What good news. Thank you for letting us know. As Annie said, our brains are far more plastic, much longer than previously thought.

Thanks for the update. It sounds like you chose the right option, I am so happy to hear about the improvements. Good luck with surgery 2!

Thank you all-- but to be clear, I don't have any improvements yet. I still have double vision-- it's a different double vision (which I had to adapt to) but it's still double vision. I did take the first step successfully-- but it's the second surgery that will bring improvements.

Funky, I don't think any of us can imagine how horrible living with double vision is. I had a temporary taste and it was awful. My grandmother had a condition where she suffered from it and it nearly drove her mad. I'm so glad for you that there is something that can help and that you are halfway there.

My best,

Terri

Thanks for r letting us know the good news. That the first surgery went so well. I can understand in a very small way how awful double vision is as I had a bit of it but along with losing depth perception, so awful. Good for you for your choice. We are rooting for you,

Glad to hear things are going well and you are approaching the final step. You have been incredibly brave going through all this. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have your vision at issue, but I love that you are in the home stretch and both you and your doctor sound reassured and confident. I hope the second surgery is even easier than the first (now that your brain has had some practice).

Thank you all for your kind words and support! Obviously it's not a great situation but I don't think you can compare my situation to brief episodes of double vision -- as said above, the brain is very elastic and adaptive. I have been able to adjust fairly well to do most normal activities-- I am unable to drive and there are situations I avoid like taking stairs, walking in low light or the dark, shopping in "busy" environments. It's a struggle some days but nothing that I can't handle.. it could be a lot worse.

I don't know that it's bravery-- we all have challenges to face, you just do what you gotta do.

Thank you for the update. Glad you are on the mend.

Glad to hear an update! My prayers continue for you!! XXOO

Thank you for the update and for all the clarifications. I'm sure people here are reading and comparing to what they have gone through and realize that there is hope at the end of the double vision tunnel possibly. It sounds like you are elastic in more than just your brain. Imho your attitude is very good. Which means if you can't have your vision exactly the way you want you will adjust in the best possible way. . And that is probably the best thing. Prayers for the very best outcome and good thoughts winging your way. Hugs.

Wonderful that there is hope for a significant improvement. It would be hard to know that there was no chance for change. I bet you'll do fine, but it must be difficult living with this now.

Best wishes for continued healing and the desired outcome from your next surgery!

I can’t even imagine the challenges you have faced with your vision. Hoping that the next surgery goes well and that you have a speedy recovery.

Thanks for the update Funky.

Thank you for the update. It all sounds like such an ordeal. Hope everything goes smoothly for you going forward.

Thank you all.. it really helps to hear your words of encouragement!

Funky, most of us take our vision for granted. I recall so many of your posts when you were struggling with glasses, work, transportation, what next steps to take, and then this surgery. Thank you for sharing your story and keeping us updated. I am so happy you are literally seeing results, and hope the next phase is equally successful!

Funky, it's difficult to imagine the challenges you have faced. Here's hoping for another successful surgery. (You are a remarkable person.)

Funky, I’m so glad that your prognosis is good! Best wishes for a successful next surgery.

So glad to hear you are progressing! DH had that surgery as a young boy...he has learned to let his dominant eye do the work, and ignore the other. There are only a few things that bother him due to his lack of depth perception....heights and riding a bike on a rough trail. I know you will conquer!!

funky...I have a question for you about your amblyopia. I, also, have amblyopia with zero depth perception and legally blind in the one eye.

My problem is that I have recently developed age related presbyopia (when you need reading glasses) and my brain has suddenly started paying attention to my bad eye as the reading eye. So my good eye needs reading glasses and my bad eye does not. I walk around looking like a pirate closing one eye or the other depending on how far away something is.

But my opthomologist prescribed typical readers which the bad eye doesn’t need and they make me feel like vomiting. She is not understanding that the amblyopia eye is suddenly being used by my brain Even though I am telling her this.

Do you go to a certain kind of opthomologist? From what an optician friend of mine said...my brain is paying attention to that eye so I should consider getting a contact in it because it may actually improve. My optho isn’t getting it so I am wondering what kind of optho you use. And I am near Philly which I think is where you get surgery.

I am glad your surgeries are going well and wish you continued improvement. Thank you.

Hi Cleo.. I'll share my experience but there really isn't a simple answer to your question. I went through a number of ophthalmologists before I found one who could help. The first (back when I could have stopped my issue from progressing to this point), told me that not only couldn't he do anything for me-- he said, I should have had the surgery as a kid. He was not nice about it at all-- and threw all kinds of shade at my parents. I was treated as a kid, the amblyopia was addressed and I never had a problem again until I was in my 50s. Another ophthalmologist used prisms.. and another yet wanted to do vision therapy. I also saw two different surgeons.

You are right, I am going to a dr at Wills Eye Hospital in Phila. He is the head of the Strabismus Center there which is a part of Pediatric Ophthalmology. I haven't used them for refraction or glasses so I don't know how they do with that approach to resolution but I DO know that they do handle all approaches. My only remaining solution was the surgery.

I also need reading correction-- but readers would never work for me. I have such an extreme astigmatism that readers aren't useful for me. This makes my glasses prescription very complicated-- prisms + large correction for astigmatism + progressive for reading. I complicate it even further because I have specific needs for work so I have glasses optimized for specific distances-- specifically a laptop and projection screen (for when I lead meetings). This is where my ophthalmologists have let me down-- I really needed an optometrist who understood my specific "real life" needs from my glasses AND an eyeglass shop that would also work with me and their lab. I was lucky enough to find all of that-- could you find the same at Wills? Maybe. I haven't tried their eyeglass shop (but it is literally across the hall from the Strabismus Center).

