Definition
Eye muscle surgery is preformed to weaken, strengthen, or reposition any of the extraocular muscles (small muscles) located on the surface of the eye that move the eyeball in all directions.
Purpose
The extraocular muscles attach via tendons to the sclera (the white, opaque, outer protective covering of the eyeball) at different places just behind an imaginary equator circling the top, bottom, left, and right of the eye. The other end of each of these muscles attaches to a part of the orbit (the eye socket in the skull). These muscles enable the eyes to move up, down, to one side or the other, or any angle in between.
Eye muscle surgery is also performed to treat such other eye disorders as nystagmus; nystagmus is a condition in which one or both eyes move rapidly or oscillate; this condition can be improved by moving the eyes to the position of least oscillation.
Brody is such a trooper, I on the other hand was a complete mess as they took him from my arms to the surgery area. That is one feeling and experience I wish to never repeat. We made sure all of the nurses and doctors involved with this surgery were very aware of the scare our little man gave us last time he went under general anesthesia (i.e. like not breathing and sending everyone into a mad panic) but thank goodness everything was textbook and the doc said we should notice the change and correction almost right away. And as he was coming out of his anesthesia it was so hard to watch his little bloody tears stream down his cheeks and his very sweet little whimper of a cry... it made my heart melt and break all at the same time.
Scott and I struggled with the thought of electing to having this surgery done - we really held out for a long time thinking there had to be another alternative or that miraculously things would improve on their own - but over the course of the last 2 months we have never been more sure with a true belief that this is the right and BEST thing for him. Just to watch him walk around the house or in the yard was enough to give any parent a heart attack as he would have so many head-on collisions with immoveable objects like walls, table corners, or brick fireplaces - seriously, if we didn't do this surgery we would be investing in protective head gear instead. The poor kid would take off running in a full sprint after his sisters with his head turned a whole 90 degrees to the right... how could you not run into a wall or trip over the smallest toy? I'm at least blessed with the peace of mind that he will now have a fighting chance to be a normal kid, an athletic boy, heck at this point I'll settle for a son who isn't taking his life into his own hands each time he takes a step.
I don't think Brody is ready for any paparazzi moments, so you'll have to wait on the pics, but I promise some soon.