Comments on: Surgery Update (now with even more updates)

By: Jeni

Jeni — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:56:47 +0000

I just wanted to post back and share. My daughter had her surgery at 1 year, one week old and it went off without a hitch. She was clingy and disoriented afterwards, but was actually back to playing happily that afternoon. We were shocked. I think it probably helped that the surgery was only on one eye and that eye has very little vision (if any). I appreciate the support from you all and having this out of the way makes me less apprehensive about any necessary future surgeries. *phew*

By: Darlene

Darlene — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:33:49 +0000

Here is another surgery experience for all of those interested. My son had bilateral lateral rectus reccession at 9 months but it was not successful. The eye that turned out continues to turn out constantly unless the other eye is patched. He did have bloody tears and was in a terrible mood for 2-3 days post-op. He had a lot of swelling and a difficult time opening either eye for those days as well. The PO that did the surgery has since retired. The new PO wants to shorten the inside muscle of the right eye only. I have to say the I am very skeptical of the outcome considering the first experience, but I feel like there isnt any other choice. My son is now 19 months old and I hope it works and that he tolerates the whole surgery better than the first time. I think its important to say that every child does have a different experience.

By: Jeni

Jeni — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:08:39 +0000

Thank you both for your support and for sharing your experiences. I’ll be sure to check back in and let you know how it goes.

By: Ann Z

Ann Z — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:57:54 +0000

Jeni, I just wanted to add another voice of support. My daughter had the same surgery at 22 months (you can read my write up here: http://littlefoureyes.com/2008/09/01/surgery-redux/. She did have bloody tears and was extremely angry upon coming out of anesthesia, but she recovered more quickly than Elly did. It’s a scary thing, and I wish there was more information about what to really expect after surgery. But Amomofelly is right in that it’s a pretty common surgery for the surgeon, just so much out of the ordinary for most parents.

Best of luck to you and please keep us updated on how your daughter is doing.

By: amomofelly

amomofelly — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:41:49 +0000

Jeni – don’t panic – most kids take it much easier than mine did. And yes, if we as parents are presented with all the information and we have the opportunity to give our children a chance at seeing the world with better eyes, then we must take advantage of these opportunities. Although Elly will never be a pilot… she may now be able to focus on tasks for longer periods of time without headache. She may also have the chance at gaining depth perception. Each child is different and for Opthamologists, this is a pretty common surgery, but for us parents, our children are our most precious treasures in the whole world and it is much harder on us than anyone else.

By: Jeni

Jeni — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:08:56 +0000

It was really helpful to read all of this. Honestly, my daughter is having strabismus surgery in March (at 12 months old) and I get more and more nervous as the time approaches. She has no known vision in the eye that is being operated on. We’re doing it to help her eyes move more in conjunction and also to allow them to see binocularly (at the chance that she does have even the slightest amount of vision in the eye). We had originally scheduled this back in December but she became sick the week of. We went through the pre-op and everything and nobody has mentioned any of what you went through (bloody tears, vomiting, anger). God are we doing the right thing?

By: Corrie

Corrie — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:00:15 +0000

Hi Maegan. Our daughter had eye muscle surgery when she was nine months old, and probably had a very similar diagnosis to your son! Although it is hard to watch a baby go through this, I think that it is easier than when they are older. Our daughter was very clingy the day of surgery, but she was back up and doing her normal thing the next day. She never did have bloody tears, which I was thankful for. As for the eye drops, it worked best when I gave it to her when she was sleepy, and it didn’t seem to bother her too much. The good thing is when they are so little, they can’t fight you too much. One word of advice for immediately after surgery: When our daughter woke up, she was completely beside herself. They were about to give her something to calm her down, but thankfully they brought her to me first. Since I was still nursing her, and breastmilk is considered a clear liquid (go figure! ),I was able to nurse her immediately and she calmed right down and went back to sleep. If you are not nursing but your son has a pacifier or favorite blanket or something, make sure you have it ready for when he comes out of the anesthesia as he will be completely confused about what just happened to him and just need some comfort. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask away. There are several parents on here, who have gone through this with their children. All the best to you and your little son!

By: Maegan

Maegan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:44:25 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story. We will be having eye muscle surjury on our little boy in April. He will be 10 months old then.
I think I needed to read your story to get ready to cope with red tears, bloody nose, throw up from a baby who will have no idea how to communicate with me.
Also is helpful they will be drowsy all day and light sensitivity.
The eye drops will be a big challenge without really any good bribes safe for babies. Best of luck to you, Elly, the nursing newborn, potty training, not sleeping through the night and other behavior issues. All that combined makes for very long days and nights I am sure.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:28:53 +0000

Hi there! Thank you so much for sharing Elly’s story! Can you give another update on Elly please? It looks like my 19 month old will be going in for the same surgery very soon. We have been told that 85% of children need only one surgery but that about 15% need two surgeries in order to get correct alignment. We were also told that whether the first surgery was effective is known after about 6 weeks. Has Elly had that assessment? Hoping you all are doing marvelously now!

By: Darlene

Darlene — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:13:06 +0000

Thanks for all the information. I hope it gets easier for her soon!