I'm going in for possible eye surgery... (Uppity date-- post #7)

[ILoveMyAbbyGirl]

I have a referral appointment on October 31st with a retinal specialist.

I was at the optomitrist (sp? sorry...) on Thursday and they had to dilate my eyes.

(Arrghh, I'll finish this post in a few hours. I have to go to work and my mom wanted me to wrap John's birthday present. )

I'll be back tonight to finish this post.

[Argranade]

Ooooo hope everything goes well and not painfull at all!,

Ill be waiting for an update!! (((hugs)))!

[Karen]

Oooh, I hate getting my pupils dilated, ick ick! Glad that's over with, and I hope the specialist appointment goes well.

[K9karen]

I had emergency laser surgery on my retina. I didn't even know anything was wrong until they dilated (triple ick) my eyes. Piece of cake.

Waiting patiently (taps foot) for an update cause I'm wondering why you have to wait that long if it affects your retina. Hope you're OK.

We need an uppity date......

[borzoimom]

I will put you in my prayers. BTW- our son is a marine that just back from Haiti and Iraq.. What arms forces is in ?

[Dorothy39]

I'm still waiting for that Uppity date~~~~ and I will keep you in my thoughts , hoping that all goes well!!!

[ILoveMyAbbyGirl]

Ahh, back for uppity date.

Soo. I went in last week to get my eyes dilated (ick, as everyone has said!) and they looked and looked and looked and finally Mr. Eye Man says,

"Hmm. It appears there's a hole in your retina. That's no good."

Soo... He goes on to say that the retinas of nearsighted people (of which I am, very much so, nearsighted) tend to stretch and can get very thin. Think of silly putty; you pull it apart far enough and POP! there's a little hole. That's what has happened.

He goes on to mention that if something would happen to my eye (ie, getting poked in the eye, going on an intense gravity ride) COULD possibly cause fluid to get IN and under the retinal layer where that hole is and cause it to create a "bubble", in a sense. Worse case scenario, something bad happens and my retina completely detaches from my eye.

Soo, he suggested this laser surgery, considering my age. He said I'm young enough and if they just let it be it could get worse and he doesn't want my eyesight to be harmed at such a young age.

So that's where I'm headed next Tuesday. A retinal specialist, to see what happens next.

[cyber-sibes]

I'll be praying all goes well. Retinal detachment is one of the genetic disorders huskies are prone to, too....not that you're a husky! Best wishes for the surgery!

[davidpizzica]

Ahh, back for uppity date.

Soo. I went in last week to get my eyes dilated (ick, as everyone has said!) and they looked and looked and looked and finally Mr. Eye Man says,

"Hmm. It appears there's a hole in your retina. That's no good."

Soo... He goes on to say that the retinas of nearsighted people (of which I am, very much so, nearsighted) tend to stretch and can get very thin. Think of silly putty; you pull it apart far enough and POP! there's a little hole. That's what has happened.

He goes on to mention that if something would happen to my eye (ie, getting poked in the eye, going on an intense gravity ride) COULD possibly cause fluid to get IN and under the retinal layer where that hole is and cause it to create a "bubble", in a sense. Worse case scenario, something bad happens and my retina completely detaches from my eye.

Soo, he suggested this laser surgery, considering my age. He said I'm young enough and if they just let it be it could get worse and he doesn't want my eyesight to be harmed at such a young age.

So that's where I'm headed next Tuesday. A retinal specialist, to see what happens next.

I'll keep you in my prayers for your retina surgery. About 4 months ago I went through cataract surgery. My surgery was pretty easy and I now have 20/20 vision!

[Dorothy39]

I'll keep you in my thought and Prayers for that Retinal Surgery .

I'm near sighted too , ( very much so) and I had a corneal ulcer once ,( no fun~~~)


I don't like the "silly putty story" any more than you do.

So, I'm thinking that your DR. is credible, and that you're in safe hands !!!


I'd feel in control of this situation~ Praying real Hard too!!!

[Soapets]

I work for an Ophthalmologist (eye M.D.) and people who are very nearsighted are more prone to retinal holes, tears, and detachments than the normal population. You DEFINITELY want to have the laser treatment, to seal off the hole and prevent a retinal detachment from developing. The surgery to repair a retinal detachment is a LOT worse than the laser surgery to seal off the hole, and the post-operative recovery process is a lot easier at this point than if it develops into a retinal detachment.

Your vision potential is better now than if it detaches, too. I wouldn't wait any longer than necessary if I were in your position. Good luck with it, and let us know how things go!

Deb

[ILoveMyAbbyGirl]

Thanks Deb! Your info was really helpful.

Do you know anything about the surgery? How long it takes? What recovery is like? How long recovery takes?

[Soapets]

The laser surgery is "a piece of cake". It doesn't take very long, maybe about 10 minutes or so, and there isn't a whole lot of "recovery" involved. You might have to use some anti-inflammatory eye drops for a few days to a week. And if your eye pressure goes up you might have to use drops to help control that. Your eye will have to be dilated for the procedure, but other than that there aren't any special preparatory drops or anything. Except they'll put some anesthetic eye drops in just before they do the procedure, so you won't feel it when they put the little focusing lens on the surface of your eye. That will have a clear jelly-like substance in it to help protect your cornea. It won't hurt. It helps the doctor focus the laser where he needs it to be aimed at. The laser will put a seal around the hole, to seal it off so fluid can't leak through it, etc.

You DEFINITELY want to get it taken care of before it gets worse. If you start noticing any little lightening-like light flashes in your vision, or a whole bunch of little floaters moving around in your vision, or a curtain effect from any direction in your vision, call the doctor immediately because those are symptoms of a retinal detachment.

If you do get a retinal detachment, the surgery to fix that requires general anesthesia, an overnight stay in the hospital, and then you have to keep your head in a down-gaze position for at least two weeks! You have to lay on your stomach to sleep, with your face looking down. You have to have eye drops every hour or two, which is the only time you are allowed to move your head to a position where you are facing up---just long enough to get the drops in. And you won't know for sure how your vision will turn out until the healing process is all over with.

You DEFINITELY do NOT want to go through the surgery and post-operative process that are necessary after a retinal detachment if you can prevent it by having the laser surgery to seal off the retinal hole before a detachment occurs.

I hope this was some help.

Deb