[mcanvasback]

The doctor wants me to take Bella to a pedi opthamologist - first she said, "as soon as possible", then she conceded that it was probably ok, but take her anyway. I think her eyes are fine but sometimes they do look a bit crossed. The doc said it's the right eye, sometimes it looks like the left eye, sometimes both, sometimes neither! The nurse thinks it's just the Asian eyes. Her irises are so dark they look black, and because of the way her eyes are shaped, it is hard to see the whites. (hey, I should probably post this on the China board!)

Anyway, I guess my question for those who have experience is, what is the worst case scenario, how urgent is it to take her, and what will they do to her??

[thmc1215]

Our DS had the same problem. The dr said that this is very common, and it's due to one eye's muscle not developing equal to the other eye's muscle. He just has to wear a patch on alternating eyes for 1 hour each day. I know another child that only has to wear the patch on one eye each day. I think DS will have to wear the patches for a few years, but at least for us, it's not surgery.

Hope you get good news from the doctor!

[mikeintexas]

I agree, these issues are fairly common. There are usually a range of options, but they depend on which muscles are affected and in which direction, etc. etc. The pedi opthamologists will be very good. Although we did two surgeries with Julia and even one surgery with our bio son William, they went well. Julia still had some patching to do for 3 hours/day but that cleared things up. The earlier you can get to this, the better... but it's not typically a massively urgent issue.

Good luck! Mike

[Ktates]

I would say make an appt now also...we brought dd home at 14 months - we went several weeks without noticing her eyes (had noticed on one of our trips though). If they end up doing surgery they like to try and do it before the age of 2...In our case glasses and patching havent' worked so we did surgery and we are still doing glasses and patching (but not as often)...

The other thing too is that the older they get the harder it is to get them into the habit of wearing the glasses or patches...so I would take Bella now...besides it could turn out to be nothing and you don't have to worry!

[leeinmemphis]

EXTREMELY crossed eyes.... it was painful to look at him sometimes because it looked like it hurt so badly (but it didnt).. he was 3.5 years old when we came home in June of 2004 and he had surgery in Sept and it made his eyes perfect. Outpatient surgery center and he was good as new in a week... no problems since.

Its scary sounding and surgery at any age is worrisome but really in the grand scheme of things, it was and mostly is an easy surgery.

Good luck!

alli

[Aphi86]

My pedi said to take Ava too. I didn't right away, but then one day I took a picture and caught her left eye turned in. I took her to a pedi opthomologist and he checked her eyes and said they were fine. He said that young children can have a convergence issue with weak muscles. For us, no further action was needed.

[Annabell]

Just wanted to lend my support. This was one issue we didn't deal with, but we've had friends whose kids have had such issues, and the advice of everyone here is so sound.

Try not to worry too much (RIGHT -- easy for ME to say -- you're sleepless right now). I agree it's best to see the specialist soon, both for your own peace of mind and for the well-being of beautiful Bella.

Please let us know what happens, ok? We care, and you're not alone.

[cathvash]

I had a mild problem with this myself- My folks noticed me squinting a lot, and when I was really tired, one of my eyes might wander for a few seconds. Nowadays, they often use patching to train the eye muscles, and surgery is done for cases that don't respond to training. In those days - everyone had surgery!

Having been through the surgery at the age of 5 and remembering quite clearly, I hope to put your mind at ease. They basically surgically "clip and tighten" the muscles as needed around the perimeter of the eye. The eye itself is not usually invloved at all! The recovery was minimal, not painful (although the dressing drove me nuts!), and results are usually very good. I believe that it may now be done as a "day surgery".