Okay, I'm shooting in the dark here. I have recently been contacted by another MDC momma that happened across a thread of mine mentioning my Meredith's eye surgeries for Exotrophia. She sent me information on alternatives to surgery through the Family Hope Center.
A bit of background. Meredith, at 6 months, started showing symptoms of eye deviation. Her left eye turned outward. By the time she was a year old her eye was deviating more often than not and she lacked control of it. She had surgery at the age of 1 where they went in and cut the muscles and re-attached them to re-align the eye. After it healed they looked perfect.
Up until this time she had not crawled, pulled up or walked (obviously). She had a developmental surge. She pretty much skipped crawling and started pulling up and then walking within weeks of the surgery.
Fast forward 6 months and we started to notice that her left eye was turning inward. It seemed to have been 'over-corrected.' By the time she was two she was nearly always cross-eyed. Living in a different city and state, we were seeing a different specialist. He said that it seemed the muscle that was originally detached and re-attached had slipped. He did the same surgery (basically) and re-aligned the eye when Meredith turned 2. After surgery it always looked a bit 'off' to me, but no one else seemed to notice it.
Fast forward 6 months again and Meredith is 2 1/2 years old. We notice when she is tired, just woke up, or has been crying . . . the left eye is deviating outward. She is 3 now and basically she is headed for another surgery if the specialist has anything to do with it. He has stated that he does not understand the lack of alignment. I am not comfortable with another surgery - we are talking eye surgery - scar tissue - anesthesia. SHE IS 3!!
She gets frustrated by them. We call them 'crazy eyes.' She handles it better that way b/c she can make a joke of it, "Look momma I have crazy eyes." And it is funny b/c she knows they are that way when she is tired. I will often say, "I can tell you are tired Meredith" and she will say, "Look at my eyes - do I look tired?" :LOL
Anyway, the FHC offers a sort of creeping/crawling therapy to teach the brain differently. They believe strabismus to be a mid-brain injury.
Has anyone had experience with this that can share? I'm not sure this is the most appropriate forum, but I don't know which one is if it isn't.
Thanks for reading this far - if you've come this far.
A bit of background. Meredith, at 6 months, started showing symptoms of eye deviation. Her left eye turned outward. By the time she was a year old her eye was deviating more often than not and she lacked control of it. She had surgery at the age of 1 where they went in and cut the muscles and re-attached them to re-align the eye. After it healed they looked perfect.
Up until this time she had not crawled, pulled up or walked (obviously). She had a developmental surge. She pretty much skipped crawling and started pulling up and then walking within weeks of the surgery.
Fast forward 6 months and we started to notice that her left eye was turning inward. It seemed to have been 'over-corrected.' By the time she was two she was nearly always cross-eyed. Living in a different city and state, we were seeing a different specialist. He said that it seemed the muscle that was originally detached and re-attached had slipped. He did the same surgery (basically) and re-aligned the eye when Meredith turned 2. After surgery it always looked a bit 'off' to me, but no one else seemed to notice it.
Fast forward 6 months again and Meredith is 2 1/2 years old. We notice when she is tired, just woke up, or has been crying . . . the left eye is deviating outward. She is 3 now and basically she is headed for another surgery if the specialist has anything to do with it. He has stated that he does not understand the lack of alignment. I am not comfortable with another surgery - we are talking eye surgery - scar tissue - anesthesia. SHE IS 3!!
She gets frustrated by them. We call them 'crazy eyes.' She handles it better that way b/c she can make a joke of it, "Look momma I have crazy eyes." And it is funny b/c she knows they are that way when she is tired. I will often say, "I can tell you are tired Meredith" and she will say, "Look at my eyes - do I look tired?" :LOL
Anyway, the FHC offers a sort of creeping/crawling therapy to teach the brain differently. They believe strabismus to be a mid-brain injury.
Has anyone had experience with this that can share? I'm not sure this is the most appropriate forum, but I don't know which one is if it isn't.
Thanks for reading this far - if you've come this far.