Losing My Sight------Update.......some improvement!

[MrObsessive]

Well, you all know the saying "When it rains, it pours!"

Last Friday morning as I was getting ready for work, I noticed I had wavy, slightly distorted lower peripheral vision in my right eye. I thought nothing of it until I got to work and noticed it again as I'm walking down the hall towards the cafeteria. I thought at first it was the reflection of the ceiling lights off of my safety glasses, but when I took them off I could still notice this distortion in my lower peripheral vision.

I went through the day at work, and because we're so busy, I thought nothing more of it------until the next day.

I had a roofer come by my place as we were talking about doing some work on my roof since I have a leak that started. As we were talking outside in the sunlight, I could definitely notice there was something very wrong as now this distortion and wavy vision was now starting to go into my field of vision as times as I blinked. 

I thought-----OK, I better call my eye Doctor as soon as they open Monday morning. Well, I had the appointment yesterday, and sure enough, I have a detached retina in my right eye. Right now it's a partial detachment, but they tell me that if I don't take care of it, I could end up with total blindness in that eye. I went to another specialist, and they want me to go in for surgery as of Thursday, placing a gas bubble on the retina, and having that hold the tissue in place so that the retina re-attaches itself.

This will be fun (he says sarcastically) as I have to walk around the house with my head bent down for 1-3 days after that, and I have to sleep on my back with my face down. I'm not a back sleeper as it is, but I don't know how I'm going to handle sleeping face down all night with the resulting soreness in my back the next day.

As I type this, I can tell that ever so slowly but surely, the "shadow" or "curtain" of darkness is getting into my field of vision in my right eye...........I'd say as of now I have a quarter of my sight missing. My left eye is fine for now..........they didn't detect anything amiss there.

The Doctor told me that this can be common among folks who are very nearsighted as myself. My vision without glasses is something like 20/600, so I'm considered legally blind without my glasses. 

Needless to say, I have to shell out a ton of money before they'll do the procedure (outpatient), so there goes the trip to Salt Lake next year. Just the same, I can't sit on this indefinitely because if I heard the Doctor correctly, once there's a complete detachment of the retina, there's very little chance of it being repaired. I did have a "floater" a while back-----I've had these before and it's caused no problem. This was a somewhat large one though, and it appeared at times as there was a bug flying in the room, when it was the floater. 

They tell me that's more than likely what caused the detachment, and it's good that I can catch this early before too much more damage can be done. 

I'll be off work for at least two weeks over this, and fortunately, I have about 60 some hours I can use to put towards time off. Otherwise I'll be on short term disability, and I have extra insurance (AFLAC) to cover that if things carry on too long.

I'm a little nervous about the surgery as I hate to be put under for ANYTHING......in fact when I had all my teeth pulled last year, I had them pulled by local anesthesia one by one as it was a clinic that did it, and they weren't allowed to put folks under.

As they say, "When it rains, it pours!"

Edited July 29, 2016 by MrObsessive

[ChrisBcritter]

Losing my vision would be one of my worst nightmares. Got my fingers crossed for you.

How do you sleep on your back and have your face down, though?

[David G.]

Bill, I wish you a successful operation and a rapid recovery.

David G.

[MrObsessive]

How do you sleep on your back and have your face down, though?

They're telling me not to sleep on my back for up to three days after the surgery. I don't sleep on my back as it is (I get nightmares), but lying face down on my stomach all night can be problematic as I've done that in a deep sleep, and I had back pain the next morning. I was told there's a way to arrange the pillows or some kind of special pillow that's sold to make it easier for one to sleep on their stomach if need be.

The gas bubble that they're going to put in has to be mostly level the whole time till it dissolves. Otherwise if it moves out of position there will be scar tissue leading to that much more trouble down the road. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

My sincere best wishes for a speedy and 100% recovery. I'm sure everyone who knows you here feels the same way.

[Kit Basher]

Bill, if it's any comfort, my Dad had the same procedure with a completely successful outcome. Keeping face down was a major struggle, but ultimately preserving his vision was worth it. I hope it works well for you.

[RAT-T]

GOOD LUCK BILL, MY SISTER IN-LAW HAD THE SAME OPERATION ABOUT A YEAR AGO WITH GREAT RESULTS

[oldnslow]

in our prayers Bill.

[afx]

Looks like other have had some very encouraging results.  Sincerely hope your surgery goes just as well.

[Crazy Ed]

Prayers going with you Bill.

[Snake45]

Good luck, Bill.

[Dave Van]

I pray all goes well for you.

I have had over 20 laser eye treatments.......not fun at all for sure.....a number of them involved an injection in my eye.....really hated that!!!.

In a way you are lucky....Mom had the same thing happen in the 1970's and it laid her up for months.....so thing are much better today. Eye care has come a long way.

Good luck.

[Ramfins59]

Bill, I wish you all the best with your eye procedure.

[unclescott58]

Bill, sorry to hear about this. At the same time I'm sure things will turn out okay.

[crazyjim]

I had double vision for a couple of months Bill.  Eye problems are no fun.  Do what the doctors say and take care of yourself so you get better quickly.

[Foxer]

Just be thankful it was caught in time to be repairable.

My wife had some eye surgery that involved that bubble thing. It is a pain, but pretty important for life after it's healed. You can look up for a firework, but not the whole show!

very best of luck to you.

[Xingu]

Sorry to hear about this Bill. This is a fairly common problem and the doctor's know how to fix and treat it.

Get a massage bed, the one with the hole for your face, it will be easier to sleep on. You may be able to rent one from a medical supply store.

[keyser]

Good luck Bill. Surgery for this and eye in general has come along hugely. Sounds like good plan by docs, and you'll do it.

 

Ask advice about how to stack pillows. Sleeping face down is to keep gravity pushing on the retina to get it to re-attach. 

[charlie8575]

Eye surgery has come leaps and bounds in the last few years, and this is a pretty common problem. With good care and reasonable effort to follow instructions for post-op care, I am confident all will be well.

Feel better soon, Bill!

Charlie Larkin

[Earl Marischal]

Bill,

Sorry to hear about your trouble. I suffered a detached retina about 14 years ago and had the 'bubble' operation. Whilst it is right b*ll ache doing the head down thing it does get better. Mine was totally cured and sight restored. Incidentally, I too was/am short sighted.

Down the line you may get cataracts.  My eye doc told me I would and he was right. However, a couple of quick ops soon cured them. Incidentally, neither the retina op or the cataract ones caused any pain, only some mild discomfort for a while.

I'm grateful to our UK National Health Service, as none of this cost me  penny.

Hoping it all goes well for you.

steve

[landman]

Good luck with the procedure. You're in my prayers.

[MrObsessive]

Thanks for all of the nice words of encouragement fellas!  

It's funny, I was just talking to my sister who lives in NC, and I just remembered that it was around this time last year when I had all of my teeth pulled. I hope this doesn't get to be an annual thing where something always "pops up"!

Nevertheless, the sooner I get this over with the better! 

[GeeBee]

Good luck with your operation, a good friend of mine had to have the same problem last year, and he is perfectly fine now, think positive ......

[XJ6]

Wish you the best ?

[mikemodeler]

Prayers to you for a full and speedy recovery Bill. Hopefully you will be back at it in no time at all and possibly still make it to SLC next year.