Duane's Syndrome and how being "that mom" paid off

Friends on FB may have noticed that PB had surgery last week and it might have been the first they'd heard about it. So I thought I would share a little bit about why PB has to go under the knife.

Before PB was even 3 months old, we notices that his eyes seemed to be crossed. We'd read in the "What to Expect" book that this was not abnormal in newborns. But once my step-mom notices and said something about it, I thought maybe we should just mention it to the pediatrician.

At PB's 3 month visit, the pediatrician dismissed it, saying it is not uncommon in newborns and that we could just keep an eye on it...no pun intended. But at the 4 month visit when I mentioned it again, the doctor seemed a little more concerned.

He referred us to a pediatric ophthalmologist who within 10 seconds had him diagnosed...Duane's Syndrome. Um, what?? What is that??

Duane's Syndrome is "a rare, congenital eye movement disorder most commonly characterized by the inability of the eye to abduct or move outwards". He is missing a nerve that causes one of the muscles in the left eye to move. So it's not that his right eye was crossing in as we'd thought. In fact, the left eye was not turning out.

Older children with Duane's Syndrome will tell you that looking straight ahead with their heads facing forward causes double vision. As an adaptation, children with Duane's Syndrome usually develop a head turn. PB was no different. The picture below is a good example of this.

The surgery PB had will not create significant movement in the left eye. You cannot create a nerve where one does not exist. But by loosening the inner muscles of both eyes, creating slack in the muscles, the eyes will straighten and the head turn disappears.

I was wreck leading up to that surgery. Almost nothing in the world scares me as much as anesthesia. General anesthesia. And seeing my little PB not knowing what the heck was happening to him was awful. But the surgery was lightening fast. And went very smoothly.

Friends, family, and his eye doctor will tell you....they're already straighter. And the head turn is gone for the most part.

I am finding that parenthood is not just learning how to raise happy, healthy children. You expect long nights and colds and discipline issues. You don't necessarily expect "rare congenital disorders". Thankfully this is minor one. A hiccup in the scheme of things. But it's also another case where being "that mom" has paid off in the best interest of my PB.