Strabismus Surgery

Next week Brode will be undergoing Strabismus Surgery on both eyes. Technically "strabismus" means lazy eye, but he does not quite have it to that extent. Here is a bit of a backstory:

Brode always had a head tilt when he was little, they thought maybe torticollis. After multiple physical therapy appointments it wasn't making progress and I just knew that isn't what it was. Torticollis is often diagnosed with Craniosynostosis patients but they end up down a different path.

We waited to see if his first craniosynostosis surgery would change it with a total reconstruction. It improved but could come back when he was very tired or staring at something very deeply.

At an appointment for a cold/pneumonia with a different doctor at his pediatrician's office (actually, his doctors husband) he began looking to his eyes as his tracking seemed to be off. They then noticed after consulting that when following the lights he would turn his head to the sides, not just the eyes. His tracking is bad and he tilts his head to make them align so he can see. Bingo. They send us to an ophthmologist within the same network.

Ophthamologist, with the notes from the pediatrician, performs tests and tests - he is farsighted, needs glasses. Wrongo. We came here for tracking issues, she never looked at that, only vision. Appointments, many many dollars, and 2 weeks later the "he will keep them on because he will be able to see better" theory was NOT working with Brode. Back to the pediatrician for a referral for a pediatric ophthamologist at Children's that will be familiar with his head history. Bingo. Very happy mommy.

Welcome to our lives Dr. Ruttum and your wealth of knowledge. Before we had his first appointment at the eye clinic we happened to have another head check-up in there and his craniofacial surgeon mentioned Brode's new eye doctor (whose office is 3 steps away) contacted him and they discussed his history and plans moving forward. This is very common with cranio so they have been through this many times. Thank you, finally! His eye muscle movement/tracking issues are because of the eye socket reconstruction when everything moved.

Many appointments later and second head surgery later we've patched Brode's eye for 9 months to correct any vision differences he has between eyes. They're as even as they are going to get for now. Now that Brode is old enough to sit in the chair and identify letters, shapes, etc. he can be tested throroughly for surgery.

3 muscles (between the 2 eyes) will be loosened in next week's surgery. This will correct any tracking/floating issues that Brode's eyes currently have. After surgery we will evaluate his vision again. They expect this to change as they begin to work together a bit more than they have been.

Hesitations - it's not a sure bet. No one can say how much to tighten/loosen. No one knows how his vision will react. Sometimes it's right on, sometimes things need to be repeated between muscle surgery and patching. Please just let this work!

Confessions - I'm more nervous for this than head surgery. I do not know why. Am I crazy? Child's entire head getting cut open with 2 weeks of recovery vs. outpatient 1 hour procedure with red eyes for a few weeks. I trust our doctor completely, I think it's the level of protection. I know his head was near his brain, but after many anatomy classes I also know they did not go through thick layers and were only on his skull. I went into protective instincts for healing, it was all done. Eyes, no way, he can not lose any vision. Eyes are small, fragile, tiny movements. Whew, I will be a wreck for those few hours.

Please keep Brode in a prayer or two this week! Through surgery and healing.

Check our health page at www.caringbridge.org/visit/brode for updates as surgery moves along.