Chuck Buchanan
Pre-Flight
Tore my retina a back in April. Just went thru 3rd surgery. Anyone else go through something like this?
2. Suggestions for reliably getting eye drops in? I’ve been putting soft contact lenses in my eyes for over forty years with no problem, but between my blink reflex and poor aim it takes about 3 attempts to get the antibiotic and steroid eye drops in.
I’m on surgery number three. Two ops with the gas bubble, both resulted in a resulted in a re-tear. 3rd attempt, with a silicon bubble, looks like it will succeed. It took about 6-7 weeks for my gas bubble(s) to completely dissipated. 1st surgery was May 7th of ‘19. The last operation was Oct1st. My advise: follow doctors orders. Head positioning is critical. Follow instructions to the letter. I did so, and still had two surgical goes at trying to restore my sight. It can be a most frustrating experience, but don’t let it get you down. There are a whole lot worse things than this to go thru. Count your blessings, make the best of this. Good luck.
Hi Rushie,Wow, so sorry you are going through this again. I had a tear in my left retina, caused by the normal age related vitreous detachment. I had 3 or 4 laser procedures, then a cryo. My tear and detachment did not cover the macula, and they just nailed down around it to keep it from progressing. I have a blind spot there (other than the regular blind spot) but it’s not central so I don’t notice it at all. It’s on the nasal side so doesn’t affect my peripheral vision. Because of the location it wasn’t critical to reattach that part and so I never had a bubble or anything enter the globe. But the cryo, they went all around the “equator” if you know what I mean. (They freeze from the outside.) That retina isn’t going anywhere now. But my vitreous was left with a lot of ash and floaters. They could do a vitrectomy but I’d rather live with it than do something invasive and deal with the resulting cataract.
You have a great attitude. It was a terrifying experience for me.
The bubble is an inert gas, harmless to the body, and dissipates completely in 8-12 weeks. The gas used in my procedure was nitrous oxide, which i’m told is typical.
But the cryo, they went all around the “equator” if you know what I mean. (They freeze from the outside.) That retina isn’t going anywhere now. But my vitreous was left with a lot of ash and floaters. They could do a vitrectomy but I’d rather live with it than do something invasive and deal with the resulting cataract.
I get in front of the mirror and pull the lower eyelid down. While doing that, I get the eye drop bottle in position, aiming at that pulled down area, as close as I dare to the eyeball. While holding the bottle in position, I tilt my head back to vertical, then give the bottle a squeeze. Seems to work for me.
Ugh... I remember that feeling well. In my case it was due to a vitreous hemorrhage, a side effect of the retinal tear (bridging vessel torn as the vitreous pulled away). I still have more floaters than I'd like in that eye. Best wishes for a complete recovery.Yes, it looks like I’m looking through a bottle of muddy river water.
One thing I forgot to mention is rest your hand you are holding the eye drop bottle in on the hand you are pulling your eyelid down with. Keeps things steady.thank you. I will try that.
My turn .. horseshoe tear. first symptoms Christmas Eve; surgery on Monday. Two procedures. Pneumatic retinopexy (the gas bubble) and cryopexy (freezing the wall of the eye).
My turn .. horseshoe tear. first symptoms Christmas Eve; surgery on Monday. Two procedures. Pneumatic retinopexy (the gas bubble) and cryopexy (freezing the wall of the eye).
update...new detachment at 3 o’clock position. Vitrectomy with new bubble yesterday, so starting over. Upside is vitrectomy went ahead and got rid of most of the detritus floating around in there.
Any update on any of your surgeries and vision outcome? I'm heading in for first surgery tomorrow - recommended scleral buckle for detachment, but unclear if it's better to go with vitrectomy for aviation medical (double vision, etc with scleral buckle).
Right eye had corrected acuity of 20/16, 20/30 uncorrected- no idea what to expect post surgery.
@azureI had a complicated PVD about 3 years ago that resulted in a horseshoe tear, fixed using laser. I had a vitreous hemorrhage with it that recurred once after the surgery, but there was no further damage to the retina and I only had the one surgery. Not sure how common it is to require multiple surgeries; you definitely have my sympathies.