I'm freaking out a little - thoughts or ideas please on lazy eye/potential blindness??

[Mama_2_Boy]

I'm sorry if I'm in the wrong place to post this.  My daughter will be 3 in December.  We noticed from birth that her left eye was a little off sometimes.  The family doctor indicated that it was hardly noticeable and had checked them early on and she said it looked fine and would most likely correct itself.  Seriously, you barely noticed it.  Today my DH was really bothered by it because they were outside playing and he said for the first time he noticed it go waaay off the other one.  We covered her right eye and tried to get her to look at several things, name things, point things out - you name it - and she couldn't.  When we blocked the left eye, she was fine to name her toys, point things out, follow you across the room.  Both pupils react to light.  DH is currently at the emergency room in hospital which is where our family doctor told us to go.  Of course we've been all over the web and it does indicate that lazy eye can worsen if left untreated.  Does anyone have any insight into this or experience?  I am just trying to find out as much as I can while DH is in the waiting room where he'll be for a few hrs at best.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts - we're both pretty scared right now.

[transylvania_mom]

Take a deep breath. Your dd is going to be fine.There is no need to panic until you know exactly what it is. Ds has been diagnosed with "lazy eye" (strabismus) when he was almost 5; he has had it from birth and I haven't realized until then. He wears glasses now and has 20/20 vision, 3D vision, so his eyes are perfect, he just needs a bit of help from his glasses to keep them aligned properly.

I've also met parents with kids diagnosed with strabismus whose children were gradually weaned off their glasses eventually.

I'm not saying this is what's going to happen to your dd, but I just wanted to point out there are positive stories too.

GL and keep us posted.

[Mama_2_Boy]

Thank you for your reply transylvania_mom

I got an update; The emerg doctor said she has to go see a specialist and was trying to get my husband into one today, so the emergency department is phoning on our behalf so I hope he can get in right away.

Now the emerg dr being just that and not specialized in the area, I will take HIS findings with a grain of salt.  He looked at her left eye with the light in complete darkness and he indicated that the eye is NOT responsive which he said indicates that there is something wrong with the eye itself.

Is this also consistent with lazy eye?

[Mama_2_Boy]

Ok a further update now they are saying she can not see out of her left eye.  The say that only an optomologyst is going to be able to confirm what damage - if any- there is.  I know from looking around online that some things are corrected by surgery, but I am terrified of her having surgery at such a young age.

[~Adorkable~]

hugs mama this must be a lot to go thru, take it one step at a time and remember that your daughter has been doing just fine however she is, so that is good.  please keep us informed, i will be thinking about you and sending good thoughts

[Mama_2_Boy]

Originally Posted by ~Adorkable~ 

hugs mama this must be a lot to go thru, take it one step at a time and remember that your daughter has been doing just fine however she is, so that is good.  please keep us informed, i will be thinking about you and sending good thoughts

Thank you for your kind words.  I know she is fine right now, and I do take comfort in that.

What's got me thinking crazy thoughts is if they tell us she needs surgery to correct her vision...she's so little, I just can't think that it's okay to put a small child under kwim?  I know it's done all the time, but my DH lost his brother when he was little, because he had a reaction to the drugs they put him under with.

Makes me sick just thinking about it.

Is there a place on the boards, that if need be, I can go talk about surgery in young children?

[~Adorkable~]

i think here is the place to talk about that. we are here for you.

Anesthesia is a very evolving science and a lot more is known about it then a generation ago, specially in small kids. but i can really understand how your family history adds to the worry.

one you pinpoint what is exactly going on and what can be done to fix it, you may want to talk about if things need to be done now or if waiting a year or two will really change anything?  i can see it being both ways depending on whats happening. it could be something that is "active" and needs to nipped in the bud, or something that is more static and just needs to be address before too much time passes.

one good thing may be that at this age they really trust you and will take their reaction to things off yours, so keep positive and as relaxed as you can in the circumstances and your daughter will hopefully follow your lead.

[baltmom]

Just wanted to let you know that my son was born with strabismus and had surgery at 10 months. Both the surgery and the recovery went extremely smoothly. I completely understand your anxiety and worries - hopefully you will be able to discuss your family history and other concerns with the doctors involved, and together reach a decision that feels right. Many hugs!

[Mama_2_Boy]

Thank you for you kind words Balmom.

We were just called this morning from the hospital to go into the clinic this afternoon for the optomologyst.  Now I am really sick to my stomach!  I had called my doctors office the day after DH was in hospital to see if they could schedule us in with the opto and they said to get children in - it takes WEEKS to MONTHS!  Now I'm really wondering if in the emerg they saw something and didn't want to alarm my DH and just contact the clinic (its in the same hospital).

God I hope it's nothing serious.

[graciegal]

Hi Mama_2_boy, since the reactions to the anesthesia medication for surgery can be hereditary, please tell them about your husband's brother and try to find out what they used, if at all possible.
 

[Mama_2_Boy]

Well I can stop worrying about the surgery part for now.  We saw the specialist and he said that she has severe damage to the optic nerve.  He said he's only ever seen this in older people and that there is NOTHING they can do for it. (!!!!)  They do not know what caused this but they can tell by the amount of damage involved that it has been present from either pregnancy, or very shortly after birth.  They are having another specialist contact us in the next few weeks to concure.  They then want to do some blood work on her to rule out any causes.

I'm so confused.

[~Adorkable~]

oh mama, hugs. hang in there and remember how happy and wonderful your child is and has been with this probably her whole life and it never slowed her down.

[jmarroq]

My left eye turns in. Probably had it since birth. From what I read, it can be due to a birth trauma or heredity (my mom was tiny, I was large, and my face was bruised up from forceps. One of my eyes was swollen and pink when I was born too and I was isolated from other babies but that was 1971). My particular condition is accommodative esotropia and it is inherited quite frequently (50% of the time). So far, neither of my children have it. It's so funny..I remember seeing old black and white photos from the early 1900s of some relatives in Europe and there was this one guy with a very crossed eye!! It is controlled with glasses for up-close work, like right now on computer, but I don't wear them out in pubic because the lenses are quite thick. if I am shopping and looking at price tags or ingredients on labels...or if someone asks me to read something, or if I look at a menu or any type of close reading, my eye is completely crossed. It also happens if I am tired or have had one too many glasses of wine. I have lived with it since birth and I am fine. I think my vision is 20/20 with glasses and still 20/20 in one eye without...a little blurrier in the other. I don't know if that is what your son has, but you should definitely have it checked out. 

[fairejour]

Originally Posted by Mama_2_Boy 

Thank you for your kind words.  I know she is fine right now, and I do take comfort in that.

What's got me thinking crazy thoughts is if they tell us she needs surgery to correct her vision...she's so little, I just can't think that it's okay to put a small child under kwim?  I know it's done all the time, but my DH lost his brother when he was little, because he had a reaction to the drugs they put him under with.

Makes me sick just thinking about it.

Is there a place on the boards, that if need be, I can go talk about surgery in young children?

I think you should post over in "Special Needs Parenting". There will be other parents whose children have undergone surgery (like mine) as well as parents of children with vision loss or eye abnormalities.