Xander's Eye Story, Cyclic Esotropia - Eye Patch Pattern

Xander was 2.5 years of age we noticed something happening with his eyes. One day at dinner we noticed Xander's right eye turn in toward his nose for a few moments. He was being silly at the moment, but it did give us a moment of pause - enough to heighten our awareness. About a week later driving in the car his right eye turned again, but this time for about 10 min and then it returned position. We called our Dr. to see what she thought, and she referred us immediately to a Pediatric Ophthalmologist.

While we were waiting for an appointment, the turning became rapidly more constant. It was determined that his right eye was much weaker than the left, and that he was also farsighted. Farsightedness apparently is quite normal in children to a degree and usually resolves, but the difference in sight between the eyes was causing a problem called Esotropia - Intermittent Strabismus, turning of his right eye inward.

In addition to the glasses Xander needed to have his left eye ( his "good/strong"eye) patched in order to force his brain to use his right eye to strengthen his vision. His left eye was patched for a total of 6hrs per day, broken up into 2 sessions.
This was so difficult as he was a busy 2.5 year old and trying to get him to wear glasses was a big adjustment. We bought glasses with clear lenses, so that we could all wear them together. We also had his favorite stuffed animal wear glasses. Xander really did do amazingly well, and in a short period time was wearing his glasses all the time!

The patching however was a challenge. We started out using the adhesive version from the drug store, because we did not know what else to use or what would be approved by our Doctor. The first day we patched and tried to remove it, his little skin peeled and he was sore and red.

I found all kinds of designs for patches online, and came up with a patch that worked well for Xander. His fit behind his glasses, This made life easier, and it completely occluded vision in his left eye.

Patching was going really well with these new patches. There were a few times that he took it off, but we were able to work this out fairly easily. Then something really odd started to happen. His vision was improving in his right eye, and was getting close to matching his left eye. The odd part was that (when wearing glasses) his right eye would still turn - for 1 day - the following day he would wake with his eyes perfectly straight - the next day the left eye would turn in - followed by a day of both straight. This 24hr cycle started off slowly and we were not 100% sure of what was happening until the pattern became unmistakable.

We let his PO know what was happening, but without daily visits he could not determine without seeing first hand what was happening. We were located 1.5hrs from the hospital, so I asked if I could photograph his eyes and email the pictures for a few days. He agreed, and this is exactly what we did.
Xander had developed a rare form of Strabismus called Cyclic Esotropia. It's hard to believe unless you see if for yourself.

This was a condition that could not be corrected with glasses or patching as his vision was now close in both eyes. Luckily our Pediatric Ophthalmologist was/is also a very skilled Eye Surgeon.
At age three plus he had surgery on both eyes.
The surgery was extremely successful, and his eye alignment remains stable today.

 Xander is still wearing glasses today, because shortly after surgery he developed an astigmatism.
We have had such a hard time finding great glasses for Xander now, because he is in that stage where kids are too small but most adult frames are too large. We were very excited to find these new frames, they are Puma PU 15277 in case anyone is interested. They have super adjustable ear pieces, and have a metal lip inside the lens frames that work well with a thicker lens.

   I thought I would share this in hope that it will help.

I am offering a free pattern and instructions for the patch I created for Xander.
Xander called the patch his "fish", and it changed the entire experience for him.

Our patch is completely NO SEW - easy and cheap to make!! I have made a pattern for it with instructions. When you print this pattern please DO NOT SHRINK to fit in your printer settings or the scale will be off. If printed at the correct scale the patch should measure approx 4.5" long.

You can download the pattern instructions here.

Download the pattern here.

To attach the patch - put it over the nose piece first,

and close the arm enough to slip it over the ear piece.

Patching is not always easy for a young child, but this did make

 things a little more comfortable for him. It was also fun for Xander

 to pick his prints and colours.

I hope this will be of use to some of you.

Please let me now if you use it.

Thanks for visiting with us!