Retina Surgery

[ashling]

This was originally to be a reply to a query by bluehoodie in the disability group, but I am not a donor at the present time, thus this post.

Here is my history with retina issues:

I had cataract surgery in March 2008. I was recovering well from that until July when I had a lot of floaters (more than common for me and different ... thought the sky was full of birds) The next day I had even more so my wife called the ophthalmologist for an appt. and they suggested "how about now" I got up right away (usually not that eager to go to the eye doc) and all of a sudden I has what looked like ink squirting into a glass. We got there and he found 3 tears in the retina and sent us to a retina specialist in Dallas immediately.

The specialist found 5 large tears in the retina in my left eye. Put in a LOT of laser to tack it down. (which I refer to as arc welding)
The tears bled a lot - in the last follow up a week later, he had to use an ultrasound to see through the blood. Retina was beginning to detach and he did surgery that afternoon, using a scleral buckle.

He put a nitrous oxide bubble in to hold the retina in place after surgery. He said the surgery went well, but I bled a lot. Anyway, I was recovering well from that. The nitrous oxide bubble was dissipating and I could see really clearly as it decreased in size.

Then, at about 6 weeks out, it started to detach again ... surgery that day went well (a lot of bleeding again) and he did a good bit of laser on both eyes while I was under. He did a vitreectomy and injected a medicated silicon oil which was like looking through salad dressing.

Recovery proceeded well, but the oil made it hard to determine if my vision was coming back. I had the oil taken out in Feb. (as I recall) which left my vision really crisp and clear - however I was having trouble with vision right at the center. He sent me back to my eye guy for a field of vision test.

It indicated that there is a section where the vision did not return ... to make a long story short (yeah, RIGHT!) I had damage to the optic nerve. I went to another specialist (neuro-ophthalmologist)
They did an MRI and the diagnosis was that I had lost blood supply to the optic nerve at some point (technically a stroke) and thus have "permanent" damage to my left optic nerve, so I am legally blind in the left eye.

Results may vary. (LOL) I can't see, but I can laugh ... sometimes

[Brickbat]

1. Oof!

I was just told at my latest eye exam a few days ago that my eyes are enlongated and I'm at risk for retinal tears. So I consulted Dr. Internet and freaked myself out about them.

You have certainly been through the fire with them. I'm sorry about the damage to the neerve -- what a nightmare.

[ashling]

2. I keep tellling myself I can adjust

Maybe they will come up with something through stem cell research.

[Tumbulu]

3. I am so sorry that you have had to go through all of this.

I am glad that your right eye has vision. I have very severe myopia and thus am highly at risk for retinal tears and detachment. I also recently read a bunch of terrifying things on the internet.

Good luck to you and I hope that your vision can be restored.

[ashling]

4. Good luck w/ your myopia

as you know, it is a big risk factor. Take care of your eyes and don't hesitate to get thee to an opthalmologist at the first sign of anything unusual.

People who have perfect vision don't realize what a precious thing it is - and how fast it can be lost ... in the blink of an eye, as it were.

[japple]

5. Had my first retinal re-attachment surgery in Sept. 2005. On New

Year's Day of 2008, I had another surgery on the same (right) eye. Both were successful in restoring my vision, but created early onset of a cataract, which clouded my vision until Feb. 2009. Dr. finally (reluctantly)agreed to do surgery to remove cataract and lens replacement, and the results were dramatic. After being extremely nearsighted for 50 years, my distant vision was clear, though I had trouble with near/middle vision. Finally, in June of last year, dr. gave me Rx for new glasses and I can now read my computer screen with ease for the first time in 3 years. I understand why dr. was reluctant to do the cataract surgery with my history of retinal detachment. My brother also has a very similar history to mine.

I am hearing more and more stories about people with detached retinas which, I think, in the past was fairly uncommon. The same month that I had my second reattachment surgery, two friends also had the same/similar procedures. Weird.

I, too, hope there will be progress made with stem cell reseach and that it might be possible in the near future for your vision to be restored.

[ashling]

6. I think that one of the reasons that

we are hearing more about it is that success rates are so good. I think in the past, there were a lot more people who just went blind because they didn't have access to.

Boxers have this a lot.

Thanks for the well wishes. :hi: