JeffisOld
Old, Ugly and generally Disagreeable!
Yesterday I awoke noticing what they call "floaters" or spots moving across my field of vision. By 11 AM the lower L quadrant of the field of vision in my eye was shutting down. The darkness was closing in and I knew I would be blind in that she by the end of the day.
After having cataract surgery about 14 and 15 yrs ago I was warned that the likelihood of a retinal detachment went up about 100 fold but still quite rare. RIGHT! I had one in my L eye about 5 hrs ago but I just went totally blind that time.
After a frantic visit to a retinal specialist's office I was in surgery the following morning. Incredibly, I had to stay on my back for several days to heal but the good Lord allowed me to see thanks to some incredible surgical techniques!
This time, after moving to NC from KY, I contacted a retina bc specialist in Greensboro and went in on a Saturday afternoon. He examined my eye and was able to repair my eye in the office.
He dialated, inspected and began to numb the surface of my eye with topical drops. Then he took a loooong needle and went through my eye to the nerves behind the retina focus and put my whole eye to sleep. After a few minutes he went in with another needle attached to a cryogenic (cold) fluid of some type. He applied small amounts of this fluid on the area behind where the retina was detached from the wall of the eye orbit. He explained that by doing this the body creates a type of adhesive that would hold the retina back down when it was pressed back in place.
The amazing part to me was the next part.
He injected bubbles of nitrogen gas to fill approx. 10% of the volume of my orbit. The gas rising will press the retina back in place as long as you hold your head in the proper position. Fortunately my seperation, or detachment was in the lower portion of my visual field which meant it was at the top of my eye as we see inverse of the light refraction. All I have had to do is move the bubbles around to apply pressure on the retina.
Luckily when I went back today I was given a clean bill and will most likely have no need for standard surgery. I will need a few more follow up to verify healing but I got one hell of a Father's Day present! Vision!
Anyway I thought a few of you might be interested.
Especially it you have had cataract surgery!
Good luck
After having cataract surgery about 14 and 15 yrs ago I was warned that the likelihood of a retinal detachment went up about 100 fold but still quite rare. RIGHT! I had one in my L eye about 5 hrs ago but I just went totally blind that time.
After a frantic visit to a retinal specialist's office I was in surgery the following morning. Incredibly, I had to stay on my back for several days to heal but the good Lord allowed me to see thanks to some incredible surgical techniques!
This time, after moving to NC from KY, I contacted a retina bc specialist in Greensboro and went in on a Saturday afternoon. He examined my eye and was able to repair my eye in the office.
He dialated, inspected and began to numb the surface of my eye with topical drops. Then he took a loooong needle and went through my eye to the nerves behind the retina focus and put my whole eye to sleep. After a few minutes he went in with another needle attached to a cryogenic (cold) fluid of some type. He applied small amounts of this fluid on the area behind where the retina was detached from the wall of the eye orbit. He explained that by doing this the body creates a type of adhesive that would hold the retina back down when it was pressed back in place.
The amazing part to me was the next part.
He injected bubbles of nitrogen gas to fill approx. 10% of the volume of my orbit. The gas rising will press the retina back in place as long as you hold your head in the proper position. Fortunately my seperation, or detachment was in the lower portion of my visual field which meant it was at the top of my eye as we see inverse of the light refraction. All I have had to do is move the bubbles around to apply pressure on the retina.
Luckily when I went back today I was given a clean bill and will most likely have no need for standard surgery. I will need a few more follow up to verify healing but I got one hell of a Father's Day present! Vision!
Anyway I thought a few of you might be interested.
Especially it you have had cataract surgery!
Good luck
Last edited: