Retinal Tear Laser Surgery

Hi

It's been 6 months for me since laser and my pupil is still bigger than other eye...good thing is I really don't notice it at all.  It doesn't effect my vision, I think you just get used to it.  My retina specialist said it could take over a year to get back to normal size 

Thank you for your response. I wish mine didn't affect my vision but it does. I am starting to get used to it though. It's been a grieving process it seems. Trying to find that stage of acceptance. 

I know someone on here said they put a torch up to their eye rightfully or wrongfully so, and a few days later it went back to normal.

I do notice when I'm outdoors my vision is better up close and that when I'm outdoors long enough my pupil is almost identical to the other one. I'm wondering if working it in brighter lights help. 

I guess I'm just happy at this point that today I was told I have a strong healthy eye. I have to be thankful I have my vision. We will see what the future holds .

Mine were like the snow storm that everyone describes, in fact, the weird thing was , they first became apparent the morning after we had driven home in a snow storm !  It wasnt just an isolated floater or even two but really a lot of them and I found it difficult to read or do anything .   I still get them , they have got worse since I had the tests for glaucoma and I am convinced something in the dilating drops triggered them off again .  I was seen at the eye casualty and told everything was ok and they denied any connection with the testing .  I agree the anxiety is soul destroying   I keep thinking should I go back or just continue living with the floaters hoping they will improve eventually.  The original ones definitely did, I had a tear, repaired with laser and had no recurrence at all in that eye , but since the glaucoma testing the other one now has floaters .  I remember googling floaters and there was one excellent article which showed exactly what they look like , maybe if you googled it would come up.  Wish I had bookmarked it .  

Apologies , it was flashes you were asking about, I get those going from light to dark, they are little orange flashes in my peripheral vision . Don't last long , and again I was told nothing sinister . 

Are they constant when in the dark ?

I'm with you. I now get flashes from light to dark. Just maybe 3-4 times a day. It looks like a quick flash in my very top upper left eye. Almost unnoticeable. I hope this doesn't worsen over time because this is a new symptom 3 weeks after the procedure. I went in and they said everything looks healthy and strong. Which made me feel really good. But I'm trying to mentally prepare for anything at this point. 

So I've found ways this past week to cope with the floaters. I know it's controversial on how to lessen them, but I notice when I'm extremely hydrated and sleep well I don't even notice them. I was dehydrated from drinking wine the other night, and had to drive 2 hours for work the next day and floaters were everywhere. I hydrated all day at work, slept 10 hours that following night, and I did not see one floater the next day. I know doctors online will say dehydration has nothing to do with floaters but I've noticed a pattern. I also believe anxiety makes them way worse.

Another thing- I invested in some polarized sunglasses. They were $85 front diff eyewear. When I wear them outside it's like they are completely blocked out. I rarely see floaters indoors unless I look for them. 

Hope this helps you all! 

And funny thing about my pupil- yesterday I went in for the flashes scare and when the dilation drops wore off, today I noticed improvement in the size of my pupil. It seems more even with the other one. Again, not getting my hopes up and fully prepared for it to return the way it was. But I wonder if my pupil stetching had worked it into a different size or position? Maybe that sounds silly but I'm not sure! 

No not constant , just almost like my eyes are readjusting to the different levels of light.  I would get a few  in my peripheral vision , then they settle down.  Hope this helps.

I totally agree about the floaters dehaydestion and being tired, definitely make mine worse

Correction: the floaters in my "right" eye have suddenly disappeared since having the laser procedure this afternoon.

Thank you so much for all the words of encouragement. It makes me feel better going through with the procedure despite my pupil still being dilated 3 weeks after treatment.

Can I ask you what causes your first retinal detachment? Was it lattice? Would love to hear more of your story. 

Hi

I'm sorry you had to experience all that.  I have been to two retina specialists here in the U.S.

Each have a different approach if I were to ever have a full detachment (I've had laser done for partial detachment).  One does a gas bubble with no buckle and has his patients face down for 48 hours.  The other does bubble and buckle and would have me lie on left side only when I sleep for 3 weeks.  

Odd how each has such a different approach.

Did you have bubble and buckle done?

