rwbeagles-Catching up with kiddos health stuff

rwbeagles

I know he'll need something...but hoping it's not the lazy eye/amblyopeia I and Lily both had.

I had lazy eye in both eyes and had to have surgery when I was 8 or 9.  It was pretty traumatic waking up with patches on both eyes but better than having the kids tease me all the time.

I hope Eli has a good eye Dr. visit tomorrow.

I have a roaming eye.  Usually it's ok, but when I get tired or very bored, like in a meeting at work, it floats.  It always gives me away too, whenever DH is talking about something that is boring me to death my eye always gives me away.    I am supposed to wear at patch at night to help build up the strength of the eye, but I haven't been to good with that.

mrstjohnson

It always gives me away too, whenever DH is talking about something that is boring me to death my eye always gives me away. 

Even having had surgery, I still have one eye that wanders when I'm really tired too. I don't think DH pays enough attention to realize I'm literally drifting when he goes on about something

well here it's an honest lazy eye thing. One just flat out doesn't do the work of the other. They both track and look normal but on both of us...the left does NOT do it's job. I was patched as  a kid but Lily rec'd the eyedrop route and it completely fixed the issue. It took a solid year tho and every 4 week visits to closely track the improvement. If you don't address and correct amblyopeia by age 6 or so...it is set and you CANNOT fix it later on. The actual nerve will not develop and nothing much can be done after that age.

Mine was not fixed and I am legally blind in my left eye and no correction is possible. The other side has your more normal farsightedness and I wear glasses for that with a dummy lens on the left...contacts I only wear the one.

rwbeagles

contacts I only wear the one.

At least a box on contacts will last you twice as long

rwbeagles

If you don't address and correct amblyopeia by age 6 or so...it is set and you CANNOT fix it later on. The actual nerve will not develop and nothing much can be done after that age.

I've been told by every eye dr. I've seen as an adult that I was very lucky that the surgery worked as well as it did. I was also told that the surgery is also done on adults though and has a high success rate, so I'm not sure what the difference is.  Perhaps because I had it in both eyes, other treatments such as the patch wouldn't have been an option.

If your eyes were physically wandering..that isn't amblyopia as much as strabisimus or whatever (it can be caused by strabisimus but ours is genetic, without wandering eyes).

Amblyopia is more a nerve issue....it flat out doesn't develop evenly on both sides and the images the brain sees compensate by simply taking the stronger sides word on everything you see and calling it a day. The cure for what we have is to FORCE both that weak eye....and the brain to speak to one another properly. To do that they disable the strong eye. In my daughters case..with atropine eyedrops. The brain actually will retrain itself to "see" from both sides simultaneously.

I can't really explain to you what it's like to not have both sides speak to the brain equally but what you see and take for granted I can't even imagine. 3-D movies and images...sterograms...I cannot see them...I see strange lines instead. I have what amounts to monocular vision  I see double if I concentrate too hard, and I must turn my head to get a full set of info on what I am seeing off to my left. Outwardly the eyes are completely normal and track completely together without me having to think about it...it's what they see...and how they speak to the brain...that's the rub.

My daughter's two eyes have learned to work together so she'll never have my issues. My treatment was caught later...at age 5 going on 6...and it was flat out too late. No surgery or anything will help. The eye must be made stronger at a young age or all is lost. I told myself no matter what or how much she resisted she would be treated, and early...lol. No way would I wish my eye (s) on anyone lol.

Luckily what we saw today with Eli cranky pants was...he is nearsighted...myopic...and needed glasses, but no apparent amblyopia! He's wearing them now and he HATES them as much as Lily liked hers, of course! LOL. He looks SO cute in them tho...it's really too much! He goes back for a recheck of the Rx in 3 weeks...to try and see if he's more cooperative on what he can and cannot see.

I am guessing younger and younger people will be getting Lasik soon....if that is safe and works I would consider it for both the kids...not being able to see well...sucks!

rwbeagles

not being able to see well...sucks!

I couldn't agree more and I'm so glad that Eli only needs to compensate for his distant vision.

Yes, I do think mine must've been strabismus. Mostly embarassing, but I don't recall actually having trouble seeing. I do remember kids teasing me terribly - "hey, are you looking at me or her?" and that was bad enough. After the surgery, I had double vision for quite some time until the muscles healed, so I know how awful that can be too. Other than that though, I had great vision until the last several years and then something I took for granted, reading, became tougher and tougher. I wear contacts (monovision) now and I can get by, but it's far from ideal :(

cakana

I do remember kids teasing me terribly - "hey, are you looking at me or her?"

Grr...that got me Momma feathers ruffled LOL. Kids can be so mean...*sigh*

I'll have to grab a pic of the wee man in his specs and post it soon I'm letting his hair grow out a bit and the Caesar curls at his temples are a nice touch for photos LOL.