First, let me give a little bit of my background-

When I was 5 years old, I was hit in the right eye with a rubber-tipped dart. Hyphema set in, and I had to undergo emergency surgery to try to save my sight. Surgery was somewhat successful; as I didn't end up completely blind in the eye but was (and still am) blind enough in that eye to be declared legally blind in the eye. I also have double-vision in my left (good) eye but had become so accustomed to it over the years that it wasn't much of a bother for me anymore.

I am now 28 years old, and over the last 10-12 years I noticed that the eye had started to drift (Amblyopia) to the right and would only straighten out if the object I was looking at was directly in front of my face. This started to happen because my brain started suppressing the images from my right eye since for the most part it wasn't being used anymore.

Amblyopia turned out to be a very difficult for me to deal with because I could just feel people noticing it when making eye contact with me, making me not want to look people in the eye while talking to them. It also made me pretty much avoid photo opportunities altogether because it was clearly noticeable in photos and I couldn't stand to look at them. My family and friends would say it "wasn't a big deal", but to me it was a very big deal.

I have worn glasses, patched my good eye and done exercises but to no avail. So, I decided to look into surgery to have it repaired. I am getting married at the end of April and I didn't want to look back on my Wedding album and see my eye drifting in the photos.

I had the surgery on Tuesday of last week with the same Doctor who had done my initial surgery 23 years ago. The surgery lasted 3 hours and seemed to go well.

Later that night, I finally opened my eye and was happy to see that it was now straight. Unfortunately, I noticed that my double vision had now "re-positioned" and was now manifesting itself almost right over the images I see out of my good eye.

I returned to the Doctor the next day (Wednesday) and asked him about this. He said he "wished we had discussed that further" and said that the double vision would not go away on its own. He said that over time my brain will suppress it like it had earlier but there is no way to tell how much time that will take. He did say that I could have a contact lens made that will eliminate the double vision but I will lose my periphery (peripheral vision?) in the right eye. He also said that there may be a way to make a contact lens that will save the periphery in the eye, but eliminate the straight-on sight in the eye.

So, almost a week later and the double vision still remains a huge problem. I know Strabismus surgeries take 6 weeks to heal, but at this point I am growing frustrated because there is not much I can do in the meantime. I can't even look at something with both eyes because of the double vision. I am worried that it is going to take my brain a long time to suppress the double vision, and with my wedding coming up, my job, driving, sports, etc. that I am going to be sitting around for a long time. I know it's only been a week since the surgery and it's nowhere near healed yet, but I can't stop thinking about not being able to live life the way I did just a week ago.

I am going to see the Doctor again on Thursday where I will talk to him further about the double vision and contact lenses but right now I'm really upset.

If anyone here has had this surgery and was in a situation similar to mine, please tell me it gets better. I'm starting to lose hope fast!

Thanks for reading....I look forward to any feedback.

-Brian

Youch!

I've had two strab surgeries... one in Jan 1996 and the second In Dec. 2003. My vision in my left eye (the one of the main focus for surgery) has been supressed for over 20 years...and surgery didn't change that......thankfully.

So basically though they do consider it medically necessary surgery it was more for cosmetic reasons (Especially the 2003 surgery; did it then the same reasons you did, wedding coming up) For me.

Definately go back to the doctor and talk talk talk. Personally?...I'd probably try the contacts (Pain as they are) to see if they help. I realize that means losing some if not all the peripheral vision....but it may help to supress that eye quicker, or make it more manageable.

I have zippo peripheral vision in my left eye (also the supressed eye) And I manage just fine...

Good Luck with whatever you decide.....and hope the healing process is fast for ya!

How is it having no peripheral vision in your eye? I keep putting my hand to the side of my right eye, trying to envision what it would be like without the peripheral vision, but I don't know if that's an accurate depiction of how it would be.

Also, I have become so dependant on my left eye that I don't really use my right eye for much- really the only thing I use it for is for a split second when I am driving and I move into a right lane. I quickly close my left eye and look through my right eye to make sure no car is where I want to get to.

Also, I play hockey and I may use the eye a little there but kind of subconsciously.....I'm not sure because I never took the time to notice if I used it or not when i'm playing.

Arghh...this sucks. :(

How is it having no peripheral vision in your eye? I keep putting my hand to the side of my right eye, trying to envision what it would be like without the peripheral vision, but I don't know if that's an accurate depiction of how it would be.
:(

Doesn't bother me at all....but it's also the eye I supress so....I never notice it anyhow unless I consiously turn that eye on which is a rare event in and of itself...LOL

But if you do try to use that eye, can you see absolutely nothing going on on the side? Is it like a wall has been put up only enabling you to see directly in front of you or can you still see a little bit off to the side?

Sorry for all the questions! :)

BTW, I had my appointment yesterday (I rescheduled it from Thursday).

I talked to My Doctor about my concerns with the double vision and he said that I should just hang in there for at least 3 weeks to let the eye fully heal. If at that point the double vision is still bothering me, we will look into contacts. He seems to be pretty optimistic that my brain will adapt to the the new double vision. I wish I shared that optimism :(

Also, I was wrong about the contacts- If I get a contact for the eye, it will block out the vision in the eye completely, not just the peripheral vision as I thought. So, that sucks. He told me he really hopes I don't go that route, but I told him I may have to if this keeps up much longer.

I did ask him about possibly getting a contact made up that will "deaden" the vision in the eye. He said yes, that is a possibility. He then took out some different lenses from a droor, ones that were very blurry. I put a couple up to my right eye, and the double vision went away. The only drawback is that when I tried to look through the eye with the lens in front of it, it was so blurry that I can't see anything out of it (picture how it feels when water gets in your eye). But, I guess some vision without double vision is better than no vision without double vision.

So, as of right now, I am going to deal with it another three weeks and see how it feels. But if it's still there by that time, I am going to go with that blurry contact lens. The only things I am worried about is it causing possible headaches because of the new, worse vision and how it will be when I'm driving.

Ugh....what a mess. :rolleyes: