Ahmed Valve

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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OK, I am not posting this so that Dr. Bruce or anyone can scare the crap out of me before my surgery. I'm not googling this, either. This is strictly FYI...

I was supposed to leave tomorrow with my parents for two weeks in Italy and Switzerland.

My bad eye (the one that has gone through numerous invasive surgeries already, this is number four) has been acting up since March. About the same time Dad took a tumble, as a MOF.

Last surgery was 2004 and since then I've enjoyed very low eye pressure in that eye. The eyesight is toast and has been so for many many years. The good eye compensates well. In March, all of a sudden the 4-10 IOP I've had for years climbed to 14. Then, 18. Then, 25. Then, 30. Drops were instated once I got above 20. Drops weren't doing all that much so my doc gave me another kind. Finally, just two weeks ago, those new drops got me back to 18. One week ago, I was at 21. The doc felt it was still low enough that going away wasn't an issue.

Sunday night however - HUGE pain in my bad eye. Really bad. What tiny bit of vision I have in that eye was also kaput. I took both drops in succession and slowly felt better and slowly the tiny bit of vision swam back.

Tuesday's office visit showed 48. Couldn't get it to come down below 42 before I went home, too, despite sitting in his office for almost two hours with an eyedrop marinade.

Yesterday I saw the specialist. Eye pressure was 33. Yup, need surgery. Gonna have a valve implanted. Trip is postponed and I go in on Tuesday. Between now and then I've got the stuff to keep the eye marinaded.

Good eye is still good and still trucking along, not worried about that. Just wanna get this over with an behind me.
 
Bummer. Hope things improve quickly.

woodstock said:
OK, I am not posting this so that Dr. Bruce or anyone can scare the crap out of me before my surgery. I'm not googling this, either. This is strictly FYI...

I was supposed to leave tomorrow with my parents for two weeks in Italy and Switzerland.

My bad eye (the one that has gone through numerous invasive surgeries already, this is number four) has been acting up since March. About the same time Dad took a tumble, as a MOF.

Last surgery was 2004 and since then I've enjoyed very low eye pressure in that eye. The eyesight is toast and has been so for many many years. The good eye compensates well. In March, all of a sudden the 4-10 IOP I've had for years climbed to 14. Then, 18. Then, 25. Then, 30. Drops were instated once I got above 20. Drops weren't doing all that much so my doc gave me another kind. Finally, just two weeks ago, those new drops got me back to 18. One week ago, I was at 21. The doc felt it was still low enough that going away wasn't an issue.

Sunday night however - HUGE pain in my bad eye. Really bad. What tiny bit of vision I have in that eye was also kaput. I took both drops in succession and slowly felt better and slowly the tiny bit of vision swam back.

Tuesday's office visit showed 48. Couldn't get it to come down below 42 before I went home, too, despite sitting in his office for almost two hours with an eyedrop marinade.

Yesterday I saw the specialist. Eye pressure was 33. Yup, need surgery. Gonna have a valve implanted. Trip is postponed and I go in on Tuesday. Between now and then I've got the stuff to keep the eye marinaded.

Good eye is still good and still trucking along, not worried about that. Just wanna get this over with an behind me.
Click to expand...
 
Good luck, big time. The words "eye" and "surgery" give me the heebie-jeebies when used in the same sentence.
 
Good luck !

Not that uncommon of a surgery, works well.

Quite an ingenious little device. Don't google for images if you can't stomach intraopertive eye pictures.

glaucoma_valve_model_pc7_pic.jpg
 
steingar said:
Good luck, big time. The words "eye" and "surgery" give me the heebie-jeebies when used in the same sentence.
Click to expand...

tonycondon said:
+1...
Click to expand...

+2...

I had a small piece of metal removed from my eye a few years ago (NEVER used a side grinder without safety glasses). Even though I was mostly numb in the area, I turned white as a ghost and nearly blacked out during the procedure from the sheer stress of it all.

You have all of the sympathy I send your way!
 
steingar said:
Good luck, big time. The words "eye" and "surgery" give me the heebie-jeebies when used in the same sentence.
Click to expand...

tonycondon said:
+1...
Click to expand...

CJones said:
+2...

I had a small piece of metal removed from my eye a few years ago (NEVER used a side grinder without safety glasses). Even though I was mostly numb in the area, I turned white as a ghost and nearly blacked out during the procedure from the sheer stress of it all.

You have all of the sympathy I send your way!
Click to expand...

