Second Opinion

We saw a children's ophthalmologist today for a second opinion on Ryan's eye condition. There weren't any revelations really. She agreed that surgery is reasonable (and if it were her child, she would do it), but she said it is also reasonable to not do surgery. However, if we ever think we'll want surgery for him, we should do it now. The surgery is most successful the earlier it is done. If we opt for surgery, it will restore peripheral vision but not really improve his vision to the point where he will not need glasses (at least for several years). He sees almost 20/20 with his glasses now. The patching has been working great, and he sees equally well out of both eyes now.

If we don't have surgery, his strabismus will stay the same and will not improve with time. So basically, he will have limited peripheral vision, and his eyes will still cross, significantly when he's looking at something up close. If we wait and let him decide when he's older, we run the risk of the surgery not being successful. So to do reconstructive surgery now or to leave well enough alone is the question.

I know I certainly wouldn't want to live my whole life with my eyes crossing back and forth incessantly, and my hubby agrees. We've decided we are going ahead with the surgery. We believe it's in his best interests, and I pray we've made the best decision for Ryan.

These pictures don't show it very clearly, but they show somewhat how his eyes cross with and without glasses. I had a difficult time getting him to look at the camera and hold still so I could get a good picture. His left eye probably crosses a little more frequently than the right, but they both do cross.

Often without his glasses, his eyes will cross
even more than this picture shows.


This is a little bit blurry, but it does
show how his right eye crosses too.


This shows how his eyes look when he crosses them at
distance with his glasses on. This is probably about
how they will look after surgery without glasses.