[Anonymous September 5, 1996 at 4:00 pm Post count: 93172]

#1058593

Hello all!!
I have been seeing a ton of traffic on eye surgeries and their effects.
I will try and give a quick overview of the types of surgeries that
Graves folks can go through. I am not a doctor but I have had all of
the surgeries listed so I can tell you about them.
1. Strabismus (crossed eyes) This is a simple surgery usually done
under a local anesthesia. My was done under a general due to the eye
sockets being so tight. The doctor will either tighten or loosen one
or more muscles and will leave a slip knot in after surgery to do a
final adjustment of the eye alignment. Surgery was not uncomfortable
and only used tylenol as a pain reliever. I was back to work in three
days. I looked like the Terminator with my eyes red but it looked worse
than it felt.
2. Tarsorrhaphy: This surgery removes a very small portion of the
corners of the upper and lower lids. They are then sewn together.
This closes the eye lids thus reducing the eye exposure. It gives you
a somewhat oriental look but the relief from the dry eyes is very
noticable. It also helps to keep the eyes in the sockets while changes
in your eyes are going on. Surgery is done under a local and takes
about half an hour per eye. I had mine done on a Friday and went back
to work on Monday.
3. Eye lid Grafts: The doctor has two options. One is to remove a
part of the hard palet on the roof of your mouth and graft it into your
lower eye lids. This lifts the lids up and reduces exposure. Surgery
is done under a local and takes about three hours per eye. The recover
time is longer on this one. I was out two weeks. The roof of my mouth
took about six months to heal. I had to avoid any thing hot or acidic.
They do make a plate for the roof of the mouth called a stint that lets
you resume normal activities sooner and I wish I had done it. The second
option is to remove part of your ear cartlidge and graft it into your
lower eye lids. Don’t know to much about that one.
Lid retractions: The upper eye lid (levator) is disconnected and the
upper lid repositioned and the levator is reconnected. The doctor will
normally also remove the Muller (?) muscle in the upper lid at the same
time. This lets the upper lids drop down to a more normal location
thus reducing exposure. Are you seeing a pattern here on the exposure?
This is also done under a local and I was out of work for five days.
The removal of the Muller muscle keeps your upper lids form retracting
when you are surprised. This surgery done with the lower lid grafts
will give you a normal appearance again.
4. Orbital Decompressions: The doctor can do a one, two or three wall
decompression. What this entails is the actual removal of the eye socket.
Tis lets the eye muscles and fat behind the eyes to hemorage into the
sinus cavity. This is done under a general and takes about four fours
per eye. They will normally do one eye at a time. You do run a very
high risk of double vision after the surgery. But strabismus surgery
will normally correct the double vision. I went back to work in two
weeks. You will also have facial numbness and it can last up to six
months. Trust me the numbness is your friend. NO FEELING NO PAIN!!!
Your life style will forever be changed after this surgery so don’t
go into it lightly. You can not swim in ponds or rivers or dive any
deeper than five feet or so. Sinus infections will effect your eyesight.
However, it was all worth it for me. Doctors should only consider
orbital decompression if the vision is effected (optic nerve involvement),
the eyes have a problem with falling out (spontanoius globe subluxation)
i.e. the lids retract so much the lids get caught behind the eyeball.
or all the above surgeries did not correct the exposure problem. They
should not do it for cosmetic reasons. Hoped this helped.
Call me if you want to talk. 407-254-9719 and I will return your call
collect. I can also be reached at e-mail gerald.george@internetmci.com
Regards,
JAke George:-)

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