At the hospital, just as I sat down in the wheelchair, we snapped this picture. Otherwise I looked down, down, down for nearly 30 hours,
Note: I received a good question asking why my head is up. I had just dressed to go home and the picture was snapped before I looked back down.
My first week of recovery, following vitrectomy surgery to repair a detached retina in my left eye, is over. I’ve been thinking a lot about how someone much older than I am, one of my parents, for instance, would deal with the recovery instructions, but more on this in a later post.
After the first 24 hours when I had stared down at the floor for most of the time, I spent four days lying on my right side for 45 – 50 minutes of every hour, dividing time between the bed and the couch. Actually I spent an extra half day on my right side, just to be sure. At bedtime I was able to sleep in my bed, also staying on my right. In this extended process, pillows of all shapes and sizes are good friends.
In each location my husband rigged up the laptop so that I could watch movies — I reviewed the last 30 years of Masterpiece Theatre’s “Upstairs Downstairs.” Overall the week went smoothly although I experienced some very sore muscles.
Despite the sore muscles, I know that I am fortunate as retinal surgery recovery goes. Many people need to lie on massage tables or chairs for long periods of time, even at night. and for more days than I required.
During the surgery my physician inserted a gas bubble in my eye. This bubble serves as a cast, holding the retina in place after the repair. The positions that a person maintains during recovery have to do with keeping the bubble’s pressure against the retina. During the month after my surgery the bubble will gradually decrease in size, but it will be around in some form for most of the month.
Early in the week, my left eye saw only shadows, but sometime late Thursday afternoon I became aware that when I moved my head in a certain direction, a strip of fairly clear eyesight appeared just above the bubble. By Saturday the bubble was approaching half of its former size, and I was seeing fairly well over the top of it. The bubble bounces around a lot.
At a followup appointment with the doctor on Monday morning — eight days post surgery — he told me that I am doing well and I can go back to work if I am careful. I can do no heavy lifting or exercise yet — those will be gradually added back in the next week or two.
This post is not a substitute for talking with a physician.
Read my other detached retina posts.
Do you want to share with other people who have experienced detached retinas? The retina posts here on AsOurParentsAge are descriptive in nature — and this is not a high-traffic blog where people can share experiences. If you seek a group with good conversation and support, check out and consider subscribing to the Detached Retina Group over at Yahoo.
Detached Retina Group Email Addresses
- Subscribe :detached-retina-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
- Post Message :detached-retina@yahoogroups.com
- Unsubscribe :detached-retina-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
- List Owner :detached-retina-owner@yahoogroups.com
As Our Parents Age So Do We 
Why is your head up in that picture? I wrote a booklet on how to do facedown. If anyone is in financial need, go to my site and contact me and I will provide it. http://healthsasspresents.blogspot.com.
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My head is up because I had just put on my clothes and sat in the wheelchair. Someone snapped my picture before I looked down again.
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2 questions on the detached retina surgery that I can’t seem to find. I have a fear about the pain during surgery and secondly, how do you put eye drops in with your head positioned downward? thank you for your replies.
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Hi Dennis. You ask good questions, but the answers I believe should come from your physician, especially when it comes to the drops. My surgeon had a tech work with me on the drops. If you are worried about pain, tell that to the doctor. In my case, the pain, even after five surgeries was minimal. Positioning was much more difficult and a challenge for me. Even though the last surgery was more than three years ago, my right arm and shoulder are still stiff from all the time I spend lying on that side.
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My ratina detached I got surgery and I started to see after one month I lost my vision I go to doctor he told that eye pressure is high and optic nerve is 80 percent damaged if my vision can be back
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I say this out of concern, not criticism. Faced down is not always appropriate,.and can cause serious harm when not indicated. Your intentions are good, but kindly do not confuse my medical degree with your Googling. Please do not disseminate your pamphlet.
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Thank you for reminding readers, as I do on my retinal detachment page, that the physician is always the expert.
