topic Re: Detached Retina in Wellness

Detached Retina

conlt — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 16:18:36 GMT

Wow, what a week. My brother has a Detached Retina and had surgery on Friday AM. Yesterday, he called me for a ride to the doctor, an hour away, and I took him. He seems to be doing well, the doctor said the eye is doing all it is supposed to do.

He has to keep his head down at a certain angle for it to heal.

Has anyone experienced this and had the eyesight restored? He lost total vision in his left eye.

I feel so sorry for him. He is 61 and worried about his job. Luckily, he is a veteran and is covered medically by the VA.

I am curious about others experiences.

Re: Detached Retina

Kachina624 — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 16:30:04 GMT

@conlt. My mother had a detached retina, subsequent surgery and regularly saw a retina specialist. She eventually became a victim of macular degeneration and became legally blind. I don't know that the retina problem had anything to do with the MD, but eye issues really affected her life as she could no longer drive or participate in her activities.

Re: Detached Retina

conlt — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 17:57:13 GMT

@Kachina624 I am sorry to hear that. My grandmother became blind at about age 83 but I do not know why. My father always thought that her blindness had to do with the stress of losing my grandfather.

Praying my brother comes out of this OK. He is only 61.

Re: Detached Retina

BExplorer — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 18:59:59 GMT

I have an uncle who had a detached retina and a coworker who had it. Both recovered nicely. The coworker now has to wear eyeglasses instead of contacts because of it, but I'm not sure why. However, her vision was restored. Hopefully your brother will recover his vision just fine!

Re: Detached Retina

colliemom4 — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 21:02:41 GMT

My grandmother had one and recovered well.

Re: Detached Retina

JeanLouiseFinch — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 21:30:51 GMT

Many years ago, my DBIL experienced a detached retina. The treatment involved putting a bubble on his retina and over time the bubble would shrink. At the end, the eye was all better.

Last year, DH had a tear in his retina. We saw a specialist who said to leave it alone. It healed on its own.

Re: Detached Retina

Tissyanne — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 22:30:50 GMT

My Daddy had a detached retina from an injury with a air hammer. He had the repair, and did recover.

Re: Detached Retina

msgb — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 23:26:30 GMT

Best for your brother's recovery.

Nine yrs ago my brother called me and asked me to take him to the doctor because he woke up and could not see out of one eye. In the end I took him to the ER as my mother, who was a nurse, suggested. It turned out that my brother who was early 40's had a retinal artery occlusion (also known as stroke behind his eye). It was never known why this happened. For nine months I drove in to where he lived and helped my parents when he was not able. Found out a lot. He has only about 10% of the vision in that eye (It might be less than that but this number is what I remember)

. He was the one who was and continued to do the majority of the care or "companionship" of my parents until their passing.

To this day, he does not let on about his issue. He is the exact middle of the 7 of us.

He did learn how to drive. With the driving teacher state that he drives better than most people with vision in both eyes.

He was determined that this was not going to get him down.

This is not the same thing but it is sort of on the same venue.

Re: Detached Retina

lillytalks — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 02:11:28 GMT

@conlt wrote:
Wow, what a week. My brother has a Detached Retina and had surgery on Friday AM. Yesterday, he called me for a ride to the doctor, an hour away, and I took him. He seems to be doing well, the doctor said the eye is doing all it is supposed to do.
He has to keep his head down at a certain angle for it to heal.
Has anyone experienced this and had the eyesight restored? He lost total vision in his left eye.
I feel so sorry for him. He is 61 and worried about his job. Luckily, he is a veteran and is covered medically by the VA.
I am curious about others experiences.

I'm so sorry to hear about your brother's detached retina, but I'm glad to know that the surgery went well and that his eye is healing as expected. It must have been a stressful time for both of you, especially with him needing to keep his head at a specific angle for healing. I can understand the worry, especially with his job and vision being affected.

I haven't personally experienced a detached retina, but I have heard that many people do regain their eyesight after such surgeries, although it can take time and patience. It's encouraging to hear that the doctor is positive about his recovery.

It's great that he's covered by the VA-that must be a relief for him. I hope he continues to heal well and that his vision returns. Please take care, and if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. Sending positive thoughts your way.

Re: Detached Retina

mildoo — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 15:48:42 GMT

I had a detached retina 23 years ago. Don't know if the surgery has changed at all, but it was an out patient surgery and I had to keep my head down for 4 weeks. Difficult to do. I understand that people who cannot do that end up with a kind of cage around their head. I had an excellant surgeon and he treated me so well. The surgery was a success but I did lose vision in that eye. But, he saved my eyesight. The surgery is easy, but the recovery is challenging. He didn't want me to shower or shampoo for four weeks. Well, I couldn't live like that. I took a tub bath every other day (you're not to lift anything heavier that a gallon of milk). Once a week I went to hairdresser for a shampoo. No haircuts allowed for the four weeks. It was grueling. But, like I said he saved my vision. I don't know if procedures have changed. At the time he told there is one case in ten thousand and I asked him the cause and said bad luck.

