been adamant that if our daughter were born with this (so far she seems ok) he would make sure she has the surgery so she wouldn't have to go through what he went through (people can be so cruel, even to this day). That's just the opinion of someone who has it though, you will need to weigh the risks and benefits on your own.

Dear dear D.,
Put the whip down. Put...the...whip...down. You are beating yourself senseless. It is plain that you love your son dearly. You didn't recognize something that the doctors didn't detect. It is your job as mother to do the best you can, not anticipate every negative thing before it happens. You are not a psychic. Good parents want only good for their children, but that doesn't mean you are at fault if he skins his knee or bumps his head or needs glasses. As my grandma would say, "You are already doing the Very Best you can and that is all an angel can do." You are not Lost--you are surrounded by other moms who are also doing their best. We are all here to calm each others fears. You are already strong. Look what you have done for your son already. No living being can know the answers to the questions which have not yet been presented. You are loved. Peace...be still. Shhhh...it's ok. You will know the answers in plenty of time. :) C.

First off, find an opthamologist that you like and trust-one that explains every detail to you in terms you understand and that listens well to your concerns.

I had multiple eye problems when I was born, and by the time I was two, my mom had noticed(granted mine was actually fairly severe), but the pediatrician told her I was fine up until then. I wore glasses and patches(I took them off), but also I was mainly blind in my right eye(due to a lens deformity-another reason I wouldn't keep the patch on, they were trying to patch my one good eye!).

I ended up with three surgeries from the age of 5 until 14, the final one being done at the Jules Stein Eye Institue at UCLA. I wouldn't be surprised if my eyes were in some text book somewhere! lol Actually, it was a very rare combination in my case that made it so difficult to treat. They still aren't perfect, one reason being that I can't make my bad eye move so well since it doesn't see well enough to focus on anything, so I can't excercise the muscles. Finally, they simply made it so my bad eye follows my good eye. It's good for the most part, but I notice the slight difference in positioning. Most others never know unless I say something. And everyone is shocked to find out that I'm blind in one eye.

My point? Find out every option open to you...find the doctor that will listen, and understand that despite your fears, surgery might be the best option. It doesn't mean YOU'VE failed, it means the other treatments have. And your boy wouldn't be the only one they don't work on. Many out there have been there, done that and have still had to have surgery...and for some, the other treatments do work. Time will tell. Be vigilant, though and truly give everything a fair try.

Make sure his glasses have an elastic strap to help keep them on his head and make more difficult for him to take off. He will get used to them in time as long as you enforce his wearing them. Make sure anyone that take care of him is just as thorough as you are with his wearing them.

And do your best to have this corrected(by surgery or any other way) before he starts school...it might be mostly cosmetic on the outside, but that's what the other kids will notice...and yes, kids are very cruel, I've learned that first hand(and is probably why I notice my own difference so much).

For the record? I'm 41 now, with three nearly grown kids myself...and an RN. I drive and do pretty much everything I want to do, but really suck at sports that involve flying balls. I've learned to compensate for my lack of vision in one eye, but my depth perception sucks when a ball is flying at me at a zillion miles an hour! Oh, and I can't do three-D movies or pictures! I figure I'm probably not really missing much there...lol

D.,

First, you should stop being so hard on yourself! And then you should see a doctor who does not make you feel as if he/she is being critical of you.

Our son has Marcus Gunn Phenomenon. It is an extremely rare disorder that is listed with NORD. (National Organization for Rare Disorders) It is very difficult to find current information on this, as so few people in the world have it.

We went to see Franklin Keith Busse in Austin, and I'll tell you that he is well worth the trip. He is the kindest man, and his waiting room resembles a daycare center.

The resulting ptosis in Bryce's eye warranted surgery to prevent flattening of the eyeball from the pressure of his lowered eyelid. Dr. Busse was not pushy about surgery and had two types to offer. We opted for the less successful, but also less obvious one when he was 8 months of age, and then repeated it at 11 months. Bryce's eyes now appear to be perfectly symmetrical.

