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Meghan - posted on 10/16/2012

Hi ladies. My son Jack (4 years) was diagnosed a little over 6 months ago with accomodative strabismus. I have seen three doctors and had all sorts of opinions regarding whether or not he will outgrow it. He is a +4 with a eye turn of 20. Opinions? Anyone know of a child to outgrow it with those kinds of numbers? All three doctors gave the same treatment plan.. patching for his amblyopia, (which is now gone) and the glasses to straighten his eye. In the meantime we have to wait til he is between 8-10 years old to see if he will outgrow it. I know it could be worse but it is tough to see my little guy with these thick lenses. More importantly, I want him to have straight eyes! I can take the lenses...glasses or contacts...I just don't want him to be self-conscience in the future. We all want our kids to be as close to perfect as possible!

Kirsten - posted on 09/25/2012

My son was diagnosed with it last month. It was frightening when I saw his left eye start crossing, but I was soon reassured that it was not as bad as I was imagining when I took him to a pediatric ophthalmologist. His vision was +4 in his right and +4.5 in his left. He is wearing glasses and the transition has been really easy.

The most important thing to remember is that the sooner you catch it and the more they wear their glasses, the better chance they have of outgrowing it.

The other thing is to listen to your instincts. When he was 2 1/2 he started putting my reading glasses on saying "look Mommy, I can see". I called the pediatrician and the nurse called back. She said he was too young for eye tests and his eye was not crossing then, so she said that he was just imitating me and that I should not let him wear my glasses since his eyes were still developing. For over a year, he would put them on and I would make them take them off and tell him that they were bad for his eyes...they were actually helping him see!!! I felt like the worst Mom ever! I wish that I would have insisted on an eye test! I just have to remind myself that we caught it before he turned 4, so I guess it could have been worse (deep sigh).

Also, he has always been very clumsy. He would run straight into walls and now, of course, we think it was because of his vision.

He puts his glasses on as soon as he wakes up (we have the good pair that are transition covered by insurance and then a cheap Walmart pair, so he has a backup pair if he breaks the first pair) and he keeps them on all day without any problems. The kids eyewear retainers are a lifesaver! They are really cheap at Walmart or through Amazon and truly a must have!

Julie - posted on 07/24/2012

Hi Amber,
My name is Julie and my 14 month old daughter was diagnosed with strabismus when she was 6 months old. She has been wearing glasses since then. A couple months ago we noticed her left eye was turning in more often and even when wearing the glasses. We made an appointment asap and the pediatric opthamologist increased her prescription and asked us to patch her good eye for 2 hours every day. We have been patching and wearing the new prescription lenses and I see some improvement. We go back to the Dr. in a month and may be looking at surgery if there hasn't been enough improvement.

My other concern is.....she still isn't able to walk on her own. She has been pulling up and standing for months but will not walk without holding onto our hands or whatever she finds nearby. She seems very unsteady when trying to balance her body to walk. I was wondering if your daughter had any delays in walking. ??

I see that your original post is a few years old. I hope that your daughter is doing very well.
thanks,
julie

Dawn - posted on 10/07/2011

Hello - my son, 3, was just diagnosed with strabismus three days ago. We are reeling. He had sudden onset - six days ago he was fine and then suddenly he had a turned eye. He has been prescribed glasses and otherwise, the doctors have given us a lot of 'wait and sees' and "maybes". I researched strabismus a lot yesterday and have found much information about 'visual therapy' and the excellent results it can yield. Surgery only helps with cosmetics, not with the vision. Vision therapy fixes the vision. I have a call in to the vision therapist in our city and hope to start my son next week. I wanted to share this idea with all of you as I'm very encouraged!

Ilene - posted on 07/29/2011

My son is seven. We knew when he was born that he had Strabismus and simply figured he would probably need surgery for it when he was a little older as I had surgery when I was five. At four, they started telling us to patch. He refused. After sticking with a pediatric eye doctor who was unwilling to try anything new, even when he knew my son was refusing to wear the patch, we finally changed doctors. His new eye doctor is not even telling us to wear the patch because she knows he won't wear it. If he puts it on he simply looks around it. The new doctor is putting prisms in his lenses to correct it. We have already seen an improvement in his vision and his eyes are straightening up with the prisms. If your child won't wear the patches, ask about eyeglasses with prisms. It is solving a big problem with us....and the kid doesn't even notice it or doesn't tell us. Also there are some eye exercises that we have started doing....one is take a pencil, have child cover the good eye and then follow th pencil with the bad eye. Do this for a few minutes a day. His school is starting vision therapy in the fall as well.

