Sitting in the Red Lion Inn at the Convention Center in Portland tonight; we’ll be here for the next couple of days. Not a pleasure or casual visit, though; tomorrow our son (he’s three) has corrective eye surgery for esotropia.
It’ll be his second such surgery (our daughter, who’s five, has also had two eye surgeries). It’s simultaneously a minor and a major surgery; minor because there’s nothing being transplanted, or amputated, or anything like that, and major because he will still be fully anesthetized and getting the full surgical “treatment.”
The gory details? The lateral muscles of the eyes—those attached to the sides—are moved forwards or backwards on the wall of the eyeball to correct the respective alignment problem. Yes, this involves removing them from where they attach and sewing them onto a new location. Freaky? You bet, but at the same time utterly amazing at what can be accomplished in this day and age.
Anyway, that’s the latest in case blogging gets light the next couple of days. (Though tonight I’m blogging a bit.)
Comments
2 responses to “In Portland”
Ewww. But cool. Hey John, this doesn’t have to do with eyes that don’t work together, does it? I’ve had that forever. Sorta sideways bifocals. Never could see that damn bird in that damn cage. Nearsighted, astigmatism – I’ve read the PCs are making us all go blind. But in a GOOD way;-)
Well, it’s essentially that when crossed, they don’t work together. One eye becomes dominant, and in extreme, untreated cases, the brain "shuts off" the weak eye and it becomes effectively blind. Irreversibly.
Now, it’s probably not specifically what you have, but it could be similar.