The surgery needs to be done within 72 hours. So it is an emergency surgery. Good luck to all.

Re: Detached Retina

conlt — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 16:06:04 GMT

Thank you all, he is doing well today. The difficult part is holding his head in a certain position. From my understanding he has a nitrogen bubble in his eye. He is wearing a wrist band that says so in case he ends up in the ER.

I got him a reacher so he can reach for things. He has a wife but she has macular degeneration and can't drive him an hour to the doctor.

On Wednesday, the doctor will be in the local office and will see him there. I pray that he regains his eyesight in that eye.

Re: Detached Retina

chrystaltree — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 16:23:16 GMT

My upstairs neighbor who is in her 80s had a detached retina a couple of years ago. She recovered just fine. Her son moved in for a few weeks to help her out with her dog but she recovered quickly and was back to her routine.

Re: Detached Retina

BirkiLady — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 19:06:38 GMT

A few years ago I had the surgery to repair my retina, too. The surgery was the easy part; it was the four-week recovery that was such a trial for me. The degree of keeping my head down 24/7 was very difficult to function! I did manage to cook, minor cleaning & laundry, check emails and pay bills on-line, walk outside a couple of blocks and return home at least twice each day, read large-print books, listened to a lot of great music on Boise, and watched some delightful movies on ROKU! Like another poster mentioned, I also took daily baths (showers were off-limits) and did wash my hair every few days (although I've forgotten how that was accomplished with my head down! No idea now. )

I survived the head-down for four-weeks. My eyesight was returned in my right eye, but with glasses it is barely passable for the DMV. I've had two additional surgeries to see if further improvement could be made. Neither of the following surgeries worked at all. But my surgeon and I tried.

The left eye is certainly the dominent eye and will be the eye that I'll count on for the rest of my life.

Another mystery why things happen to some and not to others. IDK.
Best wishes on your retina surgery journey. It really isn't too bad. If you can rent a "recovery bed" for sleeping with your head down, do it! I did. It was ackward, but did help (somewhat) with sleeping. Maybe it was just too weird and took my mind off sleep! IDR for sure.

Re: Detached Retina

mnmom — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 16:53:58 GMT

I had emergency surgery for a detached retina about 14 years ago. I had the bubble insertion too, but only had to keep my head down for about 24 hours. It took awhile for my vision to return, but it did with only a little blurry spot in that eye. Saw the doc a lot and had some laser procedures throughout. I am grateful. Hope the same for your brother.

I did need early cataract surgery on that eye about a year later, due to the detached retina surgery.

Re: Detached Retina

conlt — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 00:45:23 GMT

My brother is 9 days out from surgery now. The keeping his head down and resting is difficult for him. He can see light now, but that is it. He is fretting about needing to go back to work. I told him he has to get the clearance from the doctor.

He works as a park ranger and does a lot of bending and lifting.

Re: Detached Retina

BirkiLady — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:38:24 GMT

@conlt wrote:
My brother is 9 days out from surgery now. The keeping his head down and resting is difficult for him. He can see light now, but that is it. He is fretting about needing to go back to work. I told him he has to get the clearance from the doctor.
He works as a park ranger and does a lot of bending and lifting.

@conlt

IIRC I was able to bend (for doing laundry), but I was not able to bend for working in my flower beds. Have you brother clear his park ranger position with his physician! The lifting will be a major concern there since he could tear or get holes in his retina. That eye recovery is more delicate than the surgery!!! Hope he is careful and heals well.

Re: Detached Retina

conlt — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:38:49 GMT

@BirkiLady Yes, I do not know why he is worried about his job. I guess at 61, losing his eyesight in 1 eye hit him hard. His State Park bosses love him and he has a lot of PTO time.

I finally talked him into talking to them about extending his time off until he see's the MD on the 18th. Then, if needed, get a note from the MD.

He also qualifies for FMLA but has not requested it. He can see light and colors now. I pray his eyesight improves. He is having a difficult time keeping his head in a certain position.

Funny, he always said he would retire at 62, but after seeing how he wants to go to work and misses work, I doubt it. He says he is board at home.

He may go part time next year when he turns 62. He has military retirement, so he can do it, unlike myself working full time at 66. I still love it though and don't know what I would do at home. I have to find some groups or something to join/do when I retire.