Today did not go as I expected....

lsanders

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So I went in for a routine eye exam today. I mentioned to the doctor that for the past few weeks I had noticed a little gray floaty thing in the bottom half of my field of vision that would come and go. She dilated my eye, looked in there and said, "you have a detached retina!"

She immediately called a retinal specialist and I drove over to his office (after picking up my parents in case someone needed to drive me home, and for moral support)...after about an hour of uncomfortable eye poking and light shining, it was determined that I have a detached retina on the top of my left eye, a couple of holes in the detached part, as well as a couple of holes and thin spots in the retina of my right eye.


I'm only 27, my only eye problem is that I wear glasses, no other health problems. I've never had stitches or broken a bone....now I'm going in for surgery under general anesthesia on Tuesday. They're going to use a laser on my right eye since it's not too severe. They're going to have to cut into my left eye, draw out some of the fluid that's in there, fix the retina and put a scleral buckle on my eye- basically it's a silicone band that will go around my eyeball (top to bottom, not around the front) that will stay on for the rest of my life and keep the pressure inside my eye even.

The doctors seem very good, and pretty confident that this will work. There are some risks of course, but the odds are on my side.

I won't be able to work for two weeks, mainly because I'm not allowed to read for two weeks! No books, magazines, internet, newspapers...I can watch TV and that's about it. Reading requires moving your eyes back and forth and my right eye won't have a patch, but my left eye will and there's no way to move one without the other. This is going to be hell. I've already downloaded the audio version of some books I've been meaning to get to.

My mom is going to stay with me during the day until my boyfriend gets home. For the first couple of days I will have to mostly stay in one position while my eye calms down.

I'm probably going to have to unplug my computer to resist the temptation of getting on.

Not looking forward to this....I will have someone post an update ASAP.

On the upside, Albus is still eating by himself. At least something's going right.
 

starryeyedtiger

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oh my goodness! i am soo sorry to hear that
many vibes and prayers headed your way for a safe surgery and recovery!
 

glitch

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Oh man that stinks! At least they found it and its fixable! I can't imagine 2 weeks without being able to read!! Good luck & good
 

pookie-poo

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Holy Mister!!! I'm so glad that you decided to have it checked out! I had a small retinal tear in my right eye that I had repaired by laser. I just noticed that I had a little blank spot at about the 8 o'clock position of my right eye, when I was reading. It was slightly annoying, but really didn't bother me unless I was looking at a white page. I don't want to scare you, but I thought it was pretty painful while it was being lasered. Thankfully, once the laser was done, there was no residual pain or discomfort. My mother has had retinal detatchments in both eyes (at different times) and had laser treatment for them. Are you significantly nearsighted? My ophthalmologist told me that it is quite common in people with severe myopia. I'm -7.50 and -8.00, with astigmatism. I was cautioned to never rub my eyes vigorously and have yearly checkups that include dilation and retinal exams. Here's an interesting link about retinal detatchment.
http://www.visionchannel.net/retinal...nt/index.shtml


Good luck with surgery. I hope you don't go too crazy by not being able to read. That would be absolute torture for me!!!
 

strange_wings

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Good thing you caught it! When was your last eye examine before this one? It's so easy to put those off or just forget.

Where you told if it was from high eye pressure? From what I understand that isn't odd at 27, if you have other health problems or maybe should be checked. At 22 I was told the pressure in my eyes was twice as high as it should be at my age, but nothing was mentioned about it at a recent and very thorough test last November (was having bad eye pain).


If you can't use your computer you should find someone willing (or forced to) go to whatever site or forum you want and make them read thread titles and posts out loud -make sure they add emotion to it! This is how you can help stay entertained.


Good luck with your surgery and healing up quick.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

Are you significantly nearsighted? My ophthalmologist told me that it is quite common in people with severe myopia. I'm -7.50 and -8.00, with astigmatism. I was cautioned to never rub my eyes vigorously and have yearly checkups that include dilation and retinal exams.
hmmm...
i'm severely myopic, & i've never been told either of those things [except for the yearly checkup part]. i've worn corrective lenses of some type for 44 years, & my script seems to change pretty much every year [progressive myopia].
 

jcat

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Luckily you went to be checked, and corrective surgery is still an option and being done so soon. My b-i-l also had detached retinas while in his late twenties, and had laser surgery, which he described as "nothing". He's had no further trouble, and is now in his early fifties.

My husband has gone "under the knife" twice, and was also off from work and couldn't read for a couple of weeks. His eyes were very red, weepy and sore at first, and he had to lie, and use eye drops every few hours. He spent most of his time listening to music. The audio books are a great idea.

that everything goes well on Tuesday, that you recover quickly, and don't give into the temptation to go online!
 

peachytoday

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Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

Are you significantly nearsighted? My ophthalmologist told me that it is quite common in people with severe myopia. I'm -7.50 and -8.00, with astigmatism. I was cautioned to never rub my eyes vigorously and have yearly checkups that include dilation and retinal exams.
My ophthalmologist told me the very same thing. I am -9.0 and -9.5 and he asks me every visit if I see lightning bolts or floaters and does dilation regularly.

Good luck with the surgery I will be thinking of you and sending you lots of good vibes.

Tricia
 
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lsanders

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Thanks for the vibes, everyone.

No, they didn't say whether it had anything to do with my high blood pressure or not.

The last time I had an eye exam was about two and a half years ago. I am nearsighted and lately I'd noticed that I was having to focus a little more on far-away stuff, so I thought it was getting to be time to update my prescription. The funny thing is that at the first doctor, before she dilated me, she said that my precription had changed very little and it almost wouldn't be worth changing the prescription.

I've heard that this surgery can really change your prescription, so we'll see what I end up. I don't think I was severely nearsighted; not legally blind or anything. But I definitely couldn't drive without glasses on.
 

kaete

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What a shock! I hope that all goes well with your surgery and recovery. Take care!
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by lsanders

No, they didn't say whether it had anything to do with my high blood pressure or not.
Eye pressure isn't really dependent on blood pressure, but that being high certainly can't be good for it!

If you're on any medications, do a quick check online. You may be surprised to learn that quite a few list eye problems as a side effect. I was surprised that my muscle relaxers, a common one at that, has increased eye pressure as a possible side effect.

Originally Posted by peachytoday

My ophthalmologist told me the very same thing. I am -9.0 and -9.5 and he asks me every visit if I see lightning bolts or floaters and does dilation regularly.
I have a lot of floaters and little silvery wedges sometimes, I've learn from paying attention that luckily those are only due to my very low blood pressure - lack of oxygen and blood to my brain. Just in case anyone else sees those and can't find a reason for them, blood pressure can cause that.
 

MoochNNoodles

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Oh goodness! I'm so sorry you'll be going through this, but I'm also glad to hear it's treatable/fixable!

I did something to my eye last summer and went through a bunch of tests at the opthamologist and a neurologist to be sure of what was going on. (I had very blurred vision in one eye, which healed.) I know it was a scary time for me and I never really learned what happend. I'm actually going to request records from those doctors just to have a personal record of the incident. (That would be a good thing for you to do after this is over also. Legally, depending on the state you live in, your doctor only has to keep your records for so many years. It's seven years in my state.)
 

crazyforinfo

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Good Luck with the surgery. That's one of my worst nightmares. I have horrible eye-sight and very sensitive to changes.

Originally Posted by peachytoday

My ophthalmologist told me the very same thing. I am -9.0 and -9.5 and he asks me every visit if I see lightning bolts or floaters and does dilation regularly.