Yulietsy - posted on 06/25/2011

I am so glad to have found you guys. When I read your replies I fell like I'm reading my own thoughts. Like many of you I am overwelmed with mix fellings about my daughter's esotropia. She's 20 months old, her name is Amber Lynn and my husband and I started notizing her left eye was pulling inwards. She was diagnosed 3 weeks ago. First I was a little worried about her wearing glasses, how was I supposed to keep her from taking them off ? she being so active and all. To my surprise these three first days with the glasses have gone by so perfectly. Her first reaction to the glasses just broke my heart, she started to look at everything, every detail, chairs, faces, everything and she would laugh, she got so exited that all I could do was cry. She doesn't touch her glasses at all, they stay on all day long, I guess as a result of her seeing so well with them. She enjoys the difference they make for her sight. We have the next Dr's appointment in 3 months to see the progress, although I already noticed that her eye doesn't pull in anymore while shes wearing the glasses. In a month we'll start with the eyepatches for two hours everyday, hopefully she'll be as plesant with those as she is with the glasses, or maybe I'm just kidding myself.

Sarah - posted on 03/22/2010

Hi everybody - my 4 year old daughter, Abigail, has just been diagnosed with Accommodative Esotropia (severe farsightedness and a slight pull in her right eye) and we've ordered her glasses. Any tips/suggestions on getting her to wear them once they come in? I'm worried that because she's so active and curious, they will hinder her or become a nuisance and that she won't want to wear them... Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Amy - posted on 10/22/2009

Hi, my name is Amy, my ten year old daughter has strabismus due to a cyst on her brain. She has had 8 eye surgeries, with the first at age 2. She did not have good muscle control of her eyes, and therefore a series of surgeries was recommended. The concern was that if she didn't use her eye, her brain would void it out and never learn to control and/or use it. We wore patches on many occasions and still do so. When she gets tired I notice her eye drifting, but we patch the "good" and her "weak" eye tends to focus better. We have just recently gotten glasses; she was boardline for getting them, but the Dr didn't want her straining in school. We go for check-ups every six months to a year. Due to having 8 surgeries already, my daugher's eye is about as good as it can get. The last surgery took longer than expected due to the large amount of scar tissue. The first surgery was the worst as far as looking at her. She was very bruised and swollen, and with each surgery there are bloody tears and itchiness. My daughter is such a trooper and does so well with all her Dr visits and surgeries. Kids are alot tougher than we parents give them credit for!

Donna - posted on 08/12/2009

HI My name is Donna and i have two little girls Hannah 3 and Sophia 19mo and hannah has been wearing glasses osince she was 15 mo old. we have stuggled greatly with trying to keep her wearing them. it is so nice to see a group of moms who have to deal with the struggles most other moms just don't get. (she does love her glasses now most of the time)

Nancy - posted on 04/18/2009

Hi all,

My son, Joel is 8 months old. After months of denial and figuring that he would "grow out of it," he was diagnosed with Strabismus and given a prescription for glasses. We have a follow-up and hope that the glasses take care of the issues.

We ordered Miraflex. The next trick will be seeing if he keeps them on.

Nancy

Nicole - posted on 03/25/2009

My name is Nicole Shelton and I have a 32 month old (2 1/2 yr old) and Aubrey just got diagnosed with esotropia (cross eye) and farsightedness. So she is getting glasses. The dr. said that he will make sure we will do everything to help correct and surgery as a last resort. So I feel pretty confident that the glasses will work. Yeah!

Jenise - posted on 03/07/2009

Allendra's right eye turned in at birth, especially before she went to sleep, but straightened on its own after awhile. I don't actually know how long... I just noticed that it had stopped one day. We weren't concerned. Unfortunately, her brain did not use her right eye even after it corrected, until we started the patch therapy. So keep going and having his eyes checked. I wish someone had told me sooner that her sight would be affected, even if the "problem" was fixed.

Beth - posted on 03/05/2009

Hi!  My 7 month old son has crossed his eyes since birth, but it didn't go away at 4 months like it should.  We took him to the eye doctor at 4 months and went back again this week.  The doctor told us he is farsighted and seems to think that is causing him to strain his eyes to see and so is crossing them.  He wants us to watch him for 2 more months and if it hasn't corrected he will prescribe glasses to see if that clears up the problem.  Frasier doesn't cross his eyes all the time, but mostly when he is tired.  Has anyone else had a similar situation?

Jenise - posted on 02/01/2009

We had some good news this past week. Allendra finally has some depth perception! We are continuing with the patching. She will have to wear the patch to kindergarten. But I am one of the kindergarten teachers at her school so I will be making sure that the students in her class and in mine are sensitive to her challenges.
Sarah, I know that it can be difficult but I strongly urge you to talk to her teacher about the other children. They don't mean to hurt her feelings, but they won't know to stop unless someone teaches them that their words can hurt. It is important that your daughter wears her glasses (and her patch), but she won't want to if they convince her otherwise.