Over the course of my six retinal detachment surgeries, two cataract surgeries, and one YAG procedure, I have focused on describing not prescribing my experiences. I’ve shared my posts with my skilled and amazing surgeons, and all have been supportive and encouraged me to write. Early on, one of my surgeons — for the first detachment operation, read the first set of posts and made suggestions. Over the course of my six surgeries I was face down, right side, tilted up on pillows — you name it, thought I only wrote about positioning early on.
Thank you again for your thoughts.
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My mother had her retina detach and successfully reattached 3 years ago. They say everything has healed perfectly and do not understand why she continues to have extremely blurry vision inthat eye…someways worse than others.
They even went back in and removed scar tissue to fix it but that didn’t help at all. They are at a loss, I’m wondering if there are ny other people who underwent this and had blurry vision that found the reason for it and corrected it.
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You may want to share your experience over at the Facebook Detached Retina Group. Other people can share similar experiences. https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdsupport/
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It’s nice to know that with all the BS with insurance there is someone would offer to help. My right eye had a bubble put in Wednesday. Totally sucks how fast life gets interrupted hope this finds you well
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Hi Charles — I hope you are getting along and better. I can tell you that, in my case, I did recover, though my right eyesight is still pretty poor. Retina problems are so unexpected and the recovery arduous. But life does go along, and I’ve learned to compensate for the vision difficulties that I now have. Hope you are getting better.
If you are interested in chatting with others in similar retina situations, check out the detached retina listserv. The people on the list are terrific, sharing experiences and explaining how they figured out problems and asked questions. I’ve pasted in the info below.
Hey Charles, Yes life can get interrupted. I was sitting watching tv and my right eye went blank. Found out I had a torn retna with complications with bleeding. Had 2 surgeries last with the gas bubble in the eye. Not something we want to go through., I was 63 at the time and when I went to the retina dr. I felt that I was the youngest one there but he said mine was age related go figure. They say I have 20 /20 vision but I have a floater in my eye that he says is blood floating around and will be with me for awhile. Well being on a computer 8 hrs a day or longer it is frustrating because when I move my eye there floats the long wavey thing which distorts my vision but as I have been saying even though it took a month out of my life it could have been worse. I really never knew what they can do to your eye and it still be there. Hope things are well for you Charles. I hope there is someone out there that can tell me how long I may have this floater because all I get from the dr. is it will be with you for awhile.
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I’m just recovering from this surgery….
Positioning is dependent on where your tear is and not everyone has to be face down……face down position is for when the detachment is at the back of the eye, mine was right at the top so I just had to sit upright all day!
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Pingback: Detached Retina: My Aging Eye, Part IV « As Our Parents Age
Pingback: And There Was Sight! A Coda for Retina and Cataract Issues « As Our Parents Age
I had the bubble surgery 15 days ago for my detached retina. I am a male 61 years old. My last 15 days seem to be very similar to yours. The bubble is still there (it occupies about 1/4 of my eyesight) and I am quite used to it by now. However I am getting impatient. Am I expecting too much too soon? Have you completely recovered from your surgery by now? I guess I just need to hear some encouraging words.
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Hi Mikey. I hope you are doing well, and most people do recover. Despite my travails, my eye is now stable and I am going about daily life. Follow the physician’s directions, go easy on active exercise, and keep up your determination. Most importantly, if you see even the slightest shadow, get back to the doctors at once.
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Mike: The bubble you think is taking up 1/4 your vision may actually be permanent vision loss (blindness). I learned that the hard way. Long story short, a detached retina can result in vision loss even if you get into the hospital right away. Mine detached while undergoing surgery for a macular pucker, so was re-attached instantly. But the odds were against me.
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Well your experience has been quicker then mine. The eye surgeon after bubble surgery gave me a 6 – 8 week prognosis for the bubble to be completely gone and vision intact. It’s been 6 weeks now and down to the last 1/4 of bubble seen through the bottom of the eye when looking straight ahead. No driving, or exertion, or exercise until completely restored drops now down to four times a day for two weeks and finally twice a day for the last two weeks. It’s a slow process but you want to be sure since it’s your eyesight that you’re doing all you can to ensure things are properly restored. Sounds like you’re doing fine.
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Just a reminder to everyone here that you might want to post your questions to the collegial folks over at the detached retina Yahoo groups where lots of people share their drtached retina experiences. You can check out the Sightwise website which will tell you how to reach the group. http://www.sightwise.org
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hi, I from Singapore. I m 40 years old. suddenly retina detached within 5 days. surgery been done to left eye in end Jan 2016.
however, till now , my left eye , It’s not 100% yet, very slight & faint patches are seen. words are not as clear as compared to my right normal eye . wonder what’s wrong ?
Doctor say , as far as he can see, my retina is ok. but why I still seeing blurish vision ?
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Hi there my gas bubble gradually got smaller but was there for eight weeks, but I also know somebody that it went after four weeks I suppose it is different for each individual.
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Yes it appears to be different for each individual. Check out the Detached Retina Facebook group for the experiences of others. If you are not on Facebook, check out some of my comments on other posts that include connecting with the Detached Retina listserv on Yahoo. Here’s the Facebook link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/rdsupport/
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Hello
I had laser surgery for two tears in my left eye. A week later I had to go back in and have another surgery where they froze the area and then did a surgery where they inserted a gas bubble. I guess attitude has a lot to dowith this type of surgery. I was very anxious and nervous. On December 16 I had to go back for my third surgery where the doctor put 1200 laser tacks around the area that had torn detached.I have some floaters and my vision in that eye is very blurry. I had to use drops that dilated my pupil. I stopped those a week ago but my pupil is still dilated. My vision is still blurry but with glasses it seems a little better.it has left me very nervous and afraid as I have read some horror stories on the Internet. I could actually see in lowlight the area that he tacted with the laser I know that sounds strange but I could see certain areas that were cauterized as well.just wondering if you went through anything like this and how your vision is now I see that your surgery was a couple years ago. Thank you and hope you are well this was not a fun experience.
Regards
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Thanks for your comment. You have been through a lot. I am not a physician, so I can only offer a few words of support.
The first thing I would suggest is to not read the horror stories no matter how much they tempt you. I’ve had a similar experience to yours, though a couple of more surgeries, and yes this whole process is discomforting. We do so much to keep ourselves healthy as we move into middle age, but I don’t think we hear enough about retina health — even though our eye doctors are checking us yearly. I wish I had known more about retina problems before my retinas started acting up.
Check out the supportive and moderately active Detached Retina User Group community over at Yahoo Groups, where people are welcome to ask questions of others who are challenged by detached retina conditions. The conversation is helpful and people share what’s going on without a lot of horror stories. You can also check out Sightwise.org.
Stay positive, do whatever your doctor says, and get a second opinion if you like, but never delay if you have symptoms.
