Detached retina operation aftercare worry
Posted , 3 users are following.
hi after an operation for detached retina where there was a gas bubble put behind my eye plus two (scrapes) ? to save glacoma which sometimes can happen I was advised! two weeks later I could see crystal clear better than ever before the op out of the top part of my eye and was very hopeful it had been a success. on my follow up visit, Doctor remarked the nurses had yet to put dilating drops in my eye so she done it herself, then done it again to save time. I came home but began to worry as my eye was blurry again with the top part now blurry too. I went back regarding this two days later only to be told this was normal. It is now 5 days on and my eye is still blurred even the part that had seemed to be repairing. Have I had too much diluting fluid inserted? I am deeply worried as after the op, I could actually "see" I was healing day by day, but now its just the same every day. can you please advise me? I don't know what type of diluting fluid used. i eagerly await a reply. thank you in advance.
1 like, 7 replies
wilma28537
Posted
if nobody has an answer could someone possibly assist by advising me where or who could?
mjcg wilma28537
Posted
I would advise you to return to your surgeon and talk to him/her about your concerns. The drops used to dilate your eyes, would not cause harm to your vision. The healing process after eye surgery takes time and it's different for everyone. After my vitrectomy, my vision also went from seeing clearly and crisp to seeing blurry. My prescription kept changing because of a rapidly developing cataract (a side effect of a vitrectomy).I had cataract surgery just seven months after the vitrectomy. It's been almost two years and my vision has been restored. Sending positive healing thoughts your way!
sue57800 mjcg
Posted
hi mjcg,
I had a detached retina and vitrectomy back in March and I so appreciate your post.
So far everything is healing well, and I am working on accepting what happened and anything else that may come along in my future such as cataract surgery.
One question I have for you is did you have to have laser in the other eye? My surgeon is recommending it to strengthen the weak peripheral area. It is causing me a lot of stress since I do not want to lose any vision in that eye.
Any insight into your own experience would be appreciated!
mjcg wilma28537
Posted
Hello, Sue! I'm sorry you're going through this. It's such an emotional journey. To answer your question: My other eye suffered a retinal tear (caught in time before a detachment). Laser was used to repair it. The procedure was stressful, but it worked! I'm now about three years post op (vitrectomy, cataract surgery on RD eye, and laser to repair tear on 'good' eye). I'm about two years past the time when my eye surgeon confirmed I was 100% PVD (meaning the vitreous fluid in the 'good' eye has separated from my retina so, hopefully, no more tugging and no more tears/detachments). If you trust your surgeon, go for the laser. It's not a difficult procedure (just a lot zapping). Cataract surgery is also much easier than a vitrectomy!
We are at least lucky to have medical technology on our side. If this was the 1950's (or before), we'd have lost our vision. Vitrectomy surgery wasn't available until the 60's and people who had the surgery were required to do face down 24/7 for EIGHT weeks! Ugh! I can't imagine how difficult that was. I had to do face down 30 minutes every hour on the hour for two weeks and that was hard enough.
At my last annual appointment, my eye surgeon noticed the development of macular pucker on my RD eye. Sigh. We are going to "watch" it for now. It's possible nothing will come of it. But I'm guessing with my luck I'll be back in getting things repaired again. Also, looks like I've got PCO (a bit of scar tissue forming behind the cataract lens implant). This is something they'd fix in the future if it caused blurring by using a procedure called YAG. Fingers crossed nothing will come of any of this and I can live out the rest of my life with no further eye issues. So far... so good!
Sending you positive, healing thoughts! If you're on FB there is an RD group you might find helpful to join. Lots of support there...
sue57800 mjcg
Posted
Thank you so much for responding!
I appreciate so much hearing from someone who has been through something similar and can speak from further down in the journey so to speak.
I do hope the pucker is indeed nothing & the scar tissue is easily taken care of for you.
As for me, the laser would be preventative. I'm ok with the procedure but just concerned if it will diminish vision in the non RD eye.
It sounds from your response that it did not for your repaired tear. Is this true?
And I looked on FB for a group but did not find much. Do you know the name of it?
Thanks again!!!
mjcg sue57800
Posted
The laser repaired the tear and did not have any impact on my vision. And because they were trying to prevent a detachment, I didn't have much choice and it was done as an emergency procedure. You might consider getting a second opinion if you can. When I got cataract surgery, I saw three different eye specialists and each one had a different recommendation (sheesh!).
The FB group is called Retinal Detachment Support Community. Let me know if you still can't find it.
sue57800 mjcg
Posted
thank you!
I found the group and will check their posts.
And 3 different recommendations? I'm glad you hung in there and figured it all out.
I see my surgeon tomorrow. I am having him check the non-surgery eye. And yes a 2nd opinion may help.
Thanks again!