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Former 26 weeker with Strabismus left eye

Hello my fellow Share mommas,

My son, Joshua, age 1 (actual) had another appointment with his ophthalmologist today.  During his last visit, he was fitted for glasses as he is significantly far-sighted and he also has a strabismus on left eye (his eyeball is crossed and inverts).  The doctor hoped that the glasses would help straighten his eye...after his visit with her today, however, it was confirmed that the glasses aren't straightening his left eye and now surgery will be needed.  I'm told that it is an outpatient procedure and he should be fine within a couple of days.  The idea of surgery on his eyes scares me quite a bit.  Any mothers with preemies that have gone through this? 

Your thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

Mamabear29

11 Replies

  • Mamabear29

    In reply to CharlieAllene's mom:

    I bet Charlie looks adorable! Is she getting acclimated to wearing the glasses already?  It took Joshie a few days and then he was good for a few hours at a time and then most of the day.  I'll post updates at Joshie's pre-op appointment and post.  And please keep me posted on Charlie's progress.  I hope the glasses work!

    Much love!

  • CharlieAllene's mom

    In reply to Mamabear29:

    Charlie got glasses yesterday. We will see how that pans out. Thanks for your answer. It helped. Good luck to you with the upcoming surgery.

  • Mamabear29

    In reply to Jami H:

    Jami,

    Thanks for sharing! Also, thanks for the website info. My little jaws chewed through his strap and scratched the frames on his glasses. I sware it took seconds! Lol. We are now ordering his 2nd pair and I'll be looking at the website for a cool strap.

    I'll keep ya'll posted on Joshua's progress and I hope Alexia's glasses & patching does the trick! See you soon!

    Much love!

  • Jami H

    In reply to lvazquez:

    Hi ladies,

    My one and only not preemie child has this condition in both eyes! One of the women who works at the daycare she attends occasionally pointed out to me that Alexia's eyes were crossing. I really respect her and adore her but I was like No way!! She was born at 40 weeks on the dot {thanks to her biological mother :) } so she has always been my one and only healthy child. Her preemie sister have been the sickie trouble makers. Alexia is my gentle soul and my cuddler so she is always sitting in my lap so I hadn't really ever been staring directly at her, well one day she was watching Netflix on my phone and I looked over at her and sure enough there it was. She was cross eyed as could be. She was four years old so I called the eye Dr. and they referred me to a wonderful eye Dr. and we went through the same hoops. Glasses, patching, then down to Riley in Indianapolis for a surgical consult. They disagreed about surgery for now and instead put her in bi-focals. So here she is 5.5 starting kindergarten wearing bi-focals. :( She does look so cute in glasses though. And if any of the other moms on here need any straps, patches or accessories I did finally find a lady online who custom makes them. Framehuggers.com she made Alexia a strap that holds her glasses on her head that is zebra print. It's velcro and made to fit her exact size of head. It was perfect since she plays sports and things. When we were patching her patch was zebra print also. She loved it and I didn't have to put anything sticky on her face everyday. It was really great.

    I hope Joshie's surgery goes well and I look forward to meeting you at Share Union. Just hearing the words your child could go blind is gut wrenching. When you leave the NICU you expect everything to be ok. All the hard stuff is supposed to be over. Sending you a big hug. FYI I did find a video of the surgery itself on youtube and watched it. It's not for the faint of heart but I honestly was relieved afterward because it was so much better than I imagined. (I thought they were going to take her eye out or something to do it. They don't It's just a few stitches and it's over). I work in the ER though so a non medical person may not appreciate it. lol

    Jami

  • Mamabear29

    In reply to tucker'smom:

    Thank you for your response, Leigh!  

    It is an outpatient procedure and I was wondering about the pain level after surgery.  I hope it's the same with my Joshie and he doesn't feel much pain after the procedure and I hope it can be corrected with only 1 surgery as the doctor has mentioned that more might be required if it doesn't completely straighten the first time.

    Thanks for sharing. :)

    Jenny

  • tucker'smom

    In reply to lvazquez:

    Hello,

    My son Tucker is 7 now. He was born at 27 weeks and had surgery on both of his eyes to correct strabismus around age 2.  He went through a lot of surgeries and other things, so maybe my perception of this is odd...but it wasn't a bad surgery at all. It was outpatient, so he got to come home a few hours after, and he didn't seem to be in any pain. His strabismus was pretty bad, we said he had "googly eyes" and after the surgery they were perfectly straight.

    It is very scary for your baby to ever be handed over to a dr for any surgery, so I am sorry that might be your only option. It sounds like you have researched the issue and found a great doctor.

    Good luck!

    Leigh

  • Mamabear29

    In reply to lvazquez:

    Thank you for your responses, Lindsay & Akeelah's Mommy.  This doctor came highly recommended from Joshua's eye doctor while in the NICU.  She also had two of the same types of surgeries on her own eyes when she was a toddler as her eyes were also crossed.  I do feel quite comfortable with her.  However, the idea of surgery scares me as there are obviously risks with every surgery.  I'm hoping there are mothers on this site that have experienced this and can tell me what to expect and how their children are doing now.

    I scheduled a 2nd opinion appointment with Joshie's eye doctor that saw him in the NICU and I'm also doing research on the doctor that will be performing the surgery as well.  

    Thank you once again for your responses and I truly am excited to meet you! Thank you for your dedication to helping us newbies find our way. :)

    Much love!

  • Mamabear29

    In reply to CharlieAllene's mom:

    Hello CharlieAllene's mom,

    I'm sorry to hear your baby is having issues with this as well.  it is quite common for preemies to have vision problems, it seems..  Joshua has a common type of strabismus called, Infantile Esotropia, where the eye turns inward.  In this case, Joshie's left eye is crossed inward.  When one eye is out of alignment, two different pictures are sent to the brain.  In a young child, the brain learns to ignore the image of the misaligned eye and sees only the image from the straight or better-seeing eye.  The child then loses depth perception.  If not treated, the misaligned eye may fail to develop good vision or may even lose vision permanently.

    Joshua was  recently fitted for eye glasses which he wore for two months in  hopes that this would  help straighten his left eye. The glasses helped straighten his eyeball a bit, but not enough as his eye is still significantly crossed. From my understanding, during the surgery, his eye muscles will be detached from the wall of the eye and repositioned depending on which direction the eye is turning. The procedure takes about an hour and my baby should be back to normal or at least wanting to move around and play by the next day.

    In speaking with another eye doctor, they feel this surgery needs to be done.  If left untreated, the eye can get weaker and can even lose vision.  The procedure is scheduled for October 10th.  I will let you know how it turns out and please keep me posted on your baby as well!

    Much love!!

    Jenny

  • Akeelah's Mommy

    In reply to lvazquez:

    I'm sorry the glasses weren't the fix you are hoping for.  I don't have experience to know what would be a normal chain of events in this situation.  Seeking a second opinion might provide greater peace of mind- it's also ok to ask how many surgeries he/she has performed and ages

    Keep posted!

    CharlieAilenes' Mom- please keep posted as well! :)

  • CharlieAllene's mom

    My ex 26 weeker (fourteen months actual) is seeing the ophthalmologist for a very similar issue. I am interested to hear your thoughts on what you have done/will do. I think at her next appointment she may be fitted for glasses.  

  • lvazquez

    Jenny, so many thoughts must be going through your head right now.  Words like surgery would scare me as well.  I'm sorry that I'm not more help.  Do you trust that doctor or do you feel like you want to get a second opinion?  I look forward to meeting you at SU:)

    Lindsay

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