Bilateral THR Gretel post op<

[Gretel]

@Mojo333 I'd love you to quiz her too but I can’t remember what she called it! It’s caused by a weakness of the muscles. Apparently I had a bit of a problem with my eyes when I was very little but it came good so Mum never told me. With aging the muscles just can’t manage to keep my focus straight all the time. Sometimes I’m okay but it’s happening much more often and driving is not great.
@EmEm I’m sorry you’re facing surgery on your hands I am rather worried about eye surgery too. Can’t help being worried in case something goes wrong. My close vision is okay. What if something happens and that goes wrong?!
Thank you @Layla I do appreciate the support in here.

 

[Mojo333]

@mcopt happens to be an optometrist...bet he has seen this before. I'm sure this is a surgery you need to have as we can't have you walking around seeing two of everything.
Maybe he will stop by and tell us what it's called.

 

[Layla]

Aww, Gretel....hate that you're worried.
I'll pray for you to have a feeling of peace in all of this.
I'm sure all will go well and you'll lose the pesky double vision. That has to be annoying.
It would be nice if mcopt stopped by and shared his knowledge on all.
I hope you have a peaceful rest of the week. Stay in touch
@Gretel

 

[Cassidy]

Hello @Gretel - I wonder if you've got the same as me. Apparently I've got a rare condition (my conditions are always rare!) called Brown Syndrome, where the tendon in one eye was too strong and pulled the eye down to one corner (e.g. if I looked to the right, the right eye would go and the left eye tried to follow, but didn't quite manage it) - so I saw double a lot when I was tired (almost to the point of nausea) and when I was driving I had to turn my head completely to the side, or shut one eye, so as not to see two of everything. I was told it was likely that I'd had it since birth but coped with it up to around 55, when the muscles were getting weaker and could no longer compensate. (My brother was born with a squint in both eyes, so probably my mother was so busy sorting him out ....) The surgeon said he was going to cut the tendon to loosen it a bit, but maybe not enough to completely straighten it, in fear of maybe cutting it too much and it going the opposite way! (I forgot to say that sometimes I'd look down, to a sink for example, and when I looked back up one eye would be looking at me in the mirror, and the left would still be looking down - my daughters would laugh and say that my eye had got stuck!) He said that if I wanted it cut a bit more, I could come back. I had the op a couple of years ago and, being the eye (a rather sensitive part of the body) was absolutely dreading it (even more than my hip op yet to come), but in actual fact it was fine. I was a day case and had an eye patch for a day, antibiotic drops several times a day and just a few days off work. It felt a bit scratchy for a few weeks (and was maybe a bit bloodshot), but otherwise not painful. I don't think it's completely cured the problem, but I think it's done enough to make a difference. I don't get nauseous walking around a supermarket any more and I can cross the road without wondering if two cars are going to run me down! This may not be your problem at all, but in any case I'm the proof that an eye operation doesn't have to be as grisly as we fear. Hope that's a bit of a help.

 

[mcopt]

Hi @Gretel Just picked up on this thanks to @Mojo333 I am more than happy to give you what advice and information I can, can you just give me a summary of your problems and any past history of eye related problems you may have had in the past I will do my best to help don't worry too much about eye surgery, if it comes to that, (easy to say I know ) but it really is state of the art nowadays and so successful, all the very best
Martin

 

[Gretel]

Thanks @Cassidy and @mcopt. It started about 18 months ago. I occasionally got double vision. I saw a specialist and he sent me for an mri of my brain and when it came back normal he said it was probably migraines. Six months or so later it was happening more so I went back to his colleague and he wasn’t really too interested and said it was my glasses causing the problem and to see the optometrist. My glasses are multi focal and a very strong prescription. She was very thorough and agreed my glasses were causing a bit of an issue and she gave me contacts. She did say she felt there was still an underlying issue though. Initially when I wore the contacts I had no double vision. I don’t really like wearing them though.
On our recent trip we watched shows and movies daily and even wearing contacts I had double vision every time. I ended up putting a patch in my glasses so I could watch. Driving is the daily issue. I’ve gotten into the habit of shutting my eye every turn and sometimes most of my trip is with one eye shut.
I saw a different specialist this time and she seems much more thorough. She asked repeatedly if I’d had a problem as a child. When I spoke to my mum it turns out I did but she’d never told me. One eye wandered about till I was about 15 months old. I shall have to let the specialist know when I see her.
When this first started I felt nauseous but at least that has stopped. Specialist sent me for blood tests to rule out diseases so will have have results when I see her. She was pretty sure it’s muscles though and after Mums revelation it’s certainly looking that way.
Well there’s a bit of an essay! Thanks for reading

