u/Entire_Tower_5615

So I had my appointment today with an optometrist with the eye clinic that also has the ophthalmologist that would do strabismus surgery. The optometrist recommended the surgery for me with my exotropia being 30-40 diopters.

The only snag I am facing now is my insurance. I have Anthem (a form of Blue Cross Blue Shield) offered by my employment and it is a PPO plan. When I came for my appointment, the receptionist told me my insurance they had problems accepting with this type of provider with BCBS. So I had to pay out of pocket for that appointment

The optometrist told me the surgery can be covered by insurance. They just now have to negotiate or make a claim with my provider if they will accept my coverage for the surgery within a months time and or if I have a consultation with the Opthamalogist.

So, now I just worry if my insurance provider might deny coverage.

Seeing an optometrist next week, hoping it leads to a pediatric opthmalagist for a consultation to treat my condition. I have intermittent exotropia in my right eye and it starts when distant objects are atleast around 1 feet away.

Posting a link here so I dont have to explain again and again my specific case.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amblyopia/comments/1rzh8s0/reaching_tolerance_of_lving_with_eye_condition/

Anyway, I have amblyopia mainly and mild strabismus because of it. More specifically, it is exotropia in my right eye and it is affecting me mostly with depression and lack of self confidence. The exotropia starts more when my sight views something 1 feet away or further in distance, so taking photos is always torture.

I have been reading this subreddit page and other posts for some time, hoping to learn what i can expect and improve my quality of life. Right now, I am trying to get an consultation for strabismus surgery with a pediatric opthmalagist, but I need to see a optometrist first at the clinic that both has the opmetrist and the opthmalagist. My appointment with the optometrist is next week.

I was thinking of attempting vision therapy. But the main issue I have with it is very much the regards towards affording it as medical insurance is too often notorious of not covering it. So all the expenses for therapy would be out of pocket. How is anyone suppose to do vision therapy if the cost towards it are in the thousands of dollars and insurances are reluctant for coverage? I really don't want it if vision therapy will be just a waste of money, even more so if it doesnt improve my vision. The only thing stopping me from wanting vision therapy is thr financial cost, otherwise I woukd do it.

My biggest concern with the surgey is how long will my eyes stay aligned in the number of years with my condition? From all my reading, the surgery has better odds and success with things like amblyopia aren't present and you have binocular vision with both eyes. I cant control what i was born with medically, so those parts are just frustrating to handle.

I have learned that botox for strabismus is another option besides surgery as it is safer if you dont want to have one surgery or more in the future. Would you just keep taking botox for eye alignments til the effects wears off within a few months for life? Or after a number of botox injections, does the brain learn neuroplasicity of the desired eye alignment under the effects of botox, resulting in a permanent fix?

Vision therapy programs or virtual reality so far seem more accessible for me, specifically Amblyoplay being the easiest to obtain.Has anyone else used this program and gotten results with vison improvement with amblyopia?

If people request it, I can post later photos of my eyes throughout the years to give a visual of my eyes alignments.