It was actually about eight weeks ago that I noticed that my eyes were really dry and irritated. I also noticed during that time that I was having floaters. None of which I've ever had before.  I talk to some of my friends and other people about it and kept getting the same response, that floaters were normal and not to worry about it. So I really didn't. I ironically had an appointment with my optometrist for a new prescription for my contacts that Thursday.  On Thursday morning I decided to call and reschedule it for Monday because I just didn't feel like going. On Friday morning I woke up and was doing stuff around the house, as I was on summer vacation from my school job still, and around 11 o'clock I noticed that I had a crescent shaped black  shadow in the bottom left corner of my left eye. At that point I knew something wasn't right.  I am mediately called the optometrist and told them that I thought I needed to come in sooner and they scheduled me to go in on Saturday the following day. Long story short, they ended up calling a bunch of ophthalmologist to get me in because they were sure I had a retinal detachment. I was rushed into a clinic where I was told that I had a retinal detachment in my left eye, with lattice degeneration in both eyes. (Lattice degeneration is a disease of the human eye wherein the peripheral retina becomes atrophic in a lattice pattern and may develop tears, breaks, or holes, which may further progress to retinal detachment.) I was scheduled for surgery  first thing the following morning to fix the detachment  and was told that I needed preventative laser surgery on the other eye  due to the lattice degeneration in the near future. I had no idea what I was in for. First, you're awake for the surgery. Your eye is numb and you can't feel pain as they give you a local  anestic but, you can see everything they're doing surgically.  Which is quite unpleasant! Depending on where the detachment is will determine the position  you will be laying in and for how long. In my case, I had to lay face down for 10 days. The pastoring of looking at the floor for any prolonged period of time is a very depressing one. And it didn't take long (1-2 days), for it to start grating on me mentally and emotionally.  I spent 90% of the time sobbing. By the fourth day I started thinking death was a better option and it was at that point that I  realized that I needed  to find whatever the lesson was in this into get it and carry it with me for the rest of my life! I can honestly say that I have never been through anything as emotionally and mentally draining and taxing.  On the upside, I did get through it and I am stronger today because of it!  I also had a very strong support system around me to help me through that time. Finally after 10 days at my third post-op I was told I could finally look up and at which point I scheduled the preventative surgery in fear that I would have to go through another detachment recovery . It was very disorienting. Oddly, I had a hard time not finding myself looking down on occasion. So, now it was just waiting for the bubble to disappear and foolishly thinking that once it had, that the vision that would be above it would be as it was before the detachment. That wasn't the case. My vision got two times as worse and bubble took seven weeks to completely disappear.  Today was the day that I had the laser preventative procedure and so far all is well.  To answer the question did I do anything or did anything happen but I can recall causing the detachment… No. I'm very nearsighted and I guess that's a contributing factor, a huge one.  It's going to take a long time for the detached eye to completely heal and vision stabilize.  Thank God I had an awesome ophthalmologist and since have started seeing (no pun intended) a new optometrist who is extremely patient and informative. I am always full of lots of questions  and anyone who is going through anything having to do with her eyes also should ask lots of questions. The entire experience made me realize that there needs to be more education and preparedness for people going through this.  I sincerely intend on becoming an advocate.  In conclusion, you have to be patient and give it time. I have faith that all  things regarding my eyes will eventually return to "normal". 

 Sorry for all the typos, I'm voice typing! LOL 

Thanks. I had a gas bubble with no buckle.  What gas they use and whether or not they use the buckle has a lot to do with where the detachment happens. Same goes for your positioning and posturing post surgery. The long acting gas is for bad detachments, in a lot of cases macula off detachments. After I was allowed to return face up, I was then only allowed to sleep on my left side for the next three weeks. If you have the option of doing either, or... I would take the 48 hours of facedown.  Get it over and done with because believe it or not, being restricted to your left side for three weeks takes a toll on your body too. 

I actually went back and looked at my notes. The one doc did say 48 hours and no buckle

The other said buckle and 24 hours face down and 3 weeks sleeping on left side.  

Did you have the long acting gas bubble?  

Good news is from what I've been told by the specialists is that the chance of going blind is minuscule and generally happens to those that put off seeking help until it's too late.  

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions 

 I did have the long acting gas. However, the ironic thing was, I wasn't supposed to. I remember being on the surgical table and my doctor asking for a specific kind of gas and someone in the OR (a nurse on the team I think) said we don't have any left in here and he told them to go check in another OR.  They came back and said they don't have it in there either.  I could hear the annoyance and his voice but at the time I didn't know the difference between the two gases at all. It was only later that I found out that my bubble should've been gone in around two weeks and ended up taking seven because of the difference in the gas, all because that's all they had in the operating room on a Sunday.  I would definitely find out which kind they are using. The gases most commonly used in ophthalmic surgery are air, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and perfluoropropane (C3F8); more rarely, perfluoroethane (C2F6) and perfluorobutane (C4F8) are used. The gases mentioned differ in terms of how long they will remain in the eye and in their expansion capacity.  SF6=10-14 days, C2F6=30-35 days, C3F8=55-65 days. 

Doug, how is your vision now? Any dark  or shaded spots in your field of vision?

No, I just get a "blob" like image and flickering near my right side of nose bc my laser was in the far corner of my right eye.  Sometimes it looks like it's in my left eye but I guess some of flickering can transpose across field of vision and seem like it's other eye.  

My biggest fear is going blind.  However my retina specialist said:

1. I'm at about 5-10% risk of having detachment in right eye and 1-2% in left eye

2. He said going blind would be extremely rare and usually only if left untreated 

Did anyone else get told the same as far as complete vision loss?

I am so sorry for what happened to you. 

It sounds like what could have happened to me in the future, and I am going to hold onto your story with all of my heart. Because I have questioned whether I should have gotten treatment. But my story is similar to yours. I was on vacation, noticed a ton of floaters and my friends were convincing me it was normal. But they were really onset- kind of out of nowhere. And after a couple of weeks went by they were getting darker. I got my first opinion and wasn't satisfied, I got a second opinion and the specialist recommended laser to hold down the fluid that was tugging on my lattice area. 

How is your recovery going after the recent laser? 

And were you able to correct your vision with contacts/glasses following your detachment? 

So many positive vibes your way.