Prayers needed and questions about lazy eye

adamwife · June 2009

My BF just called and her 3.5 yo daughter had an eye exam today. She had been complaining that her eye hurt and they had noticed it drifting every now and then. Well the doctor said today that basically every time the eye drifts her daughter is seeing double and that she will either have to do therapy for 3-4 months (which COULD not be covered by insurance) or have a pretty invasive surgery (which will most likely be covered).

She called me very upset and doesn't know what to do. Anyone have experience with this?

Please pray for her and her little girl.

lhull · June 2009

Aww that is sad. They can do incredible things these days so hopefully they found this early enough. They will be in my thoughts.

I'mAcrossThePond · June 2009

You probably don't want to hear this, but since you asked for advice or experience, I feel I should let you know. My friend's 4 year old started getting a lazy eye too. She started to lose vision in it as well...they found out over the weekend that she has a brain tumor. Sad

. I was sooooo sad when I found out. Just have your friend make sure that's all it is. God forbid it is something more.

kabarbanel · June 2009

Aww! My friend's niece had a lazy eye from the day she was born. She got surgery a little before she turned 1. They could do 2 surgeries: One that is less invasive and the doctor felt would work well, or another that is more invasive. They chose the first one and it did not take, so now she will probably have to do the more invasive one, which means an over night stay at the hospital

But, most likely they will be able to fix it, it's just a matter of putting the baby through it and like you said, whether or not insurance is gonna cover it!

adamwife · June 2009

I'mAcrossThePond:
You probably don't want to hear this, but since you asked for advice or experience, I feel I should let you know. My friend's 4 year old started getting a lazy eye too. She started to lose vision in it as well...they found out over the weekend that she has a brain tumor. . I was sooooo sad when I found out. Just have your friend make sure that's all it is. God forbid it is something more.

Oh dear. I don't even know how to approach this with her. I would have to wait until she gets over the shock of the eye problem before I freak her out with thoughts of tumors.

How would you bring this up?

Burns2Be44 · June 2009

If you google strabismus (sp) it will give you a little more info. It is the "technical term) for it. I was actually treated for this just 2 years ago.

You friend can actually try self treating this for a little buit before she makes a decision. And the surgury is not horrible.

What it technically is, is a weak muscle in one eye causing it to drift to the weaker side. And when your eyes are not both in the same direction you can see double. She can put a patch on the "good" eye and try to train the weaker eye to get stronger. They say to give it 6 months or so. As a 23 yr old, I did not want to wear a patch on my eye and not be able to drive for 6 months.

The surg. is a faster solution, but I would recommend the patch first. They cut a small portion of the muscle on the weaker eye and shorten the muscle to straighten the eye out. Then it takes a few days with horrrible headaches to get your brain adjusted, but i was back to normal after 4 days. And have been fine ever since.

Hope that will help put your friend at ease. It is always worse when you first yera about it bc you freak out a bit. But suggest to her to look up different exercises she can do with her and the patch therapy. I doubt she will actually need a therapist to help.

GL to her

lzybeanie · June 2009

Aw! Good luck to the little girl! I had strabismus (one lazy eye) when I was little and they didn't do surgery. They corrected it with bifocals instead. But they didn't do it until I was around 6 years old.

AngelLuver_02 · June 2009

my sister had a lazy eye when she was born. She had surgery when she was 1-2 years old. She had to wear a patch for like a week, but ever since she has been fine. I have no other information.sorry

Mrs.AKP · June 2009

i have two friends that had surgery for that when they were kids. they don't remember it, and everything's fine now. ME on the other hand... i had shingles about 5 years ago, on my forehead and around my eye. i had nerve damage, and now have a lazy eye because of it. i'm too old for the surgery (i.e. it wouldn't do any good). i start off each day fine, but by the end of the day i can't get my eyes to work together, and i generally spend the evening seeing double. NOT FUN AT ALL.

Mrs. E · June 2009

It could be a variety of things.

I have Amblyopia, which is really what they call "lazy eye". You would NEVER know from looking at me. My eyes don't drift. It was detected late (5 years old) and at that time my mother was not comfortable with surgery. She decided to patch it instead. BIG mistake!!! I looked like a pirate (not a Cajun pirate either) so I always took it off. They now have drops that you can put in that patch the "good" eye and you can't tell. My vision in my "bad" eye is 220/20 (have not been tested PP, they feel worse). I am legally blind in that eye, once again NO ONE would ever be able to tell. My DH always forgets until I remind him I can't see that far!

There are many ways to correct, and they have treatment available up until the age of 17 now I believe. Tell your friend to start saving her pennies, it is NOT too late. My "good" eye is now starting to weaken due to the constant straining over the years. My ophthalmologist highly discourages Lasik on my good eye for fear that if something during the procedure goes wrong I would be blind.

I wish your friend the best, but there is now a lot that can be done before 10 years old. Sometimes it can even correct itself. It is really not about your eyes, it is the signal from the brain to your eye that causes this condition.

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