I don't tell you all this to push for surgery in your case. I tell you this so that you might find someone who comforts you, presents your options, and makes you feel good about the choices that you are making.

Dr. Busse does not have a website, but is listed on the site of a hospital where he practices. I am sending a link. Additionally, the site does not say so, but he does keep Saturday hours. (usually one Saturday per month)

http://www.dellchildrens.net/find_a_physician/busse/franklin

I wish you and your family well!

D.,
I am so glad that I read the posts today. First of all you are on the right path. Seeing a doctor. The main thing is to get to the right doctor. I havetwin girls that are now 13 and they both have strabismus. I took them to two doctors and the second one did push for surgery and of course we listened. One of my daughters was in glasses at 10 months old and still wears them. We did patching and glasses. She had surgery when she was 14 months old. This doctor was in the Austin area. I will say that I did not like his bedside manner and we did not feel confident, but as a scared parent we did have the surgery. No problems there. We then found a wonderful doctor in Dallas. Please do not let the area you live in dictate where you take your child. This man knows his stuff, it is his specialty and everything he has said has been true. We patched, he did another surgery at the age of 3 and each year we had new glasses prescriptions. My husband wanted him to do another surgery because she would get teased. The dr told us that she would probably grow out of her glasses in her teen years. One of my dausghters does not need her glasses anymore and her eyes are straight. My other daughter that had the surgeries has progressed each year and she is in a single vision lens and the weakest strength ever. She had bi-focals, progressive bi-focals, strong lenses and now she gets a weaker lens each year. I would trust him with my childrens eyes 100%. He is Dr David Stager, sr. His son os a dr too! He is located in Dallas-his son is in Plano. Please look him up and try him out. He will help and has so much wisdom. A very kind and patient man who knows what he is doing. I hope this helps. He has been a blessing to us. Don't beat yourself up for not noticing. My brother-in-law pointed out that my daughters eyes were going in and I thought he was crazy. I never noticed and looking back at pictures it was very severe. I think we are with them so much we do not notice as easily unless we are looking for something to be wrong. Please contact me if I can help ____@____.com
Blessings
M. J

Don't feel bad. My advise to you would be to get a second opinion and maybe a 3rd. That way you know for sure what the best treatment will be. You are a new Mom and you were just hoping that things would get better and don't worry about what you did or didn't do......we just do the best we can and that is all we can do. Besides I think that that type of corection cannot be done until a baby is of certain age any way. Good luck.
Don't beat your self up any more. Your fine.

Dear D., You are not an Opthalmologist or physician of any kind. If you were you would have a practice somewhere.
Also, you are a first Mom, right ? Ok, how are you supposed to know everything ? Stop feeling so neglectful ! You cannot know it all. How many people do know all the workings of the eye ?

If you have many unanswered questions about your son's eye problem, schedule a consultation with his doc. Write down everything you want to ask on a tablet and take it with you. You and your husband go alone so that you can get maximum benefit from your visit. If you are still uncomfortable with anything, take your child to another eye doctor, one that specializes in children, and go from there.

You are paying for all this one way or the other, and you want only the very best for your son, knowledge is the greatest tool, and you have every right to be thoroughly satisfied with his care.

Best wishes.

R.

Obviously from all the responses you are not alone. I am also in similar shoes at this moment. My three year old was diagnosed w/Exotropia (Strabismus-when an eye turns outward) about 6 weeks ago.

My son has a bad habit of sucking his thumb and holding his fingers open over his right eye. When he first started doing this around 18 mths old I spoke w/his Pediatrician's office and they said not to worry. Of course they also said to redirect him when caught sucking his thumb. He ALWAYS sucked his thumb and I hoped he would grow out of it like his older brother did. No such luck!

Anyway I started noticeing that his eyes didn't look quite "right", but it wasn't easily seen when I tried to "catch" it. So I took him to his Ped. Dr and he didn't catch it. Few months later it was not only obvious it was pronounced. So I found a wonderful Opthamologist here in Houston, Dr. Aaron Miller, and am in the process of doing the patching a few hours a day-alternating eyes each day. It seems to be helping. I will be taking him in to be reevaluated in a couple of weeks. Then we will find out if we continue patching, wear glasses, etc.

