Thank you very much. I appreciate your feedback very much. The first physician told us in most cases the dilated pupil will resolve after several months and the second physician just gives practically no feedback. The impression I've gotten from the second physician is that the dilated pupil is extremely rare but the feedback from this forum (and the first physician) is that this is not uncommon.
My husband has been convinced the first physician caused this damage and I have wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. As you said, It's not a good feeling to second guess how things "could have been".
Thank you.
I've spend much of my career giving second opinions. It's always easy to be critical of the previous physician's care. However this is always in hindsight and the original circumstances are not known. Lasering the retina and hitting a nerve (that can't be seen) is often unavoidable and does not mean the original MD used too much laser. I have treated patients for retinal tears and had one or two with slight permanet dilation of the pupil. I add this because its important to avoid feeling that if only a little less laser was used it might not happened. Any less laser and the retina could have entirely detached.
JCH MD
My husband didn't receive the long acting drops to dilate his pupil. He went to another specialist because he wasn't happy with the doctor who performed the laser surgery. The new retina specialist says that either the optic nerve could have been damaged or the nerves that control the function of the pupil were damaged. He does not know and does not know if/when there would be improvement.
I'm glad to hear that the pupil getting small after sneezing is a good sign because my husband's doctor did not know anything about that and said he had never heard of that. He says the original doctor did more laser than he would have done and that the laser has caused the damage to his pupil.
Thank you. You have given more feedback than my husband's doctor did.
If the pupil got small after sneezing its a good sign and means the pupil is not completely paralyzed. The surgeon is being truthful with you and only time (maybe 4-6 months) will tell if the pupil will improve. You can use the search feature and archives to read about this problem. Several questions regarding same problem in last few weeks.
JCH MD