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Post by Renee' on Sept 12, 2004 15:06:39 GMT -5
Well, I am not sure what to do. Lauren has glasses yet she will NOT keep them on. I have tried everything. Her vision is a +11 and her glasses were lowered to a +5 so she would keep them on. Now her eyes are starting to cross. What do they do for this? Of their any surgery to help their vison?
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Post by Emilysmom on Sept 12, 2004 17:50:40 GMT -5
Renee, Actually, the way we learned that Emily was farsighted was that she started crossing her eyes at times....one eye more than the other. I immediately thought of a surgery to correct this, and took her to an opthamologist. He said no surgery was needed and that she needed glasses for reading. He specifically said she did not have to wear them all the time....just for reading. However, a few years later I took her to a pediatric opthalmologist and he said the more she wore them the better. He said not only do glasses improve the vision while wearing them....they actually can "fix" the eye problem that caused the vision limitation to begin with. He suggested that we encourage Emily to wear her glasses as much as possible. You'd sure think if they were able to see better, they would WANT the glasses on! But, she sees them as something to wear when reading, or at school and that's it!! ~ Sorry......I'm sure none of that answered your question, really. I mostly wanted to say that our doc said surgery would not be helpful in Em's case.
Susan
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Post by christie on Sept 12, 2004 21:17:42 GMT -5
RENEE, YES there is an operation for cross eyed BUT I am not sure if LAUREN needs it MY niece truly had crossed eyes OMG I have to be honest and tell you it made me dizzy looking at her From the photos you have recently posted of Lauren I don't see the same at all My niece thankfully had the operation and the difference is amazing What does you eye Doc say?? Chris has very bad eyes and luckily has worn his glasses from the get go with no problems actually is the first thing he asks for in the am and falls asleep with them on From what the Eye Doc tells me wearing the glasses has acutally helped correct his vision ;D Just a thought but what about another opinion from another eye doc on Lauren's glasses... BEST of LUCK CC ~
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Post by Renee' on Sept 13, 2004 0:48:56 GMT -5
He says have her wear her glasses and it will help. Well, he doesn't know my kid. She has already broken 2 pair and lost 1. She wont keep them on. They say she can't see but she can read stuff without them. She gets cross eyed mostly at night.
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Post by PaigesMom on Sept 13, 2004 9:12:44 GMT -5
Renee,
Not that this makes it any easier, but I know where you are coming from. My Paige wont keep hers on either. I have to say she has gotten much better, and they did change the prescription to make it easier for her, and she also crosses with the glasses on SOMETIMES, but alot towards the nighttime whether they are on or off.
I was told that the crossing was actually her TRYING to focus her farsightedness away - that when you cross, things that are blurry will look better.
I'm not sure what Lauren has, Paige has amblyopia and strabismus - in our case, if the brain decides that it likes one eye more than the other, it will "shut the other eye off" for good, eventually, so as hard as it is, doing everything possible to have her keep them on is well worth it.
Again, I know where you are coming from.
Debbie, Mom of Paige, insurer of 7 pairs of broken glasses and the latest ones scratched when she threw them down on the pavement!