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Thanks a few weeks ago I had a tear and the dr. lasered and froze. When I went back they saw fluid so I had to go again and the dr lasered and froze and put a gas bubble in it about 2 weeks ago. was face down for a couple of days now say doing good and have been sitting up sleeping as was told to until bubble is gone. have seen the jiggling bubble on the bottom of my eye since and if I bend my head it floats that it covers eye. Have a trip the beginning of next month and he says I should be fine but I am nervuse it hasn’t gotten any smaller and oh do I miss sleeping in my bed. I wasn’t given any drops they just told me to use my dry eye drops and wetting drops. I can not fly with the bubbl so I was wondering how long it has taken others before disappearing and what they experienced as it was disappearing
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Had a detached retina 7 years ago in right eye,gas left after 2 weeks back at work the following week.2 days before christmas detached retina in left eye 8 weeks now still have gas in the eye,surgeon said diffrent kinds of gas used for small tears and gigantic tears as I had both, so different recovery times 😉😉so just hang on in there things will sort there self out down the line be positive no worries
😲
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Hi I had gas bubble inserted via surgery on 20th January, the bubble is getting smaller and my ophthalmologist is happy that it has worked, my only problem is that I’m having trouble keeping my eye open as it stings and starts watering quite a lot my ophthalmologist prescribed some stronger steroid drops for swelling and redness about a week ago but aren’t really working as yet. Did any of you have discomfort this long after surgery? (it’s been 4 weeks) thanks in advance
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Kayleigh, you might want to post your questions to the collegial folks over at the detached retina Yahoo groups where lots of people share their experiences. You can check out the Sightwise website which will tell you how to reach the group. http://www.sightwise.org
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Kayleigh I had surgery 4 weeks ago too and my eye was still red up until a few days ago and I too had a hard time opening it without burning, still a little now. But my main problem was after surgery something got in my eye (stitch) maybe not sure and I washed it out with artificial tears (approved by dr) but they believe it scratched my cornea so I had to go to a cornea specialist, he put a contact on my eye for a few days so the cornea could recover. My surgeon took it off and that day the same symptoms occured but a few days later got better. I’m not sure why it still gets scratchy feeling almost like an allergy eye irritation or like dry eye. I am using artificial tears when needed plus the prednisone drops twice a day. The bubble is dissolving and I can now see above and below the bubble. My bubble looks like a shadow but it moves like water so I think I got scared when I saw someones post about seeing a shadow to go back to dr asap. My follow ups have been good. My dr said I positioned well the first week and the retina looks great. I had a pretty bad detachment but Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute has some great doctors and I am blessed to live here. I was just wondering if most of you had to get a stronger prescription in that eye once healed. The worst part for me was having to postpone our trip to see our grandchildren, can’t fly for at least 2 months. I hope I can go in Oct. that will be 4 months!
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My mother has just had detached retina surgery. She is 79 yrs old and it is breaking my heart as to what she has had to endure with recovery. She has just spent the last 24 hours being bent over with her head to her chest. Not an easy task at any age,let alone at her age. She is scheduled today to be rechecked on further instructions and I am praying she will be able to lift her head back up. I am wondering what statistics are on complete recovery of this in elderly people? Will her recovery be longer due to her age? The thought of her having to go through this again due to it being unsucessful or having it happen to her other eye even, I think will push us both over the edge.
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Just curious how your mom did? I am only 57 and it was torture the first week I had to have my head in that position for a full week! My detachment was pretty bad. Hope all went well with your mom….poor thing!
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I had surgery 7 weeks ago and still have bubble. (altho it is getting smaller) What vision I have is very blurry. I never thought it would be such a long recovery and am starting to get crazy. I am a young 69 and have returned back to work 2 days a week. I too worry that I might have to have more done. I also can not drive as I feel very unsure to be driving. I also have pain behind my eye. Does anyone else
have this too.
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Hi everyone I had my first detached retna in 2011 at 45 now I’m 53 having the second one now. My right eye sees clear but distorted. My left eye has been going well but the gas bubble is still there after 5 weeks. I’m not sure if I should go back to work with one bad eye and the other had a gas bubble still there. Any suggestions
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Francis— check in with the detached retina groups here on Facebook.
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An incredible surgery! I’m glad it’s going well for you. Most eye surgeries today are pretty reliable. My son had the same surgery when he was 12 years old under very different circumstances. He was young, so he recovered quickly, but now, 10 years later, his eye is as good as ever!
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Thanks for providing your experience and helpful insight … I too have just become a ‘detached retina’ survivor and now experiencing my 2nd week since having the gas bubble method applied. After 10 days I can now raise my head (as per surgeon’s directions) and finally get to sleep on either my left or right side. Up until now orders were to remain face down at all times (and with head hanging ‘over’ the edge not just resting on the bed as per surgeon’s instructions for ‘best’ results). Hasn’t been easy or comfortable but now have some freedom of movement finally. Useful having an iPod or tablet device for passing away the hours positioned beneath since any other activity is out of the question. My own situation occurred quickly out of the blue and by visiting my optometrist upon noticing the shadow in lower left corner of my eye avoided blindness … surgeon said my situation was ‘rapid decline’ and 3 to 4 more days left unattended would have resulted in a blind eye. My advice to anyone who is experiencing a sudden change in vision is get to your optometrist quickly and get checked!! Thanks again for sharing your own experience.
