Yeah for patching! 
I am very excited to share with you that we have now had 3 visits where Elliana is measuring at 20/40 and 20/50 (with glasses of course) Our 12 hour, full time, patching has paid off. The PO said that she never imagined her vision getting to this level of vision and said that with her Exotropia and severe Ambliopia only 1 in 10 kids will get to this point where both eyes are relatively equal. She is also now turning both eyes outward, as opposed to only her left eye. While this may seam a digression, it actually means that her brain is using both eyes and that she is using both equally!
Now for my reward …. Surgery. I know, one would think all this hard work would actually just give us a great prognosis and allow me to go home a celebrate. NO WAY – because her vision has improved to a point in which she is using both eyes equally, the PO thinks it is the best time for Bilateral Lateral Rectus Surgery. Originally, she was thinking maybe around the kindergarten age, but after discussion Elliana’s lack of any depth perception (usually by age 2, some chance of gaining it before age 5) and her vision improvement, now is the time.
So, I am back to research mode. Thankfully, we now have a very good relationship with the doctor and I have utmost confidence in her and her staff. My baby’s eyes are truly in good hands. It is also re-assuring to know that she performs on average 8-10 of these surgeries weekly and has few patients return for “touch up surgeries.” I am hoping those of you who have been through this surgery with active toddlers / preschoolers can help me prepare both my family and Elliana on what to expect during, after and in the recovery stages.
For Little Eyes 
Hi Amomofelly!!! That’s such great news on Elliana’s sucess! Our daughter has also recently reached that point of equal acuity after two months of full-time patching and vision therapy. Initially, our PO also thought that she would need bilateral surgery for the second time, but he wanted to give her eyes some time backing off of the patching to see if they can learn to work together and possible get better muscle control to prevent surgery. So, we went to five hours a day patching for two months and on the day of her next appointment, we did not patch at all until we saw him (per his instructions). He was so impressed with her progress, that at this point, he no longer believes that surgery is necessary. Both eyes have maintained equal acuity and her eyes are straight in the distance, yet they do turn in up close, which is why we now have bifocals. Anyways, I just wanted to throw that out to you. I know our daughters have different diagnosis, but it may be worth seeing how your Elly’s eyes learn to work together when not patched full time. I know it is all overwhelming and stressful on the whole family! We will be thinking of you as you prepare for surgery! All the best to you! Congratulations on all your hard work paying off!!!
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Corrie, that’s fantastic news for your Ellie, too! How exciting that her eyes are starting to work together now.
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Hooray, that’s such great news for Elly! You’ve all got to be so thrilled.
You know I’m happy to talk your ear off about the surgery and recovery, though Zoe was quite a bit younger than Elly.
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Ann – I was hoping that you may be able to direct me to some credible sources that explain the surgery and the recovery. It seems pretty routine for the PO, but completely new and scary for me. I’d also like to chat sometime this week… I’ll send you an e-mail!
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Hi! Just wanted to share how happy I am to hear of Elly’s success! I’ve been following along over months and you’ve put in so much hard work! You’re a great mom!
I originally wrote in about 7 months ago when my (now 2 1/2 yr old) son, Ryan, was first diagnosed with strabismus. It was obviously a very hard time for us. (as it is for all of us!) Well, after 6 long months of different prescriptions and patching he finally had surgery TODAY! I haven’t slept in days and even though everything went great today apparently my body is still working on no sleep bc here I am writing at 1am! He had to have 2 muscles done on each eye. His eyes drifted in and up. We saw many different doctors over the past several months and also finally found one that we absolutely loved and felt 100% confident in. Today was such a long day but everything turned out as good as we could have expected. He was quite cranky all day but finally started to act more like himself right before bedtime. I know we still may have a long road ahead of us but I am so thankful that today went well, and it is finally over. All the advice I read on here was extremely helpful! I felt so prepared bc of this site! (bloody tears…good to know ahead of time!) THANK YOU! By no means am I an expert but I would love to talk to you about anything having to do with the surgery, if you have any questions. I took a bunch of pics to document our day too, so maybe I’ll send some in. Well, I better attempt some sleep…who knows what tomorrow will bring!
Again, so glad to hear about Elly!
Ann- BIG THANKS again, for this wonderful site!
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Sara, thanks for the update, and I’m so happy to hear that the surgery went as well as it did. Please feel free to send any pictures in if you’d like, and keep us updated on his recovery.
But first get some sleep!! 🙂
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This is such exciting news for Elly & your family! I’m sure you are just thrilled to death with the news! Aubrie hasn’t ever required surgery for her eyes – so I’m not much help there, but I can offer prayers!
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Hi Amomofelly – it’s great to hear of your daughter’s progress. My daughter (2.5 y.o.) had her eye muscle surgery at the end of September in both eyes to correct them from turning inwards and upwards. Despite being so nervous, I was glad to have her go through the surgery. You can read about our experience – I believe Ann had a link to it in one of her round-ups or I can send you the link. I found out that reading of others’ experiences was the best help for me in terms of understanding what to expect, etc.
Good luck!
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Her procedure was: Bilateral inferior oblique myectomy and bilateral medial rectus recess
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