Eye surgery #1

Elena had her first strabismus surgery when she was XX months old. Basically, they move muscles on the eyeball “forward or backward” to give her eyes a more straightforward appearance, and hope 1) this allow the visual cortex to process images with both eyes, with depth perception, 2) and that the brain locks on to this as the proper way to see. It’s an outpatient process. I was a complete wreck, worried about such a little baby going into surgery… Jason wasn’t really nervous—or else, he didn’t show it. The doctor was the only pediatric opthamologist in my city, and he came well-recommended. After the surgery, Elena’s eyes were a little puffy, but within a day or two her eyes did look better (but not much). She got checkups a month after, and Jason and I didn’t think the surgery really “took”. The doctor was adamant that she was fine. I actively (and initially, calmly) disagreed with him. The general rule with strabismus and infants is they’d like to “fix” their vision, if possible, by two years of age. I went to my last visit with my local doctor YY months post-op, where he insisted she was fine. I spend the next 6 months visiting 4 more pediatric opthamologists, all of whom said she was NOT fine, and needed more intervention. BREAK Some of these doctors were terrible. The last one I went to was recommended to me by my mother’s neighbor—her son unfortunately passed away due to brain cancer—she knows EVERY doctor and specialist around. The doctor she recommended is terrific—respectful to parents, open to questions, gentle and reassuring with children, as are his entire staff.