DD eye doc wants to do surgery. Help.

[taximomfor4]

I posted this on the CB as well, but probably more people here are more experienced in this stuff.

I'm going to ramble, I think. DD8 has a collection of special needs (all invisible). One is a blind spot in her left eye. Well, her pediatric opthalmologist just completely shocked us yesterday, saying that she needs surgery on that eye to loosen 3 muscles. I am so afraid. Our old pediatric opthalmologist never mentioned any strabismus, but lately, when the new dr holds an item up and laterally (where she doesn't see with her Left eye), her eye just jumps a completely different direction. He told us that it is time to fix the muscles. I don't really know about eyes, and am not sure that fixing muscles is going to change the outcome. She will still have a blind spot up and laterally...but what do I know?

I know enough about eyes to know we are at the tail end of the cutoff for fixing strabismus -- it can become permanent after age 8. So he scheduled the surgery for 1/4. I am soooo not ready. I want to try to get a second opinion, but our former ped. opthalm.schedules a good 8-9 months out. I know there is one other ped opthalm that has been highly recommended to me, but there is probably nil chance he can squeeze dd in so quickly.

What do I do? And how do I prepare her for this surgery? She has sensory integration dysfunction, so lots of things bug her waaaaaay more than the typical kid. HELP!

Beth
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[RNMOM]

Beth,

I see you are in NE Ohio. Can I ask which hospital you are using? If you aren't at the Cleveland Clinic Eye Institute, please check it out. My DH had a retinal tear at work and they got him in in an hour, fixed it at the office and he has been fine since. They keep having him come for rechecks and have even gone in on Sunday when he thought it worsened.

I am not usually a huge fan of CCF but they do some areas of medicine very well and I feel this is one area.

When you call for a second opinion, do you let them know when the surgery is scheduled for and that you are looking for a second opinion? Sometimes that helps.

 

[Schmeck]

My DD has had eye surgery to fix something similar - it was day surgery, we were home by 4PM. She was just under 3 yrs old at the time. We were in, prepped (putting her in a johnny - maybe you could get one to practice with?) and I got to carry her into the OR. Just the anesthetist (sp?) and me to start with, so no huge crowd of strangers. I got to stay with her until she was under. She also got to bring her favorite stuffed animal in with her.

Contact the surgeon's office to see what info they can give you about the surgery, so you can better prepare your daughter. Of course, get a second opinion to see if the surgery is necessary.

 

[SueM in MN]

You got very good advice already. I agree with both of the posters.

It sounds like you also need to find out what the objective of the surgery is. Sounds to me like you know that the blind spot will still be there, but are not sure why the doctor is recommending surgery. It sounds like the surgery might have 2 objectives - one being to allow her to effectively use the sight she does have in that eye and the other possibly being cosmetic. I've known several adults with uncorrected strabismus. I know that the 'jumping eye' that looks in a different direction really bothers them.

 

[mcraft17]

My dd was 9 when she had her eye surgery for esotropia. She didn't have any depth perception, but now she does. My dd has ADHD and some sensory issues. The surgery went well, she was nervous but we tried to explain it as best we could to her level. We brought her favorite animal and she wore her favorite dress. She didn't want to take it off so the doctor was nice to let her wear it. You might let your dd do the same (ask first if it is ok) I know my dd has a thing about how certain clothes feel and I think it gave her some control. My dd also has a low tolerence for pain, so when she woke up they let her have a little more time before she left and gave her a little more meds. It was hard to see her in pain but she got over it fairly quickly the only thing that really bothered her over the next couple days was the eye drops which she cannot stand to have in her eyes. Also a big thing prepare her for her eyes to be red for a few days. The first time my dd saw hers she was worried till we explained it was ok. Have faith it is good to get it done now and not wait too long, we put surgery off for a little while because her first opthamologist thought she just needed glasses. When we moved and saw another one she said we really should have done it earlier but we didn't know. Now she is doing wonderfully although she definitly does not like it's tough to be a bug show now since she can actually see the bugs coming out!