Meredith Collie
CHARLOTTE -- “Don't cross your eyes or they may stay that way!” It's something a lot of us heard from our parents growing up but it's not true.
Cross-eyed, or strabismus, is a very real condition that effects about four percent of Americans. But with early intervention it can be treated successfully.
Keeping up with any five-year-old can be tough but seeing Meredith Collie run and play at Presbyterians Hemby Children's Hospital is a relief to her dad, Tim, and mom, Camille.
“We could tell when she turned 18 months old, you couldn't tell where she was looking,” Camille said. “My whole family noticed it.”
Cross-eyed, or strabismus, is a very real condition that effects about four percent of Americans.
Meredith is one out of every 25 children in the United States that has strabismus, a condition where a child's eyes don't line up straight. You may know it as cross-eyed or wall-eyed. It happens when the eyes muscles don't work together. One or both of the eyes may turn in, out, up or down.
But the good news is that strabismus can be diagnosed through a simple eye exam and the earlier, the better.
"Vision develops up to age eight or nine in all children so anything that interferes with development like strabismus or other problems, the vision doesn't develop properly,” explained Ophthalmologist Dr. Steven Daugherty.
Treatment options include eyeglasses, an eye patch or surgery, which involves strengthening or weakening eye muscles.
Dr. Daugherty continued, “In a child that is healthy the chances of making anything worse are very low. There's about an 85 percent chance with one surgery that we'll get the eyes straight."
For Meredith, that wasn't the case. She has had three surgeries, the first when she was just two years old.
"I was terrified,” Camille added. “I didn't know if she would come out blind because there's a lot of things you have to consider, if he does one little thing wrong."
Fortunately for Meredith, her mother's diligence paid off. She paid attention to the early warning signs. The easiest sign is if your child appears to be cross-eyed, if an older child complains of double vision, has difficulty seeing or if the eyes do not appear to fix on the same point.
Camille's advice to other parents is most importantly, listen to your own instincts.
"I would suggest if they notice their child's eyes are crossing at a young age they get it checked out,” she said.
Camille did and now Meredith can run and play like any five-year-old should.
A family history of strabismus is a risk factor, but in most cases in children, the cause is unknown. While it is best to operate early, Dr. Daugherty has performed the surgery with success on adults.