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Post by Sherri on Sept 13, 2004 13:24:06 GMT -5
Hi Renee, Just wanted to post up about our experience with eye crossing. My little guy, Jared, has had 2 eye muscle surgeries for Alternating Esotropia (which is a form of Strabismus). His eyes were turning into his nose, but not at the same time. He is also farsighted, but not enough to warrant glasses yet. One of the main reasons that we decided to go ahead & have the procedure done is that you lose your depth perception (the ability to use the eyes together) if the Strabismus if left untreated. Jared had his first eye surgery done on both eyes when he was 2yrs old. He actually had complications with the procedure & ended up with a terrible eye infection in his right eye. Then when we went back for his annual exam a year later, our pediatric ophthalmologist wasn't pleased with the right eye so we decided to do it again (1 more time) since Jared was already scheduled to have his ear tubes replaced & his adenoids removed. I was so relieved that he made it through all the procedures this time with no complications. Jared just had his annual eye exam a month ago & all still looks great. The eye doctor is very pleased with the way things look at this point, even though I do still notice when Jared's tired that his right eye tends to pull in occasionally. I would like to share that having surgery isn't the "fix" that you are probably looking for. I sure was surprised when it was recommended that we do it the second time around & it was a soul searching decision for us to make too. And I have to admit if it's mentioned to us again..........I'll think we'll probably pass on it & go ahead & insist that we try glasses to see if it helps. Here is a web site that I found when Jared had his first procedure done. Just click on the link & it should take you there. www.aafp.org/afp/980901ap/broderic.htmlBtw, I'd also like to recommend the book "Medical & Surgical Care for Children with Down Syndrome" A Guide for Parents. The link below should take you to some information about it. woodbinehouse.com/synopsis.asp_Q_product_id_E_0-933149-54-9_A_.aspI wish you guys all the best & if you have any questions, just let me know. Take care & have a great day!! Sherri Ps: I hope that school is going better for Lauren.
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Post by Claire on Sept 14, 2004 9:14:46 GMT -5
Adm is also crossed eye, ven though it doesn't show much when he wears his glasses. My daughter Savannah (not DS) got surgery for her crossed eyes. It went well but she will still have glasses for the rest of her life. Make sure you see a good optometrist before making the decision. The measurements were a pain in the butt as we had to travel 10 hours aways for a 10 minute appointment 5 times in one year before the surgery. But the surgery itself wasn't bad at all. She just hated the drops you have to put in her eyes for at least 2 weeks. If you wish e-mail me at my personal address and I will send you a picture of Savannah before and after. Quite the difference.
cladav@puc.net Hope this helps.
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Post by momofrussell on Sept 14, 2004 15:09:33 GMT -5
Russell has had the muscle sugery that Sherri mentioned. Russell has lots of different things going on with his eyes, but has Ambliopia (form of strabismus) and had the muscle surgery for it. If you are looking at Russell his Left eye STILL turns in.. and that is the eye we had issues with. Russell's left eye has more probs then the Right eye, so it turns in still, and he doesn't use it well. He also had to have re-constructive surgery to his pupil of this left eye.
I think it would depend on how LONG it has been going on and if it is with both eyes. We tried patching to get Russell to use his eye better but it didn't work. Russell also has Nystagmus pretty bad (eyes jiggle) and I do believe Russell's eye's "float" kind of like what Sherri described about Jared.
I would ask your doc about it. Sometimes they want to see how long it has been going on , like I mentioned. Keep a look at if it's both eyes at the same time or one or the other eye.. or both independently so you can tell the doc.
Good luck!
A.
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Post by Staci on Sept 15, 2004 10:38:27 GMT -5
Renee, Aidan is doing the same thing. He will NOT keep glasses on, he's torn several pair up, and it is virtually impossible to keep glasses on this kid! Now...like Lauren, one eye is starting to cross. His doc said that his not wearing glasses isn't causing this and he doesn't seem too concerned about it. I keep looking for that "perfect" pair of glasses hoping that if he gets the perfect pair, he'll wear them! But, no...no luck so far Cathy was mentioning a brand of glasses that she got for her little Katie that seems to be working and I think that's going to be our next pair for Aidan...they are flexy and bendable, etc...harder for them to break. They are called Flexon (the brand) if that is something you want to look into. We also cut Aidan's prescription down (he wears a -10 and we got -5 to see if it would help) but that doesn't seem to be working, either. AUGH! I wish you luck...I need it, too! Staci
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Post by Renee' on Sept 18, 2004 22:56:49 GMT -5
Thank you all for your responses. I will just keep trying to get these glasses on her. We have those that are not suppose to break...Did I mention she has broken 2 pair I asked the doctor if the would ever do Lasix on an individual with DS and he said no. I was hoping when she was older she could have it done and not have to worry about glasses. Well, back to trying to keep them on.
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