Amber - posted on 01/28/2009

Sarah- That's awful they have been telling her that. In my personal opinion I think that children look better with glasses. lol. I think they look so educated and soooooo cute. Just a note for all Ava's eyes are 40 percent out of line. Her doctors appointment was yesterday. As well Ava will be taking part in a study at Sick Kids when she is 2 and 5 to test her depth perception her ability to see 3D etc. I was so excited to be apart of this study.

Sarah - posted on 01/24/2009

My daughter Sofia is 6 years old and was diagnosed with esotropia when she was 2.  She wore glasses and had the surgery at age 4 which for the most part straightened out her eyes.  She is still wearing glasses and may need another surgery in the future- she is supposed to be wearing a patch 4 hours a day, but that has been a huge struggle not only because of time constraints, but also because it freaks her out that she can't see very well when she wears it.  I am concerned about her eyesight getting worse and how that may impact her academics, social life, and her self concept.  Already in kindergarten, the kids have been telling her that they think she looks pretty WITHOUT her glasses.

Jessica - posted on 01/19/2009

Also if anyone needs some patches I have alot of the patches left over, I am hoping we won't need them anymore. Some are the Nexcare, some I bought online and have the sticker that go with them. Just message me and I would be more than happy to ship them. :)

Jessica - posted on 01/19/2009

Hi my name is Jessica and I have 2 children Alex is 7.5 yrs old and Emma is 4.5 yrs old. Alex was diagnosed at around 20 months old with Amblyopia, Strabismus and astigmatism. He done several rounds of patching, eye gles wearing and 3 surgeries. We are finally at a point where his turn is minimal and his vision is staying consistent. He is still in glasses. But after a long road I am hoping this is coming to a close. His last surgery was in May of 08 and was a big success.

Linda - posted on 01/19/2009

Isn't that something else- Braden had a horrible time with stairs also- but within days of the surgery he was walking down them with no problem! I can't wait to find out how much depth perception he had- I used to hate it we would be walking through the gym at school and he would take a HUGE step over the out of bounds line thinking it was a gap or step.

By 90% I mean that they are straight about 90% of the time, they will still turn on occasion especially when he is looking at something close- or he is sick- but the Ophth also said expect turning when his glasses are off- but even then they aren't too bad.

I'll post some more pics right now- : )

Amy - posted on 01/19/2009

I have ppictures of him after surgery. He didn't have depth perception. When they tested him using a 3-D thingy he didn't have any depth. He had a hard time learning how to walk down stairs. He use to sit on his bottom and scoot down a two inch step down from our doorway to the front porch. Now, we took him to see a 3-D movie he was begging to see and he reacted to the scenes just like everyone else. I haven't had his depth perception tested in a few years. He now walks down flights of stairs and jumps over things as if he can tell the distance. Maybe since we had the surgery so early his brain was able to compensate for the differences.

Amber - posted on 01/18/2009

I will for sure. I would definatly appreciate the pictures. Jenise, no i had no idea that the glasses are two diffrent thicknesses I have never heard of that before. Amy, your child was out playing in hours? Wow thats great. I can't believe nothing worked.... Have you ever asked him what he sees?... I have always been curious. I obviously can't ask Ava she isn't old enough to reply. Linda, Thanks I will watch for those bloody tears and like I said before I will continue posting her pre surgury measurements and let you know how everything goes...90% cosmetically straightened?... How bad were they before?

Linda - posted on 01/18/2009

I agree the surgery wasn't near as bad as I thought- be prepared for the "bloody tears" though- they are tinged red- and it does shock some people, I was forwarned, so it wasn't too too bad- any mom hates to see their child after surgery though- If your interested, I can post pics of Braden right after surgery. I still don't know what to believe as far as surgery- I know that Braden's eyes are cosmetically straight 90% of the time, however, our Optometrist still insists that his vision is still affected and always will be. I just knew that I couldn't wait until Braden was old enough to try vision therapy and miss my "window" if there is one. I am glad we had the surgery- it was a HORRIBLE decision for us though because we had so many conflicting opinions.

Keep us posted on her pre-surgery measurements!

Amy - posted on 01/18/2009

Quoting Amber-Lynne:

lol...I like the coloured patch idea and the stickers. We at first thought they were going to patch Ava's eye but they just ended up using glasses instead and then our doctor was very quick to go towards surgury as she is doing a study on proforming surgury as early as possible and testing the results because she is trying to prove early surgury solves the problem... What do you guys say?... Do you agree or disagree?

My son had surgery very early. Before he was a year old.  He had to have two more surgeries by the time he was three.  He is now 11 and is off 10 degrees in one eye.  WHen he is tired you notice it, but most of the time it is not an issues.  We tried the patching, drops and glasses.  None of them work for him.  He was allergic to the adhesive on the patch and it ended up pulling off large strips of skin when it was removed. UGH!  We did the glasses, but he refused to keep them on.  THe Dr. said that was because they didn't help him. We did the eye drops so that we wouldn't have to do the patch, but it did not have the results we were looking for.  I feel like the surgery was our only option.