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Well about one more month to go for what I hope is my final visit to the eye surgeon, everything looks good including my vision. About less than a 1/4 of the bubble appears bottom of the eye when looking straight ahead. When looking straight down it’s a very small circle now compared to the first day when the entire eye/vision was obscured. Can’t wait to get behind the wheel of my car and be able to drive once again! Only drawback is the surgeon mentioned there is also a cataract in the same eye which will have to be looked at later. Any insight on taking ‘Lutine’ for eye health? I’ve started taking it in hopes that it might help in future?
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Bill, how much longer till the bubble is gone? Did your doctor say? I was scheduled to see our grandchildren end of July which was such a disappointment, we don’t get to see them often … on other coast. I postponed it for 4 months out …. hope everything will be good by then. I had a bad detachment,it has been a month now. I dealt with a scratch on my cornea after surgery which set me back and my eye still isn’t comfortable, a bit scratchy and feels like something is in it …. dry eye they think so I’m on artificial tears along with prednisone drops twice a day and OTC ointment per the cornea specialist. They put a contact in my eye for the scratch and that is now out. Kind of frustrating for me, much longer than I had hoped for. I hate not being able to bend over or lift anything but my husband keeps reminding me it will be worth having my sight and he is right. I’m just an active person. Hope all goes well with you. They said I have a cataract on that eye so I am wondering when that will be taken care of. Although I heard it is a easier recovery time.
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I had detached retina surgery 7 days ago. All went well. I can see now in the top 50% of my eye but not the other. It’s like a spirit level. Is this the bubble
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Hi BB your situation sounds very similar to mine. The bubble in my right eye finally disappeared just this past weekend, so it was a total of almost 8 weeks as the surgeon stated ( 6-8 weeks ). I also had a very severe detachment, surgeon said I would have gone blind in that eye if I had left it another 3-4 days. I have also been taking the prednisone drops, started with every hour for the 4 weeks, then down to 4 times a day then down to twice a day the last two weeks. I also was warned to avoid any ‘extraneous’ activity, no driving and the first two weeks with my head down at all times as possible. Once I could see clearly through most of the eye I returned to work with wife driving me and have now been driving this past week again myself. Once the bubble got small enough it no longer remains in ‘view’ until you look straight down. I know it’s frustrating but your eyesight is worth the time taken to heal and restore. I too missed out doing alot of things I like to do but after my next surgeon app’t., hope to get the all clear. I also was told I have a cataract which would be “dealt with later after this”? I understand that is a day thing and does not involve the long period of recovery. Hang in there!
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I had retina surgery 16 days ago and have the bubble in the lower part of my eye my vision above the bubble is clear but distorted I have to wear a eye patch over the eye ( left eye ) I am wondering if this is ok I cannot see very well without it. Also wondering if my post op symptoms are normal.
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Tomorrow will be a week since I had retinal detachment surgery. After basically having spent a week in bed, today was my first day back on the job. Ugh. It’s hard keeping the eyes open without strain, discharge, nausea, and general discomfort. Doc told me I could return to work “the next day” if I felt like it. I’m having enough trouble a week later, can’t imagine having gone in the “next day”. I see the retinologist on Wednesday for follow up. I’m very blurry, as an be expected, and just beginning to see the watermark line at the top of the effected eye’s vision. Everyone I come in contact with is astonished that I can’t see well right away, and that I’m experiencing any discomfort. It’s reassuring to come to this place and learn that I’m not alone.