 

[mcopt]

Hi @Gretel thanks for info couple of questions please, firstly is the double vision causing images to be side by side ie horizontal or on top of each other ? are you long sighted or short sighted and do you know roughly the power of your lenses ? do you and have you always had one eye that sees better than the other ? It is important to investigate any recent onset double vision as it can indicate more serious problems but it sounds as if those tests have been done and eliminated any serious issues. Has anyone discussed incorporating a prism in your spectacle prescription ?
Will try and give a bit more info when I have this info . I think @Cassidy may be on the right track as the external eye muscles tend to have a harder time in coping as we get older interesting to hear about Brown's syndrome don't see many although I did pick one up a couple of months ago in a 3 year old its not a serious issue and generally has no adverse consequences for the patient until sometimes you can't compensate there is a similar syndrome called Duanes most of these are just due to a bit of cross wiring of nerves or mis-development of muscles and tendons etc congenitally. ps I don't think at this stage you have Browns but you never know I would have thought it would have been identified when you were younger.
Cheers
Martin

 

[Gretel]

Hi @mcopt. Thanks for your reply. Images are side by side. I’m short sighted. I think +6? But then I’m not sure... Though I’ve had multi vocals for several years. The funny thing is I prefer to read without my glasses. There’s a slight difference with vision in either eye but it’s not a big difference. Because the double vision comes and goes a prism isn’t an option. I appreciate your knowledge

 

[Cassidy]

@Gretel and @mcopt, I suppose sometimes there isn't a diagnosis until older - I was around 60 when my Brown's syndrome was picked up. I think my Mum had been so busy sorting my brother - who had obvious squints - that I got missed. I was obviously able to compensate for it in childhood. It's only now that my mother admits that she had a lazy eye when she was young and, what with my brother, I suspect it's in the family. Not saying that yours is Brown's syndrome @Gretel, just that it's not always obvious. They did try me with prisms, but they made not a scrap of difference - worse if anything. When driving I had to shift my whole body sideways to see traffic coming from the right, otherwise I saw double. And, as I said, the double vision was worse when I was tired or the lighting was bad, and walking around a brightly lit supermarket, for example, always made me nauseous (bit like travel sickness!). Hope you get whatever is your problem sorted soon. Mine isn't perfect now, but it's miles better for the op. (Only trouble is I was always slightly long-sighted, now I've got one long-sighted eye and one short-sighted - as I said, I'm always a problem!)

 

[mcopt]

Hi @Gretel these intermittent problems are difficult to manage I always feel more comfortable when it is horizontal like yours sudden onset vertical diplopia rings sinister bells and yours thankfully isn't that . To me it sounds like you have an inherent weakness in the external eye muscles that in younger days you could compensate for as time goes on we are unable to do that . Prisms are an answer but only if its permanent the prisms would give you double vision when you are ok so obviously no help there . It is very important that your specracle prescription is accurate and also that the optical centres of the leneses are accurate I understand what you say about reading without specs I am short sighted too and as I type this I am not wearing my varifocals when you are short sighted your natural focal point is close and at -6 its about 30cm so your eyes dont have to put in any adjustment to focus and after the age of 50 increasingly they can't do that hence the need for varifocals or reading specs. I can't give you an answer totally I am afraid have you seen someone calked an orthoptist they specialise in binocular vision problems znd may have answers surgery on the eye muscles or maybe botox injections could be a possibility really not as scary as it sounds the injections are not into the eye just around it but there are probably other solutions. One other thing have you been checked for type 2 diabetes as the blood supply to the 3rd nerve can be reduced in diabetes causing double vision . Hope that helps a bit anything else you need to know please just ask if I can help explain or advise I am more than happy to.
All the best Martin

 

[Gretel]

Thank you Martin. Yes the ophthalmologist said surgery would be the way to go. I see her again on 12th so will discuss it in more detail then.

