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Avatar universal

No one semms happy with the surgery!

I have read almost all of the posts and have reached the conclusion that very few patients are happy with the results of detached retina surgery involving the insertion of a gas filled bubble. I had mine one week ago exactly and find the face down directions extremely difficult to adhere to all of the time. I can see the gas filled bubble when my wife administers the eye drops but not with my face down. Seven days after the surgery my vision is blurred and yet I can see details on my fingers or hand that are similar to looking through a microscope.
Seems everyone's surgeon tells them that everything looks good and that things will improve. Is anyone out there really happy with the results?
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Avatar universal
Absolutely I’m happy with the results!  It just can take a super long time
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3 Comments
... for things to settle down.  (What happened to this forum?  The new code is awful, I can’t edit my post.). Anyway, it took more than two years from my first detachment/emergency vitrectomy until I was “settled” in both eyes.  It involved another vitrectomy for a membrane peel, IOLs in both eyes, PRK to correct a big refractive error in one eye, tons of floaters in the other eye after vitreous detachment caused by the IOL implantation, and monitoring a membrane that started growing on that eye as well.   I could have lost my vision.   Today, while I have a little distortion in one eye, I have 20/20 vision with light progressive glasses, and my condition is stable.  This stuff takes lots of patience.  Now time to address my hearing loss...
My preference, that is if it ever comes to it, is to have the vitrectomy/ERM peel done in my so-far non-operative eye before cataract surgery. Not under my control of course, but I do have macular pucker diagnosed in that eye which is non-symptomatic, along with a baby nuclear  cataract that's also not causing any real issues thus far. Having had my other eye done, I pretty much know what visual symptoms to look for should the need ever arise to take action, and I hope it never does. I visit my retinal specialist every six months to monitor things, and I'm glad to be able to do so.
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Avatar universal
Hi Jaraftay,  It is two months after your surgery, so hopefully you know this already, but I think, like Dr. Hagan said, LOTS of people/ most people are happy with their surgery.  I just had a pars plana vitrectomy with laser repair for a significant retinal tear I did not even know I had (who knew THAT could happen?  No symptoms whatsoever, regular retina checkup for macular pucker that is more than 3 years old and has always been fine, and BOOM, emergency surgery the next day.)  It scared the hell out of me, and maybe that is why I have been so incredibly grateful for every step of the recovery.  Also I was so lucky that they found it before it affected my central vision at all.  

I am here to say that my surgery went great, and my recovery has been astounding.  Having said that, I also did not have to do the face down thing for more than 12 hours.  My surgeon is a pretty young guy, so maybe he has learned it is not necessary?  Or maybe he just figures (as I did after I read here) that if the point is cataract prevention bc of O2 exposure, and the chances of cataracts are 80-100% at 2-3 years post-surgery, why  traumatize someone for weeks when they're still going to get cataract surgery in a couple of years?  I really wonder how much the constant face down for a long period of time shapes someone's experience of how hard the recovery is....  

I have a friend whose mom went through the same surgery (though more of her vision was involved, I think?  And she may have had to get a scleral buckle?)  and she is great now, and very happy with the surgery & results.  But she could not do anything for weeks and was face down.  She has quite a traumatic memory of the surgery and my friend was like, "Oh make sure you get someone to spend a few days with you, you are not going to be OK being alone..." after my doctor had said I could be back to work as soon as the next day.  This is a very NOT-alarmist friend, but she was worried that I thought I'd be fine, given her mom's experience.  Instead, my doctor was right.... I was face down for 12 hours, in bed the next day, by choice, bc it was just a lot of emotion and I needed to rest my poor brain, body and eye.  Also I couldn't rest during the face down time at all, and ended up sleeping almost the whole next day to make up rest.

