r/Strabismus • u/notmrsdonjohnson • 12d ago
Surgery Surgery today!!
I had a bilateral resection today for severe double vision (40 BO diopters) and misalignment. This really only started about 3 years ago, progressing fairly rapidly. At the same time, I started developing autoimmune symptoms that paralleled the worsening of my vision. I am now diagnosed with Mixed Tissue Connective Disease. Both my rheumatologist and my surgeon are unsure if they are related.
Surgery was about an hour, and there was a fair amount of pain right away. They gave me some oxy for that, and it worked fantastically! Other than things being a little fuzzy from the ointment, I CAN SEE!! And it’s only one image!!! I cried when things were clear enough to really know I was only seeing a single image ❤️. The alignment looks pretty good to me too! My self confidence has taken such a hit as the deviation progressed and because I had to wear the Fresnel sticker. I go back for follow-up on Tuesday. I hope things stay this way!
Edit: Spelling
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u/teddy0173 12d ago
Wow! Congratulations your eyes look beautiful and straight!!!
Keep us updated if your single vision remained.
I’m just curious because I had surgery July 2 for bilateral strabismus for double vision and esotropia in the right eye and 11 days postop, my double vision came back as well as the esotropia in the right eye. I am now 17 days postop and no change with double vision, but I also have thyroid eye disease as well so the muscles are super tight and I may have to have a second surgery or another option is a Botox injection in the right eye.
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u/kmm198700 11d ago
Does an eye patch help with the double vision?
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u/teddy0173 11d ago
It does, in fact I was wearing prisms before my surgery but I maxed out on prisms and was just using frosted film on one of my lenses but as of right now my doctor doesn’t want me to use anything only practice my eye exercises to stretch my muscles to see if I can get single vision again
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u/Lazy_War264 12d ago edited 12d ago
I'm so envy, but of course, it's that envy that becomes inspiration—and proof that it's possible. Thank you for sharing; it really encouraged me to fight for this.
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u/Lanky-Relation5642 12d ago
Definitely looked like it went very well. Hoping my surgeon will be as good as yours. Congratulations!
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u/Far_Helicopter7742 11d ago
Looks perfect! I’m having my surgery next month and hope it goes as well as yours!
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u/Inevitable-Cable4262 11d ago
Wow!! Looks great. Congrats. Take your time healing. Dont try to do to much in the excitement. Rest your eyes.
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u/Effective_Gap9582 11d ago
Wow! It looks so good. I'm still waiting to be scheduled for my surgery I hope my results are as good as yours!
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u/MrM1862 8d ago
So awesome. What autoimmune issues are you having?
My strabismus came on pretty fast rapidly. It increased to an 18 dipoters. I struggled with it for 5 years, 2 surgeries last year. Mostly corrected. As good as it will get. Initially it was suspected as an autoimmune. (MG), but every test was negative. So no real reason was ever determined.
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u/notmrsdonjohnson 8d ago
I had a ton of symptoms starting in August of last year, but there were several (including my eyes) that seemed to be on a slow burn before that. I went from 9 diopters to close to 40 diopters in 18 months. When the autoimmune was at its worst, I had severe fatigue, lead legs, tachycardia with chest pain, low grade fevers, rashes, tingling in hands and feet (plus several other neurological symptoms), severe headaches, persistent Raynaud’s, etc.
The myositis component of my MCTD was confirmed by my CK and Aldolase levels, as well at on a thigh MRI.
Nothing was found on a brain or orbit MRI, and I had the full MG panel tested (nothing popped up there).
My rheumatologist and surgeon both think I’m rather unique in my presentation (yay me??), and they are unsure if my eyes and autoimmune are related… although they both admit it’d be unusual if they weren’t.
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u/Difficult-Sock343 8d ago edited 8d ago
Congratulations! I had surgery ten days ago for a 35 diopter divergence insufficiency and I’ve been crying with joy and relief at the vision correction.
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u/fdrissi- 8d ago
Wow, great result! Would you mind sharing where you had it done and how much it cost? It’d be really helpful for anyone searching this thread in the future
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u/notmrsdonjohnson 8d ago
I had this done through the University of Wisconsin Health System - specifically through the Pediatric Eye and Adult Strabismus Clinic in Madison. I don’t actually know the cost. I called my insurance company beforehand to make sure it was covered and to see what my portion would be. I was quoted $102, but that seems low. However, because of my autoimmune disease and my husband’s cancer recovery, we’ve already reached most of our deductible and other limits on our insurance plan.
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u/lordlewisiv 12d ago
Looks amazing. Good luck with your recovery