 

[Layla]

Good luck on the 12th, Gretel.
Let us know how it goes. We care
Hope you have a good week.
@Gretel

 

[Storygirl]

@Storygirl
We need to set you up a recovery thread.
Bilaterals are a tough breed.
Your surgeon sounds unusually amazing! That kind of PT is not needed.
Do you need the moderators help setting up your thread?
What would you like to call it?
You will be under bilateral classification so folks can stop by.
And we can give you some recovery guidelines!

I would be happy to set up a recovery thread. I have no idea how to. Still trying to find my original thread!
I think I did too much over the weekend. I had to, my daughter was taken to emergency twice with complications after her sinus surgery. But in concentrating on her and driving back and forth to hospital, etc. I must have overdone it. Plus I stopped the oxycodone. So back in the oxy today. And I’ll try to lay low. I do have to go back to the hospital and help her today. I’ll take it easy. Maybe I’ll just take the walker, will have to if the pain doesn’t go away. Hard to put weight on my right leg right now.
A hard weekend. My friends husband died after plunging off a cliff at Yosemite. Then my daughter. Thank God for His strength.

 

[Storygirl]

@Storygirl
We need to set you up a recovery thread.
Bilaterals are a tough breed.
Your surgeon sounds unusually amazing! That kind of PT is not needed.
Do you need the moderators help setting up your thread?
What would you like to call it?
You will be under bilateral classification so folks can stop by.
And we can give you some recovery guidelines!

@Storygirl
We need to set you up a recovery thread.
Bilaterals are a tough breed.
Your surgeon sounds unusually amazing! That kind of PT is not needed.
Do you need the moderators help setting up your thread?
What would you like to call it?
You will be under bilateral classification so folks can stop by.
And we can give you some recovery guidelines!

I would be happy to set up a recovery thread. I have no idea how to. Still trying to find my original thread!
I think I did too much over the weekend. I had to, my daughter was taken to emergency twice with complications after her sinus surgery. But in concentrating on her and driving back and forth to hospital, etc. I must have overdone it. Plus I stopped the oxycodone. So back in the oxy today. And I’ll try to lay low. I do have to go back to the hospital and help her today. I’ll take it easy. Maybe I’ll just take the walker, will have to if the pain doesn’t go away. Hard to put weight on my right leg right now.
A hard weekend. My friends husband died after plunging off a cliff at Yosemite. Then my daughter. Thank God for His strength.

I read the end and the way I wrote it sounded funny. I want to clarify that my daughter is still very much alive, just in hospital. Thank you God.

 

[Gretel]

Okay I saw the ophthalmic specialist today. All was fine with my blood tests. I’m suffering decompensated esophoria. I’m booked in for surgery 28th June. She’ll operate on both eyes. It seems I do these things in pairs...

 

[Mojo333]

Oh my stars...you sure do.
Fancy name for the condition...I'll have to look that up.
Can you try to make this your last surgery for a while!?
Hope this resolves your eye problems!

 

[Gretel]

Thanks @Mojo333 I was hoping to have a surgery free year! @mcopt can you tell me anything?

 

[Layla]

I've never heard of that condition, Gretel, but I wish you the best.
If mcopt doesn't educate is I'll read about it.
Will be thinking of you as you move toward June 28th.
Hoping you have a nice weekend.
@Gretel

 

[Gretel]

Thanks @Layla . I hope you have a great weekend too

 

[Mojo333]

Gretel Girl.

It seems I do these things in pairs..

Bilateral Babe.
Diva of Duos
Superstar of Symmetry

Wondering if you were all ready to roll on getting those peepers on track?
Guess you'll be sporting sunglasses for a bit or what have they told you about recovery from the eye surgery?
I can imagine this also is nerve wracking for you..they can do so much to correct things people just used to have to live with before.
Know that I am thinking of you...
You deserve a break after this...