+3 yucky

Good thoughts.
 
I'm sure it will go very well and be lots of help. Hang in there!
 
Just be sure you don't get the "Achmed" valve!

I KEEEL YOU!

Seriously, I'll have fingers crossed, and if you need anything from your local POA neighbors, don't hesitate to reach out.

Best wishes,
 
Thanks ya'll. I'm in better shape than I was Tuesday when the doc told me I had to go through another surgery. Yes, it's always worked out fine, but still. Yuck is right. I look like I engaged in a bar fight for a good 3-4 weeks.

Chris, I can't believe they didn't put you under-under for that.
 
TMetzinger said:
Just be sure you don't get the "Achmed" valve!

I KEEEL YOU!

Seriously, I'll have fingers crossed, and if you need anything from your local POA neighbors, don't hesitate to reach out.

Best wishes,
Click to expand...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought that when I first clicked on the thread. :rofl:
 
Good luck Elizabeth! We'll be sending good thoughts your way; you'll be on the road soon (and the Euro will still be in the toilet!)

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
Do what you gotta do. There are very few pains in the universe equivalent to pressure like that inside an eye.....sigh.
 
My eyes started watering just thinking of this.......
Good luck. I hope you will consider a recuperative rest in South Carolina after this.:yesnod:
 
Good luck, Beth. Hope it goes swimmingly & you're back in good shape quickly.

I saw today where a company in Maryland has produced living cells from artificial DNA.
 
Good luck, Beth. I'm sure it'll be fine.

I think we're all getting old. Scott's ankle and back, your eye, Barry's pains, and now Leslie's GI pain is back with us.
 
You're gonna be fine. Eye pressure hurts, but it's amazing what the human eye can tolerate. I don't know how high IOP's (intra-ocular pressures) can go, but we have a friend's son whose pressures were routinely getting into the 60's. I'm glad you're not only getting this handled, but that your trip rescheduing worked out without issue.
 
Hi everyone

Thanks for the nice thoughts.

I am home and soon we are heading to the follow up where the doc will take the eye patch off. IIRC I will only wear it at night, but given how much attention my cats require (esp when I am sitting/lying down) I might keep it on for a while. Y'day as soon as I got home and sat on the couch, Cecily used my stomach as a launch pad to jump on the back of the couch. You don't realize that uses your eye muscles until you have an 11 pound cat do that after eye surgery. ar ar ar

I was awake during surgery, which was a first. The other times I think I may have been given meds even before they wheeled me into the room, this time I got onto the gurney, hooked up, got the oxygen up the nose and then I felt the wooziness come in.. next thing I know I hear the surgeon discussing things and I said "I'm awake?" and he said yes and then I felt this and that going on. Not pain, just pressure. I could hear my heart monitor beeping.. wasn't fast which was surprising, I guess what they gave me made me veeeeeeery relaxed/out of it but awake.

Troy, egads, 60 is awful!

I lucked out on the resched. I didn't lose money, although I will have to pay the difference in airfares for all three which is bound to be a lot in July. July versus May, high airfares aren't the only reason I prefer May. sigh.
 
TMetzinger said:
Just be sure you don't get the "Achmed" valve!

I KEEEL YOU!

Seriously, I'll have fingers crossed, and if you need anything from your local POA neighbors, don't hesitate to reach out.

Best wishes,
Click to expand...


I just knew someone would go there lol
 
And..... my pressure in that eye is back up to 42. Today.

Back to the drawing board. Everything seemed to go just ducky.... all my post ops were grand.
 
Dr. B

A coworkers Mom came with us to Machu Picchu (barely a month ago, now) and did all the hiking with us. She is 65.

She managed to get a partially detached retina for her pains - doc said that wasn't unusual given the altitude and the level of hiking.

is it possible I bumped this thing out of place due to the hiking there?
 
I don't think so.....The retina is a different beast- nothing is holding it in place but pressure from the vitreous. Sometimes a sneeze is all it takes.

But, your eye can't take 40 for long.
 
bbchien said:
I don't think so.....The retina is a different beast- nothing is holding it in place but pressure from the vitreous. Sometimes a sneeze is all it takes.

But, your eye can't take 40 for long.
Click to expand...

OK, makes sense. Dunno.

We got it down to 35 before I left last night. I imagine much of last week was pretty high - I was having pains last week and a whole lotta redness.

This is only the bad eye of course. Good eye is fine.
 
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