My doctor was right--I felt great and was back to work the day after they took the patch off.  I slept with the shield on my eye and on a particular side that he recommended for another two weeks, and the weird blindness/brightness in the surgical eye was problematic for about a week.  But the bubble went down fast, I was back to work, and scared/cautious but happy to have my normal routine.  It's less than a month after (21 days today) and I feel great.  So does my friend's mom two years after the surgery, with no problems.... but they scared the hell out of my friend's mom and the major disruption to her life from 3 weeks of face down and inability to do anything or be alone was a major scare for her, where, thank God, my experience of surgery and a short time of monocular life and return to work/life/normal activities/sleep feel like a very short "blip," rather than a major trauma.  

I am a psychotherapist by training, so I may be overthinking this, but I think my MD's informative and totally honest, but also very low key non-alarmist approach to keeping my post-surgery life as normal as possible has made a LOT of difference in my perception of the whole event.
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1 Comments
Thanks for the informative post.
Avatar universal
Hi Jaraftay,  It is two months after your surgery, so hopefully you know this already, but I think, like Dr. Hagan said, LOTS of people/ most people are happy with their surgery.  I just had a pars plana vitrectomy with laser repair for a significant retinal tear I did not even know I had (who knew THAT could happen?  No symptoms whatsoever, regular retina checkup for macular pucker that is more than 3 years old and has always been fine, and BOOM, emergency surgery the next day.)  It scared the hell out of me, and maybe that is why I have been so incredibly grateful for every step of the recovery.  Also I was so lucky that they found it before it affected my central vision at all.  

I am here to say that my surgery went great, and my recovery has been astounding.  Having said that, I also did not have to do the face down thing for more than 12 hours.  My surgeon is a pretty young guy, so maybe he has learned it is not necessary?  Or maybe he just figures (as I did after I read here) that if the point is cataract prevention bc of O2 exposure, and the chances of cataracts are 80-100% at 2-3 years post-surgery, why  traumatize someone for weeks when they're still going to get cataract surgery in a couple of years?  I really wonder how much the constant face down for a long period of time shapes someone's experience of how hard the recovery is....  

I have a friend whose mom went through the same surgery (though more of her vision was involved, I think?  And she may have had to get a scleral buckle?)  and she is great now, and very happy with the surgery & results.  But she could not do anything for weeks and was face down.  She has quite a traumatic memory of the surgery and my friend was like, "Oh make sure you get someone to spend a few days with you, you are not going to be OK being alone..." after my doctor had said I could be back to work as soon as the next day.  This is a very NOT-alarmist friend, but she was worried that I thought I'd be fine, given her mom's experience.  Instead, my doctor was right.... I was face down for 12 hours, in bed the next day, by choice, bc it was just a lot of emotion and I needed to rest my poor brain, body and eye.  Also I couldn't rest during the face down time at all, and ended up sleeping almost the whole next day to make up rest.

My doctor was right--I felt great and was back to work the day after they took the patch off.  I slept with the shield on my eye and on a particular side that he recommended for another two weeks, and the weird blindness/brightness in the surgical eye was problematic for about a week.  But the bubble went down fast, I was back to work, and scared/cautious but happy to have my normal routine.  It's less than a month after (21 days today) and I feel great.  So does my friend's mom two years after the surgery, with no problems.... but they scared the hell out of my friend's mom and the major disruption to her life from 3 weeks of face down and inability to do anything or be alone was a major scare for her, where, thank God, my experience of surgery and a short time of monocular life and return to work/life/normal activities/sleep feel like a very short "blip," rather than a major trauma.  

I am a psychotherapist by training, so I may be overthinking this, but I think my MD's informative and totally honest, but also very low key non-alarmist approach to keeping my post-surgery life as normal as possible has made a LOT of difference in my perception of the whole event.
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Avatar universal
My retinal specialist posts all of his after-visit reports (with details) on the patient portal section of their website which I can access.
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1 Comments
Avatar universal
It seems that there are some surgeons and eyeMDs that are good communicators and others who are not so good at communicating.  Patients of the poor communicators probably have no idea about the goals of the surgeon and what to expect.  In many cases, patients may have no choice in the choice for an eye surgeon because they get whoever is on call when they show up to the clinic.