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Approaching 48 hours post surgery for an upper left quadrant on my left eye retinal detachment repair. Had noticed floaters for several weeks then an odd like out of focus peripheral area when I looked inward towards my nose. The second day of this and I went in to see an eye DR. Their urgency in getting me in immediately to see a retinal specialist was the cue that told me this was serious. I agree with prior comments that the general public should be more informed about retinal health and signs of problems. Although I had less excuse to not be more aware, 9 years ago I had a retinal tear in the other eye that was preceded by floaters and bright flashes. That tear repair that is nine years old has held up well as confirmed by my current eye surgeon and most likely according to him will not give any future problems. I think what lessened my having more urgency when I recently incurred floaters was that nine years ago I was told that the eye that has just recently tore had already completely separated in that normal aging process so future issues with it tearing weren’t likely. Well as the saying goes “never say never”.
When the retinal surgeon first inspected me prior to surgery he told me that there was a detachment, but that is was good I had gotten in as it was still confined to the upper corner of my eye. He could not find the tears with his myriad of inspection tools and said that they would be discovered once he as “inside”. He informed me that he would be removing the vitreous matter from both under the tear that was detaching my retina and removing it from my eye globe. He would then flatten out the lifted section pressing it back against the retina, making the repairs to the tears and then inserting a gas bubble. This is just what occurred once he was “inside my head”. He found three very small tears in close proximity and believes that they had been leaking for a while very slowly and that the built in pump we have to pull fluids from inside the retina area behind the eye globe had kept up with removing the leakage but that a buildup of more dense matter had occurred that eventually started the lifting. His repair included welding those small tears as well as a 360 degree weld encircling the small tears area to keep from more tears occurring and from the area lifting again.
My post 24 hour checkup was good, his first word as he peered into the space of this eyeball that has become quite a more appreciated part of my body through this ordeal was uttering the world “excellent” as he admired his work. That was comforting to hear. He further expressed that he was confident this would be completely repaired without any secondary procedures and that with the removal of the vitreous jelly from the inside of the eye along with the 360 weld, that further tears and or retinal detachments were unlikely.
So this morning as I await the 24 hour mark, I am finally feeling better from the post operative sedation hangover, yes it wasn’t the full sedation but the small amounts given to keep you relaxed but my body just doesn’t like those drugs, so odd as “back in the day” my body seemed to not have problems with any of the recreational drugs it digested. Ahh, I digress…
Still full blurriness out of my eye, I can see a shadow of my hand if held in front of the window light. Very little discomfort although last night I did take some Tylenol for some slightly more than mild discomfort. For me the hardest part is keeping myself down on my right side, I keep thinking of one of those bubble toys, you know the kind that you tilt the water filled contraption to place a bubble or floating fish or ball or whatever and get it to go where you want..maybe if a small fish had been placed inside with that bubble in my eye this could feel more like a game?
I want to see those glimmers of hope, I mean clarity in my repaired eyes vision that some of your comments have eluded too. That first glimmer of seeing again I know will be a turning point for this ordeal, along with being able to luxuriously sleep on my left side.
As they say “Its the Journey”…
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It’s 8 days since I had retinal surgery for a sudden loss of vision in my right eye. The surgein described it as a small detachment. The gas bubble is now shrinking and I can see above it as well as through it , darker through it, lighter above, though blurry, as expected. My concern is that horizontal straight lines all have a kink in them at the central point. Does anyone know if this is normal? I phoned the hospital but have to wait until tomorrow to speak to a doctor about it.
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I have surgery about 3 weeks ago but I am afraid I have lose some sight bc I can see a dark space at the end of eye..I am using eye drops every two hours following doctors orders…he make the comment he was worry….I am only 42 years old and I notice something wrong with my eye only 3 days before surgery,,no accident or nothing different so I don’t know what happend …they told me maybe because I am near sighted. ..now for some reason u close my eye so I can see better. …I am a little afraid ..do anyone have experienced this also ? I just hope is part of the surgery and soon I’ll be ok.
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Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since surgery. Bubble gone but everything looks farther away and smaller. Everyone has a small head! Will it get better over time or is this the best it will be?
