Eye Surgery on a Toddler

One of my daughters had eyes that crossed in. She had her first surgery at 5 and the second at 6 (for a slight over correction) We tried glasses and the patch and eye excersises. Nothing else worked. Our surgeon advised us that it is best to get the surgery young so that the eye muscles will continue to grow with the child having a better success rate. We could not be more happier with the results. We were told that she would be in glasses for the rest of her life. After the second surgery, her vision is 20/20. She would get questioned about her eyes by the other children and her twin would stand up for her. Now no one even notices that anything was ever off. She did very well with the surgeries. The worst thing we had to deal with was making her open her eyes and use them. We let her keep them closed with a wash cloth laid on her face for the first day. Then the next day no wash rag. The third day she had to open her eyes at certain times and before she knew it, she was opening them more on her own.
I hope that this has helped you.
S.

Hi S.
Surgery is always scary! But, the good news is that my husband which is now 43 , has had exotropia since he was a very young child and he had his first surgery when he was about 3-He came through with flying colors ! I do know of an excellent surgeon her name is Dr.Caren Curnyn.She is located in Arlington Heights , Illinois.My husband has had this surgery to correct his eye again back in 2004.Which he also came through wonderfully! I hope this helps and if you have more questions write me again and I will ask him ( my husband) for the answers:)
Have a great day:)
Kouros6

I have not had a child go through exotropia, but I was born with the condition and had my first surgery when I was one. I know it was extremely hard for my parents to send their baby into an operating table, and my mom cried the whole time. I had to wear casts on my arms for six months so that I would not scratch my eyes. The good news is that my first surgery was successful, and I did not need another one until I was 21. I may need another one in the future, but it is not imminent. My parents spent a LOT of time looking around for eye surgeons, and the MDs who did both of my surgeries were both pediatric opthamologists. I have been told that you can do exercises and patches, but they are not going to correct it without surgery. I am sure this is very scary for you, but I wish you and your daughter all the best!

I used to work for a pediatric Ophthalmologist and from her experience, I know they won't recommend surgery unless it definitely is needed. Vision therapy and muscle therapies work for some children with some diagnoses, but not all. The muscle surgeries that she did were very successful! From the other responses to your question, it looks like most people are very happy. I only saw one who said future therapy will be needed for her son. Cases like this aren't USUALLY due to surgery not working, just that his specific case probably needed more care than someone else's. Every case is very individualized, but it sounds like your daughter would benefit. Go for the second opinion and put yourself at ease doing whatever is necessary to make this difficult decision. Only you know when you are ready!! Good luck. Feel free to contact me directly if you'd like any more info on this or the doctor I used to work for.

I don't know much about childhood eye problems but if you want a second opinion I know of a wonderful opthamologist. My grandpa had severe cataracts for years. He went through 3-5 cataract operations before we found Dr. King. He was the only doc that could fix my grandpa's eyes and he used to wear glasses as thick as the old Coke bottles. He is a very conservative eye doctor. He doesn't want to recommend a medical treatment if it was unnecessary. If you have a sty he will tell you to go home and heat a potato and put it on your eye and it goes away. His practice is in Geneva in the Physicians offices at Delnor Hospital. I believe it is called Geneva Eye Clinic. Dr.King is the best ever and no one in my whole extended family will see anyone else for their eyes. Good luck with your little girl. And when you need a second opinion call Dr. King.

Sorry that you have to deal with this. My son has had 3 eye surgeries. He had amblyopia and strasbismum (lazy eye). His first surgery he was only 9 months ols, the second he was 11 months and the third 2 years. That was the hardest thing I have had to do. He is now 13 and his eye goes out instead of in and he does get a lot of ridicule from his peers. Surgery is not a guarantee. We did the patching first and that did not help much but it is more to strengthen the muscles and the vision. We are now going to try vision therapy. Not sure if it will work but at this stage I will try it to see if it will straighten out his eye. I had surgey at two years old and my eye was good for many years until the past few where my eye will go up instead of out. There are no guarantees but only you know what is right for your child. The surgery is an outpatient procedure and my son made it through with flying colors. Good luck to you.

I have known 2 children that had eye surgery, one due to an injury at 4 yrs old. Both came out great. The one thing taht I would definietly make sure of is if the specialist knows exactly what is going on and is very experienced. I looked this up on line since I don't know what the other child had that required surgery and it said that of eye surgeries, this one is safe and may require a surgery when the child is older to make sure the eyes stay straight. It is always a tough decision for parents to make regarding any kind of procedure, surgery, etc for their child. If you are nervous, maybe you can ask the specialist if you could possibly talk to others that have gone through this. Privacy laws won;t allow him to give you their info but if possible, he could ask others to contact you if they are willing to talk. I have done this for my son, both agreeing to be contacted or meet at the doctor's office since care is ongoing and agreeing to give my name so I could talk to someone.