As for the surgeon comments that "everything looks good" - I have learned that this may make the surgeon happy but unfortunately can leave the patient with the impression that the vision will also be great after the eye 'heals.'  IMHO, to have some idea about what vision to expect, you must get the surgeon to address this very specific question about vision expectations.  If the surgeon says that vision should be "good" but doesn't provide specifics, I recommend asking what s/he believes is "good."  I do not know what to do in situations where the surgeon communicates only a portion of the important information - because patients are 100% unable to determine whether they are hearing 100%, 80%, or 50% of the information and decisions/conclusions.

Very recently I learned from another eyeMD that my surgeon had communicated only 50% of the relevant information.  Also, this same month my father had a similar situation where his cataract surgeon elected NOT to tell him that he had early AMD.

Dr. Hagan may have a different opinion, but to me this lack of communication feels like doctors who do not consider the patient as part of the (eye) health care team.

Best wishes to you on your road to eye health.
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1 Comments
Avatar universal
I had surgery for RD repair 17 months ago with vitrectomy, cryo and SF6 gas bubble. I lost no vision to the detachment (acuity is identical to before the repair and there is no distortion or blurring). There have been no redetachments so far. My surgeon and I are both very pleased with this, particularly as she tells me that my surgery was challenging due to the lack of lens in my eye (aphakia) and poor view due to my small pupil size. I am willing to bet that my chance of success was a fair bit lower than the 90% often quoted for first-time operations. I had to be ultra-strict about the face-down positioning because of my aphakia so as not to run the risk of having a pressure spike from gas in the anterior chamber. I did ten days face down but was allowed to lie on my left side at night, and then four further days lying on my left side day and night. It all seems to have done the job so far. Although I still fear the possibility of further problems and difficult surgery in the future, this may never happen, and I hope at any rate that the current state of affairs gives everyone a little hope that surgery CAN produce successful results (both anatomically AND visually), even when the situation is quite challenging for the surgeon to deal with.
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1 Comments
The other thing is that before modern retinal detachment surgery was developed in Boston by Charles Schapens MD and vitreous surgery by Robert Mauchemer MD of Bascom Palmer eyes with the problems reported here ended up totally blind.  So yes they are ultra difficult but on the other side of the treatment most eyes are not blind and many have acceptable to good vision.
Avatar universal
Although its very hard, try not to be discouraged.  I had two surgeries where they attempted to reattach retina by freezing.  Those failed, and ended up for emergency surgery and had vitrectomy.. I had to lay on my right side 24x7 with 15 minute breaks every 2 hours for 2 weeks, this was followed by laying on side for 2 hours with 2 hour breaks.  I had 12 week gas bubble.  At this point I am just to the six month mark post op.  Still have irritation/dryness which comes and goes (finding more good days than bad lately).  Vision settled off 3 diopters between good and bad eye so cataract surgery will need performed,but I am getting by with the good eye.  Once things settle out will get cataract surgery.  It ain't no picnic for sure.  I never was laid up or sidetracked like this my entire life (59 yo).  My suggestion is to do everything dr. says, the alternative could be blindness.  A good friend says to think of this as a speed bump in life.
Make a list and call surgeon if you have any concerns about anything.  They expect this.  Good luck my friend!!  Feel free to pm if you need to vent (or listen to my venting lol).
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233488 tn?1310693103
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
It's a sampling error. People that have eye surgery of any type and are happy are not out on the internet trolling for answers. This is a PROBLEM forum. If you don't have problems no need to come here. If you went in a junk yard for cars you would get a false idea of how often automobiles have accidents. By just looking at postings here its the same deal.
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2 Comments
My wife had successful cataract/IOL surgery on both eyes 3-4 months ago. One of my neighbors had successful retinal detachment surgery repaired by air/gas injection.  Since no problem they did not feel need to come here and post.
In retrospect I realize that your comments are 100% valid. I guess I'm feeling sorry for myself and hoping that all goes well. Thanks.
Avatar universal
Yes, I am but allow me to qualify that with saying I did not have to follow the face-down recovery protocol. I agree with what you said about how things look when viewed through the gas bubble, it's something that must be experienced to understand. Trust that things will likely improve, it may seem agonizingly slow at times but your vision is worth it.
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