With all three surgeries he was in and out and playing within hours.  His eyes were a little blood shot, but no other effects.

Jenise - posted on 01/17/2009

I think the patch was an option for Allendra because the muscles had strengthened on their own and it was only one eye. I know surgery is scary but honestly we do whatever we can to help our kids.

Did I mention that Allendra's glasses have two different thicknesses in the lenses. The weak one is coke-bottle thick and looks a little odd when she doesn't have her patch.

Amber - posted on 01/17/2009

she has had strabismuss since birth. We noticed it buther ped. said it would be fine (we were in edmonton alberta at the the time). We went out to sick kids in toronto Ontario and saw a doctor there and they said that it was a must we see an opthamologist. I moved here to Toronto because the opthamologist took her on as a patient. She suggested glasses to see if they would help. Here eyes straightened out a bit but then it was evident when you took the glasses off her eyes had gotten worse. Finally after about 3 or 4 months of the glasses we will be getting the surgury. I think the eye patch wasn't an option for us because it was intermit but it was both eyes... sometimes the left almost alwasy the right and sometimes both at the same time.

Jenise - posted on 01/17/2009

I know that early intervention is essential in cases of vision. After a certain age, it becomes much more difficult to correct problems. Allendra won't have to wear the patch forever because we did it so early. Surgery wasn't necessary for her because her eye straightened on its own, but the damage was done. I don't know enough about your daughter's condition, but early intervention is good.

Amber - posted on 01/17/2009

lol...I like the coloured patch idea and the stickers. We at first thought they were going to patch Ava's eye but they just ended up using glasses instead and then our doctor was very quick to go towards surgury as she is doing a study on proforming surgury as early as possible and testing the results because she is trying to prove early surgury solves the problem... What do you guys say?... Do you agree or disagree?

Jenise - posted on 01/17/2009

I have found that it is the adults who are the worst. The kids in Allendra's preschool were just interested, but adults who should know better can be so insensitive! However, we did meet one mom in the shopping mall who almost started crying when she saw Allendra's patch. We have coloured patches with cool pictures on them and this mom wished that her son had been able to have one like it when they were struggling with it.

Amber - posted on 01/17/2009

Its very nice to hear from you all!!! I am glad I found you guys! It is so lonley not having anyone who knows or understands the problem...Ava's surgury is booked for February 5th and her eye muscle messurements are set for the 27th of January so hopefully all goes well! I heard that after surgury they may have to have it again or that it may come back. By the looks of things Ava's eye sight is pretty bad as well she is wearing a +4.50 in both eyes so essentially she can't she squat without her glasses. I am hopeing all is well with everone elses children. I can't believe they actually make fun of kids at school for this?!... Like I said in my previous post though, even they way adults treat her is terrible

Linda - posted on 01/17/2009

Hi Jenise-

There are alot of resoursed at the toddlerglasses link above- plus some pictures of kids with patches- not sure if that will help or not but I thought I'd let ya know! We have never had to patch- just glasses then surgery- still glasses, he will probably need them til he is a teen, if not forever!

Jenise - posted on 01/17/2009

Hi, my name is Jenise. My daughter, Allendra, almost 5, has amblyopia (aka lazy eye). She was diagnosed almost a year ago. When she was born, her right eye was turned in, but it self-corrected and we thought it would be fine. No one told us that it could affect her vision. She was essentially blind in that eye. She has to wear glasses 24/7, but she also has to wear an eyepatch for half of her waking hours every day. She won't need surgery, but she has to endure stares and comments and questions whenever we go out. Some people are so careless. What four year old girl wants to be called a pirate! Thankfully she loves her glasses, but the patch is a daily struggle. I wish we knew any other child that had to wear one.
Good luck.

Rebecca - posted on 01/16/2009

My daughter is now 7 1/2, and we're still in the process of dealing with strabismus! She had eye surgery at the age of 4 which corrected it for the most part, but now it's coming back. We knew there was a chance of it coming back, and that she'd need more surgeries as she grew older, but it's very frustrating for her and us both :( I hate that she gets made fun of and people asking her questions. And you are so right, the nerve of some people is astounding at times! I have learned that the reason they are so rude is because of cluelessness, so we try and "Teach" them as much as possible so they'll treat her with respect! :)

Linda - posted on 01/12/2009

Hi Amber,

I'm Linda- and feel your pain! My son Braden had surgery this past June for Esotropia- and so far so good! You can read his story @ http://toddlerglasses.wordpress.com/2008...

if you are interested!

I need to go to bed know= but am sooo happy I found you!

Talk to you soon!