Detached Retina

conlt · ‎03-16-2010

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.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

@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.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

conlt · ‎03-16-2010

@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.

BExplorer · ‎12-08-2013

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!

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."--Eleanor Roosevelt

colliemom4 · ‎09-08-2010

My grandmother had one and recovered well.

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

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.

Tissyanne · ‎12-07-2012

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

msgb · ‎08-30-2010

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.

lillytalks · ‎09-01-2024

@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.

mildoo · ‎02-06-2017

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.