topic Re: Detached Retina update in Wellness

Detached Retina

chlema — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 20:57:08 GMT

Saturday my DH had emergency surgery for a detached retina. He was having trouble seeing in the morning and the opthamalogist sent him to Wills Eye Hospital where the surgeon said they successfully reattached the retina. He had only one eye that he was able to see out of due to a botched cataract surgery years ago and of course this detachment was in his "good" eye. He can see somewhat today but not enough to read or watch tv, just blurry. Doctor said it was not anything he did wrong, just happens sometimes as we get older. I hope he heals and can once again resume watching his old westerns on DVD.

Re: Detached Retina

Annabellethecat66 — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 21:16:59 GMT

My friend and I both had surgery for detached retinas.

The Dr said they 'glue' it together. It hurt like crazy but I never had any trouble seeing afterward, neighter did my friend.

I hope your husband feels better soon.

Re: Detached Retina

hopi — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 21:17:08 GMT

Prayer for you and your dear husband that he heals in due time.

Re: Detached Retina

Carmie — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 21:22:59 GMT

Your poor husband. I hope he feels better soon. It will take a few days for the swelling to go down and he will hopefully be able to see better.

i had a retinal tear a few years ago. I had no idea until it was dscoverd during a routine eye exam. The good news was it was in my bad eye. My eye was ruined during LASIK surgery..I also had cataract surgery on that same eye.

My doctor has told me that my other eye, which has never had any surgery, will probably get a retinal tear too. Yeah, something for me to look forward to.

Thankfully, your DH received treatment in time. Some people ignore the symptoms for too long and become blind.

Wishing a speedy recovery for your husband.

Re: Detached Retina

haddon9 — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 21:38:25 GMT

Sorry to hear about your husband...it's a good thing they caught it quickly and he had it taken care of.

Two winters ago I thought that I might be having a detached retina. It was on a Friday night in February and the big new was the major blizzard that was about to start.

I saw flashing in my left eye (a sign of a possible detached retina) and I called my eye doctor. He was in Fl and said that he could see me on Monday if he could get a flight back. He told me to get to Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia ....but how was I going to get there?!

I'm up in Bucks County about an hour away and it was already dark and starting to snow. I would have to drive myself with one eye in a blizzard! DH can't drive in the dark because of his multiple health problems. So I called around to local hospitals and the one in Doylestown told me to come in. I could drive there without feeling like I was risking my life and thank goodness we have a 4 wheel drive.

To make a long story short I after getting to the hospital and waiting around I never did see an ophthalmologist (he didn't want to go out in the snow) and I told DH if we don't leave now to go home we'll be stuck in the hospital's waiting room for the weekend.

I drove slowly with one eye and we got home safely but the next day we had 3' of snow! Fortunately it wasn't a detached retina but vitreous fluid pulling away which the caused flashing in my eye.

This also happens as we get older...but it was very scary not knowing what to do and not being able to drive down 95 to Philly in the dark and in blizzard conditions with one eye!

Re: Detached Retina

Tribesters — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 22:33:15 GMT

@Carmie

I have a tear in my bad eye too. I keep getting flashing lights in that eye. Apparently that’s a sign of it completely detaching. I had another thorough exam & for now all is well. But he did tell me that I’m likely to get a tear in the other eye as well- just like you said. What a bummer!

Re: Detached Retina

Carmie — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 23:50:24 GMT

@Tribesters wrote:
@Carmie

I have a tear in my bad eye too. I keep getting flashing lights in that eye. Apparently that’s a sign of it completely detaching. I had another thorough exam & for now all is well. But he did tell me that I’m likely to get a tear in the other eye as well- just like you said. What a bummer!

Did you have laser surgery to correct this? The eye surgeon “spot welded’ my retina with a laser. I had no symptoms, no flashing lights, nothing. I was fortunate I had a routine eye exam and it was discovered.

The doctor told me that the retina is like a sheet of wall paper on the back of the eye. It can peel away or tear completely. It is important to have surgery to correct this problem. I have a genetic condition that cause this to happen to my eyes.

My eye surgeon said he and his son have the same condition.

it was not a comfortable surgery. I hope I don’t have to have it repeated for the other eye.

Re: Detached Retina

chlema — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 02:25:30 GMT

@Annabellethecat66 They injected a bubble with SF6 gas with a 3-8 week duration. He also has to wear a colored wrist band and keep it on until the bubble disappears. He said there was very little pain involved during the procedure.

Re: Detached Retina

chlema — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 02:28:55 GMT

Thank you all for your kind words. I so appreciate them.

Re: Detached Retina update

chlema — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 21:31:32 GMT

The update on DH's retinal surgery - He saw the surgeon last Friday and doctor was very pleased by what he saw. Then----yesterday morning he woke up and had a film over the eye. Went in right away and they found the retina is tearing away and tomorrow he goes for further surgery. Boy, we were not expecting this. This time they will use some kind of oil to keep the retina in place and then after some period of time remove the oil. We are praying this works because that eye is the only one that works :-(. He is totally bored today, can't read the paper, can't watch tv and said after all he has gone thru, multiple heart bypasses, PAD surgeries etc. he will be really p.o.'d if he dies. He was laughing when he said that.

Re: Detached Retina update

ID2 — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 12:09:23 GMT

Gee sorry to read of your dh's continuing problems. Sure hope they fix his retina for good this time. Sending good wishes.

Re: Detached Retina update

Montana — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 12:29:02 GMT

@chlema wrote:
The update on DH's retinal surgery - He saw the surgeon last Friday and doctor was very pleased by what he saw. Then----yesterday morning he woke up and had a film over the eye. Went in right away and they found the retina is tearing away and tomorrow he goes for further surgery. Boy, we were not expecting this. This time they will use some kind of oil to keep the retina in place and then after some period of time remove the oil. We are praying this works because that eye is the only one that works :-(. He is totally bored today, can't read the paper, can't watch tv and said after all he has gone thru, multiple heart bypasses, PAD surgeries etc. he will be really p.o.'d if he dies. He was laughing when he said that.

@chlema, audio versions of newspapers or books might help with the boredom until he can read again.

Re: Detached Retina

FrostyBabe1 — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 13:38:07 GMT

There were two things that I hated about recovering from the surgery for a detached retina.

The worst was the "face down" positioning that I had to endure nearly 24/7 for 12 days. I had no pain from the surgery itself, but my neck and shoulders ached from the positioning. I rented a chair that looked like a massage chair and had a mirror to put on the table of it to watch TV with, but I was bored out of my skull. I'm very active and having to sit was miserable.

Secondly, it took 8 weeks for my gas bubble to completely disappear. I know, it had an important part to play, but I also travel a lot, and you can't get on an airplane until the bubble disappears. Thankfully, I was able to get change fees waived on trips that were affected.