Tricia
Yep same here.
Originally Posted by strange_wings

I have a lot of floaters and little silvery wedges sometimes, I've learn from paying attention that luckily those are only due to my very low blood pressure - lack of oxygen and blood to my brain. Just in case anyone else sees those and can't find a reason for them, blood pressure can cause that.
Wow that might be the cause for me too. YIKES!
 

laureen227

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ok, i just checked my script... bear in mind i purposely wear a lens in my right eye that's too weak, to compensate for the 'old age vision' thing [that way i don't have to wear reading glasses!]
anyway, here's for lenses:R: -5.00/L: -7.00
and glasses: R: -7.00/L: -7.00 [don't really get this, as my right eye is noticeably weaker than my left, but anyway...]
& my doc has never mentioned this possibility to me. of course, i'm 50 & it hasn't happened yet, so it's probably not gonna.
& without corrective lenses, i'm considered legally blind. can't see that big 'E' on the chart at all, just the square of light.
 

pookie-poo

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Your prescription is very similar to mine. We aren't actually considered "legally blind", because our vision can be corrected with lenses (either contacts or glasses) to give us near 20/20 vision. A person is considered "legally blind", in the USA, when their visual acuity is 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction. If I'm not wearing my contacts, or my glasses, my focal point is about 7 or 8 inches in front of my eyes. Anything further away than 7 or 8 inches, is out of focus. Thus, I need to wear glasses or contacts, for pretty much everything I do (I've stepped on a cat when I didn't have my glasses on, simply because I can't see my feet!) The reason your contact lens prescription is a lower diopter than your glasses, is because the correction of a contact lens is right up against the cornea. The glasses have to account for the distance between the glass (or plastic) lens and your cornea, to bring the light into focus on your retina.

I've recently had my contact prescription set up for mono-vision, because I've just recently started to need bifocals. I can't wear bifocal contacts, because I also have astigmatism, so I need Toric lenses (they don't make bifocal Torics.) My left eye (non-dominant) is set up to see near, so my contact is -5.25, my right eye (dominant eye) is set up for far vision and is -6.25. Of course, my glasses that I use when I take off my contacts are bifocals. I don't have a copy of my prescription for them....but I know my distance portion is R -7.50, and L -8.0.

Sorry for the hi-jack...vision, vision surgery, and vision correction absolutely fascinates me. In a parallel universe somewhere, there's a Pookie who is an Ophthalmologist!
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

Your prescription is very similar to mine. We aren't actually considered "legally blind", because our vision can be corrected with lenses (either contacts or glasses) to give us near 20/20 vision.
yeah, i know that - my best friend is legally blind. what i meant was, w/no correction, i am legally blind. she says i understand her vision better than most people because of my extreme myopia. my focal point is much closer than yours - about 3-4 inches.

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

I've recently had my contact prescription set up for mono-vision, because I've just recently started to need bifocals.
that's what i do, too. i love not needing my reading glasses anymore!
 
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lsanders

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I'm baaaaack!

Ugh, two weeks (as of tomorrow, Tuesday) of not reading sucked. I admit, I did glance at my email almost every day. But that was about it.

I am allowed to go back to work now- I'll start again on Wednesday. My right eye, the one they only did laser surgery in, is fine. I can see out of it about as well as I could before.

My left eye is still a little wonky. I've been on eye drops that keep it dilated (in addition to an antibiotic drop I'm stopping tomorrow and a steroid drop I'll stay on at least through next week) and I am stopping those on Thursday. After that, they'll be able to really evaluate my vision in that eye. Right now, everything is very blurry, and because of the scleral buckle, everything in tilted to the right. So, when I uncover my left eye, I have double vision. I'll have to do some exercises once the dilator drops wear off.

Once I re-coordinate my eyes, it should just be a matter of getting new glasses, ones with a much stronger prescription in the left eye.

They say the first year after this surgery is most telling for what the future will be. After I pass the year, my chances of re-occurance drop significantly.

My doctor says I can start re-learning to drive, even with my left eye still covered. I think I'm going to wait until the weekend and practice in some empty parking lots. Until then, I'm actually going to stay with my boss (who is very conveniently my cousin) to get to work in the mornings. I will probably come home in the evenings every couple of days to see my kitty....oh yeah, and the dog


Thanks for all the thoughts everyone! I really appreciate it!
 
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