Like you I immediately got on the internet and started researching. I saw the same info I'm sure you saw about visual therapies. The problem is that 2 or 3 yr olds are not good candidates for visual therapy because of their short attention spans. So at this point we are biding our time and waiting to see the results of the patching when we go back in a couple of weeks. My hope is that surgery will not be required, and if it is then we will definitely get that 2nd opinion-maybe even a third.

In the meantime-trust your instincts since you know your child better than anyone else, and do whatever it takes to get him through this. If you haven't already, please stop feeling guilty and know that God KNOWS what is right for us. Keep in mind you are not alone, and please contact me if you need someone to talk to, or to share progress and what we are learning as we go along.

Good luck and God bless!!

Hi, my son has strabismus. We caught it soon after he was born and have seen multiple opthalmologists for opinions. Several of them recommended immediate surgery and several recommended waiting until he was older to see what happened. We learned that there are no negative side affects to waiting (no vision problems,etc), so that is what we have opted to do (I also had a very strong gut feeling that surgery was not the best for him). We decided that we would only go with surgery if his eyes seemed to bother him as he got older. We decided to try some alternative treatments to surgery while we waited. We tried patching his eye when he was about 2 but he just couldn't stand to wear the patches. We tried glasses with very little success. When he was between 3 and 4 years old it started to really bother him whenever he got tired or whenever he concentrated on something at close distances (he learned to read at age 3, so this was a big concern for me). At this time we almost decided to have the surgery but something still told me that this was wrong for him (we actually had the surgeries scheduled on several occassions and we cancelled in each instance). In the past 2 years he has actually been able to consciously and subconsciously gain control over his strabismus to the point that it only bothers him once in a great while, when he is extremely tired. He is now 6 and I am so grateful that we didn't have the surgery done. During the times that his eyes bothered him the only thing that helped was to have him take some deep breaths to calm him down and to have him visually focus on something about a foot in front of him until he relaxed and his eyes could re-focus properly. I'm sure that every case is different, but I hope that our story helped a little bit. Always listen to "mother's intuition". I wish you all the luck in the world.

I noticed that there was something wrong with my daughter when she was an infant. My pediatrician told me nothing was wrong and that it was because her nose had not fully developed. I finally got a second opinion and ended up finding the best specialist we could find in Dallas, Texas - Dr. David Stager at Pediatric Ophthalmology & Center for Adult Strabismus. After much advice, research and a lot of praying, she had surgery at age 2. It was done at Children's Medical Center in Dallas and they were unbelievable. It was done as outpatient surgery. One of his assistants sat with us, went and checked on her every 30 minutes, and explained each step as it was happening. They ended up cutting 2 nerves in each of her eyes and reattaching them. She had to wear sunglasses after the surgery for a couple of days, but her recovery was remarkable. She still had to wear glasses for several years and we also did the patch on one eye to stregthen the weak eye as she was growing (through with that by age 5). But we're happy to say that she was out of glasses by age 10, which was what we were told by Dr. Stager when we first went to see him. As scary as it was for her to have the surgery, I think it was the best decision for our daughter. It would have continued to ruin her vision if we had not decided to have it done. My heart goes out to you as I know it is a very scary and difficult decision.

I have a 6 yr old that has glaucoma and she also developed strabisimus. She has had several surgeries for glaucoma and she also has had the strabisimus surgery. We tried everything that the doctor recommended - patching her eye for several hours a day for about a year and nothing helped. We also had the surgery before she entered school because the doctors said that looking up & down and waiting for her eyes to focus each time was going to make her slower at writing things down. She had the surgery through Houston Eye Associates and we are very happy that we did it. She looks great and has had no problems other than her glaucoma. Two of my children have had glaucoma since they were about 3 and they have both gone through several surgeries and the best advice that I can give is to keep everything very low key. Tell them that they are going to have the surgery but don't act like it is that big of a deal - even though as parents we are probably more scared then the kids. Good Luck!!