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I had my detached retina surgery on August 15 and the gas bubble as of today Oct. 13 is very small after 8 weeks or days. I already cancelled 2 flights to Hawaii and am scheduled to fly again this Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015. Last doctor’s check up was a few weeks ago and she said everything looks good and is healing fine. I am surprised the bubble did not dissolve yet but after some reading I can see that sometimes the anesthesiologist could put too much of C3F8 gas if not monitoring the dose properly and it can take longer to dissolve. Can I fly for 5 hrs with a very small bubble? Anyone has experience with this? Thank you.
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Hello,
I have had two surgeries for retina detachment in the last few months. First was sept 24th and second oct 8th. The second was buckling. I still have my gas bubble and I’m worried as I have a flight booked for dec 29th. Im hoping it goes down VERY quickly.
I experienced a lot of pain the second time around which I was warned by by my surgeon. I would be curious to hear if anyone has flown right after bubble has dissolved.
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When do u get ur full eyesight after surgery
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Hi marti weston.. I have a retinal detachment too im just 28 y.o and undergone two surgeries for retinal detachment at the same time last Feb. 9 2016 and now it almost 1month but the bubbles is still there,i dont know if the bubble is decreasing. Is it normal or not? Please email me.
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I think it sounds like you are experiencing symptoms that many other RD people do, but it’s always important to stay in touch with your surgeon. You can ask questions and get lots more feedback over at the detached retina gmail group. By checking with this group you get lots more opportunities to compare. You can find the information about this group on this page of my blog. https://asourparentsage.net/detached-retina-posts/
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hi, I from Singapore. I m 40 years old. suddenly retina detached within 5 days. surgery been done to left eye in end Jan 2016.
however, till now , my left eye , It’s not 100% yet, very slight & faint patches are seen. words are not as clear as compared to my right normal eye . wonder what’s wrong ?
Doctor say , as far as he can see, my retina is ok. but why I still seeing blurish vision ?
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Dear Marti, My retinal detachment surgery was in January. I diagnosed it myself (after seeing 4 optomologists in 4 months at Kaiser!). I had two large tears, resolved with a vitrectomy, laser, and gas. I was on my stomach for 3 weeks, then on my side for another week. About six weeks into the healing, and coming off the steroids, I got an allergic reaction to the stitches and had to return to have them removed (gruesome). Returned to work part time about 2 months after the initial surgery. Am still having serious issues with my sight (wavy walls, very fuzzy-unfocused, and with grayish-smear patches in some parts of the vision). Now, 3.5 months later, I am still working only part time. I’m a scientist, and use my computer primarily. The computer and harsh lights aggravate my eye terribly. Also, the eye often feels “heavy”, achy. The bad sight is so hard on my poor brain, which is trying to make sense of all the disparate information. I often feel tired, often nauseous. I’ve been given a new prescription but it does nothing to help (very weak). What do people do when they have such different sight in the two eyes? Am worried I will forever be disabled with this.
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Has anyone accidentally bent foward from waist once right after surgery did it hurt your eye
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The best thing to do is to chat with your physician about how his other patients handle the major differences in eyesight.
That said, I can report that in my case, while it was really difficult in the first few months with one good eye and one terrible one, very soon after that my brain hey brain started to adapt, and now the good eye mostly fades in the background. At the same time it appears — at least to me — that my good eye has gotten a bit better. My good eye feels like it is more attentive to detail that I used to be with two good eyes. Occasionally my bad eye will suddenly cause glare or make me dizzy, but in general I close my eyes and tell it to go away. My low vision specialist suggested not doing much to correct the bad eye to precent it from confusing things. Hope this helps.
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hi – i am may and was googling on how to make support frame using foam to be placed at the foot of bed – support frame to use for when i am sleeping face down.
do any of you have an idea on how to make one – dimension/size? Malaysia do not have such post op care materials to buy or rent out.
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Some suggestions — Unfortunately I am not sure of how to answer your questions… You might see if there is a vendor that sells the face frames for massages and see if one of those might work. Also there are several detached retina groups on Facebook. Consider joining one of them and asking your questions there.
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Gas bubble did not fix eye have a scooped out retina or Coloboma. Did not attach there.Return to surgery to have silicone inside .
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