My best advice is to keep trying until you find someone willing to listen to you... and also someone who understands the way the brain works to overcome issues like ours. If I were you, I'd go right to Wills.. but that doesn't mean that's your only option. I just know that they not only "get" it but they know the tests to perform in order to get to the root of your vision problems. My only complaint about them is that they move very quickly. They weren't especially "delicate" with me -- the Dr told me what my problem was... and how he would fix it. No real support beyond that. "what if I don't want to do surgery, what are my options?" "surgery is the fix. That's it." .. while I appreciate that he gave it to me straight, he just wasn't a soft touch lol. In the end, I needed a fix.. not a hug.. so I am happy I went there.

Hope my experiences help you-- but my most important thing to share is my encouragement to stick with it. Be patient and don't give up!

Thank you funkyar.

This is a new problem for me and I am really having trouble with certain things like shopping at the food store where things are different distances. I have to go back and forth between eyes and get about a foot away to see the items. Reading is really getting to be a pain in the butt. Even right now as I am typing, I can feel my eyes switching back and forth for dominance between the TV and my phone. It is so bizarre that my bad eye (or bad brained side) which used to be so bad they stopped measuring at 20/600 can read crystal clear now while my dominant eye that was 20/10 is now not able to read at all. I am proof positive of the remodeling potential of the brain. Who would think after 47 years, my brain would realize that I have another eye to pay attention to.

I was reading about rehab opthomologists and there is one near Philly on the jersey side so i may start with that. Thank you for your help and good luck with your sight.

That is very much how my issues started presenting-- along with finding it hard to walk in the city where there are a lot of things to stay aware of at different distances. When I'd reach to take back my credit card from a cashier, sometimes I would pinch air. It was all very embarrassing to me.. but I am pretty much past the embarrassment and more focused on the debilitation. I am ok at a computer screen because it's always the same distance.. but switch to a meeting room where I need to look at my laptop, the projector and ideally make eye contact with everyone around the conf table and I am LOST. Grocery shopping has become almost impossible for me-- I get sick to my stomach trying to focus all around me.. and fire drills/5 flights of stairs can send me into panic attacks. I know this doesn't help lol.. but I wanted you to know that I understand.

I don't have anything that my left/bad eye does best-- it has so much astigmatism that it cannot be corrected so anything I see out of it is blurred-- even with correction. I generally close it to read or do anything precise... and my brain will frequently suppress the image from my left eye. When it IS engaged, I also do a lot of switching and pulling my eye "in" or letting it slip out.

I went to a rehab ophthalmologist for a bit-- he is the one who wanted to do vision therapy. The fact that it wasn't covered by insurance led me to do more research on it and the only positive studies I found on vision therapy were published by vision therapists. No independent research. I wasn't convinced it was the best solution for me-- which is why I went to Wills Eye Hospital for a second opinion before spending the money.

I think you should follow your instincts-- but much as I balked at surgery, I wish that I had gone that route from the beginning. Surgery may not be the answer for you but that was their solution for me-- not for everyone. Above all else, I felt that the tests/diagnosis from Wills was far superior to that I received anywhere else.

Best wishes for you-- I know this is frustrating and truly life changing for you. I hope you find a path to a good solution!

Funky, Thank you so much for continuing to share your journey. It is amazing how many people struggle with amblyopia. Glad to hear you are doing well after your first surgery. Wishing you much luck with your second. Look forward to hearing of a positive result for you.

Some time ago I shared with you about my son’s positive result with prisms. Do not remember if I mentioned that I had surgery for amblyopia as a toddler. Currently my brain transfers back and forth between two eyes, I am far sided in one eye and near sighted in the other. Actually I think this works as well as anything could for me although my doctor’s have been surprised that I do not experience double vision. I have never had normal depth perception. However my vision is not so bad that I can not drive safely. As I have gotten older my vision has gotten worse as most people’s do, but when it is not great to start with I think it is more alarming. My ophthalmologist who specializes in amblyopia has told me I am not a candidate for additional treatment so I concentrate on being thankful that I can see as well as I can.

Hi Jill.. yes, I remember your story. I think you make a good point-- not all situations are the same, in fact, we all have different root cause vision issues and then each has their own nuances due to our amazing brains doing whatever they can to overcome our challenges.

I think the shock of losing depth perception when I always had it is as much of my issue as not having it. I would have adjusted better if I'd learned to see my world with no depth. Stairs shouldn't bring anxiety but they do (and I am not anxiety prone).. of course, I also have double vision which compounds it.

Surgery isn't going to correct my astigmatism. This is the hardest thing for friends and family to understand. I am not going to suddenly have better vision-- I just won't have double vision.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Jill!

Funky. I have never had depth perception as far as I know and stairs are bad for me too. I have to inch my toe forward to feel the edge. Striped stairs mess with me the most such as wooden decking. That and Grocery shopping are the worst parts for me so I have little to complain about.

I think the easiest thing for me is to probably get reading glasses for my good side and a blank in the other. My brain would then stop paying attention to this newly discovered eye. But I feel like maybe there is potential for gaining depth perception.

Continued good wishes to you.