 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / General / Vision / August 2005Thanks so much!
I've been reading this group for awhile, and found much good information. I've learned a lot about the eye and eye problems. I've had cataract in both eyes, severy myopia in both eyes, and a retinal detachment in the right eye about 10 years ago. Well, about two weeks ago I had a retinal detachment in the left eye. Thanks to my reading on this group, I had a lot better idea of what was happening and what they were talking about. I had emergency surgery at 11PM. They did a vitrectomy, attached my retina back using a laser and put a big bubble in there. The doctor thinks I will get all my vision back. I had very little discomfort (other than mental) and no pain to speak of afterwards. I didn't even take Tylenol, although they offered me Vicodin. It was done under a local. I talked to the anesthesiologist and told him I was very nervous. He assured me that they had lots of tranquilizer and would be using it through the IV. It was a two hour surgery and then a little time in the recovery room. We were home by 2:15 in the morning. The poor surgeon had four appointments that morning, starting at 8:30AM, although it was her day off.  SignatureDan Abel Sonoma State University AIS dabel@sonic.net > Well, about two weeks ago I had a retinal detachment in the left eye. > Thanks to my reading on this group, I had a lot better idea of what was > happening and what they were talking about. I had emergency surgery at > 11PM. They did a vitrectomy, attached my retina back using a laser and > put a big bubble in there. The doctor thinks I will get all my vision > back. > Dan Abel > Sonoma State University > AIS > dabel@sonic.net If its been two weeks since surgery, how is your vision now? If I recall correctly, a vitrectomy involves removing and then replacing the vitreous, in your case, after the retinal work is done. Is that what happened in your situation? What is the purpose of the bubble? My guess is, it is to apply pressure to a specific area during healing. Glad to hear the operation went well. George > > > Well, about two weeks ago I had a retinal detachment in the left eye. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > put a big bubble in there. The doctor thinks I will get all my vision > > back. > If its been two weeks since surgery, how is your vision now? Good enough to be reading and posting here again! I saw the doctor last Friday, and I was 20/25 in both eyes. I started driving again yesterday, and am back at work today. The doctor predicted that most vision would come back soon, which it did, and that the rest will be much slower. > If I recall correctly, a vitrectomy involves removing and then replacing > the vitreous, in your case, after the retinal work is done. Is that what > happened in your situation? What is the purpose of the bubble? My guess > is, it is to apply pressure to a specific area during healing. The doctor said that she would remove the vitreous, but said nothing about replacing it. She said that the retina was partly attached to the vitreous, and that it had softened with age. Between that and the lattice degeneration, she felt that was the cause of the detachment. The bubble does indeed put pressure to help hold the attachment and thus promote healing. Fortunately the detachment was at the top, so the ideal postion for me to hold for healing was upright, which is what most of us tend to do all day long anyway. I was allowed to sleep on either side, but not on my back, for the first week, but only on my left side for the second week. > Glad to hear the operation went well. Me too! SignatureDan Abel Sonoma State University AIS dabel@sonic.net >If I recall correctly, a vitrectomy involves removing and then replacing >the vitreous, in your case, after the retinal work is done. Actually it's done simultaneously, as vitreous is sucked out, saline is "infused". >Is that what >happened in your situation? What is the purpose of the bubble? My guess >is, it is to apply pressure to a specific area during healing. > > Sort of. The retina tends to float around in the liquid like underwater vegetation scenes. The gas allows the lens to "flop" down onto the underlying tissues and gives it a chance to stick, just like if you pumped out the water in the ocean and the vegetation stuck down on the seabed. w.stacy, o.d. William Stacy put fingers to keyboard and typed... > Sort of. The retina tends to float around in the liquid like underwater > vegetation scenes. The gas allows the lens to "flop" down onto the > underlying tissues and gives it a chance to stick, just like if you > pumped out the water in the ocean and the vegetation stuck down on the > seabed. <pedant> Of course by 'lens' you mean retina. ;o) </pedant> SignatureShabs. Yep, those fingers failed me this time... If the lens flopped down, you'd have a big problem (it does happen accidentally sometimes, and is a BIG problem, but a different one... w.stacy, o.d. >William Stacy put fingers to keyboard and typed... > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Hey Dan. Glad to hear it worked out. What were your initial symptoms? How soon after you noticed what did you seek care? Thanks w.stacy, o.d. >Well, about two weeks ago I had a retinal detachment in the left eye. >Thanks to my reading on this group, I had a lot better idea of what was [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > > Hey Dan. Glad to hear it worked out. What were your initial symptoms? > How soon after you noticed what did you seek care? I noticed a larger than usual number of floaters on Thursday. I've had floaters for decades, so didn't pay much attention. Friday morning there was a little flashing on the bottom. I checked my peripheral vision and it was fine. I continued checking my vision every couple of hours. After dinner I noticed a loss, and had my wife double-check it. We went into the ER immediately. I saw seven doctors (mostly "looky-loos"). I should have gone in sooner, preferably before dinner, as they won't do surgery when there is food in the stomach. We had dinner at 5:00PM and my surgery started at 11:00PM. SignatureDan Abel Sonoma State University AIS dabel@sonic.net > I noticed a larger than usual number of floaters on Thursday. I've had > floaters for decades, so didn't pay much attention. Friday morning there [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > AIS > dabel@sonic.net Have you been diagnosed as having vitreous detachment? My doc says it reduces chances for retinal detachment, but didn't say why. Did your doc mention it? Also, what kind of floaters did you observe? Large cloudy ones or what? George > > I noticed a larger than usual number of floaters on Thursday. I've had > > floaters for decades, so didn't pay much attention. Friday morning there > Have you been diagnosed as having vitreous detachment? No. The doctor said that the retina was detaching from the vitreous, which is why she removed it. She then used a laser to attach the retina more firmly to whatever was left after she removed the vitreous. The vitreous was removed to reduce the risk of further detachments. As long as she was in there, she said that she wanted to do something "definitive", rather than just fix the immediate problem. > Also, what kind of floaters did you observe? Large cloudy ones or what? Little hazy wormy ones, and some small black dots. She said that a side effect of the vitrectomy was that it would eliminate the floaters, at least in that eye. SignatureDan Abel Sonoma State University AIS dabel@sonic.net |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.