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Just a BAD week- my scary surgery today!


TranquilMind
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At the worst of times, I always say to myself - having grown up with a chronically ill sib who died early - "Hey, at least I'm not having surgery or in the hospital!" Well, today, I had a sucky emergency eye surgery with NO anesthetic, because it was after hours and they didn't have any for me, unless I chose a worse surgery at the hospital (for 5X the cost). So....after freaking out, shaking, and reliving Clockwork Orange in my head a thousand times before doing it FOR REAL - after my husband arrived, I sucked it up and did it! PRAY IT WORKS FOR ME! Here's what happened (for future knowledge about freaky things that I hope don't happen to you, but you definitely need to know about if you are approaching 50 or have significant myopia!)

 

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up, sat down with my first cup of coffee and WHOA....huge black floaters in my vision, practically covering it. Flashing lights in the periphery. I wondered what the heck was happening! Called my husband, and he prayed for me. It settled down, so I relaxed a bit, but my gut still told me I should be seen. It was Saturday morning - of course! I called a relative who is an optometrist. He told me to come immediately, and he would work me in. I did. He said that I had had a posterior vitreous detachment in my eye. It's common over 50. What happens is that the vitreous -the jelly like stuff in the center of your eye, thickens and hardens a bit as you age. One day it can just pull away from the retina, the inside lining all the way around the inner eye. Fabulous. He said it was rare that it would progress to a retina detachment, but if it does, I will see a dark curtain shading some portion of my view and I should race to an eye surgeon, because you will go blind if it is left untreated.

 

Great. So today, last night, I notice it is dark at the side of my eye, but it isn't constant, so I didn't think too much about it. Today, I'm driving my son somewhere and I realize that I cannot see him in the passenger seat! Ack! It was late in the day, so after I dropped him, I drove to an eye surgeon nearby, but the office had closed. I whip out the phone and search for nearby surgeons, hoping I can catch one before the office closes! I call one right before closing and she tells me that a surgeon will stay and come now.

 

I get there. Woman lets me in the locked building. Doctor comes in, uses some fancy equipment and proceeds to tell me my retina has detached and I need surgery RIGHT NOW. She can do one procedure in the office with a high percentage of working, that involves inserting a gas bubble in my vitreous, which I have to position myself so the bubble will be against the area of detachment to reattach it, or admit me to the hospital and do a more invasive procedure whereby the entire vitreous is removed from the eyeball and they go in there and sew things up. I am FREAKING OUT, like seriously. I do not do well in medical situations. She looks at me and says maybe we should go to the hospital.

 

My husband arrives, bless his heart, and she tells him the more detailed version that I didn't want to hear, while I escape to the bathroom, pray, try to quiet my breathing and all that.

 

I come back, and she is telling him how they don't really have anesthesia for this. I tell him, "YOU are my anesthesia!" and tell the doctor that how this will work is if she tells me nothing she is doing, and just gets in and gets out. I ask, "Are you skilled and fast?" She says she is very skilled (later I confirm this with other sources), and fast. I tell her about the brilliant tech at the hospital who inserted a Picc line without telling me, simply saying that she needed to position this, and position that, until she finally said it was over now. I told her I had two kids at home with no drugs and I will power through. I tell her let's go do this...

 

 

She sets up some stuff in another room, and I'm trying not to panic. We go in the little room, she positions me, and then I start babbling about everything under the sun, asking the doc and the assistant about their kids, telling them about my kids, squeezing my husband's hand off. He's trying not to vomit while she is shoving huge needles IN MY EYE. I can't see him anyway, since both eyes were dilated, so I continue babbling. At one point, I say jokingly that I need some pot brownies from 1975. They laugh. Then I announce that now I am going to recite Psalm 23, which I proceed to do (I'm sure they thought I had already consumed pot brownies before arriving!). The doctor, well-warned, tells me NOTHING, and just keeps saying, well I have to adjust this, and arrange that....until she finally announces that she is done! Happy days are here again!

 

I can't drive (for 2 freakiing weeks!), so my husband drives me home, asks our friend to bring our son back, and then the friend goes back with him to retrieve the other car. I watch a little TV but it's hard with floaters. So I lie down. I can only lie on my stomach or side with head down toward bed - something I NEVER EVER do, and a position in which I can't breathe well. Great. I read online that I am supposed to be in this position SIXTEEN HOURS A DAY, though the doctor just told me to do it several times a day for an hour at a time. If this huge black gas bubble in my vision presses against my retina in the proper place, I won't have to do worse surgery. I tried, for hours. That's why I'm up talking to you people at 3 in the morning! Not happening.

 

My eye is a huge puffy mess, tears are leaking out nonstop, and I look like I've been punched. Worse, the vision is cloudy in that eye, like I'm looking through very heavy fog. That's new since I got home. I googled it and cataract can be a side effect! I had perfectly clear lenses when I went in!

 

Somebody please pray for me, that this works, that my lens clears, and I can be done with this problem. It's been the worst 3 years of my life, and I'm ready for better times.

 

Oh, and if you suddenly see flashing lights in the periphery of an eye, and a sudden influx of new floaters, and especially if you see floating "sand" (small floaters) and a dark spot to the side....get thyself to an eye surgeon ASAP. If I had gone when I first noticed the dark spot, it would have been a 2 second zap with a laser and done, instead of CLOCKWORK ORANGE with my eye propped open and needles going in!

 

Thanks for listening. Back to lie on my side for hours! Arrgh.

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Oh NO! Poor you! I can imagine every awful moment! I had LASIK surgery some years ago, for which one is awake with dilating and anaesthetising eye drops. That was bad enough, but then, after I took a taxi home to my Mom who was watching the kids (dh was out if town) my left eye went blurry. I phoned the office, and caught them just as they were leaving and told them my corneal flap had detached. They were more than a little patronising when they asked me how I knew. Uh, maybe because I can feel it floating around in my eye and I'm not a complete moron? It got fixed (kind of, vision in that eye is still wonky in a hard to define way) but I was entirely traumatised. Complete placenta previa leading to an emergency C-Section was a breeze compared to The Eye Surgery Experience. I know something is 'not right' with that eye but I'm too nervous to have in checked out in case they suggest fixing it!

Rest your eyes, spend as many hours a day as you can in the face down position, and I hope it heals quickly and you never have to let anyone near your eyes ever again!

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Oh NO! Poor you! I can imagine every awful moment! I had LASIK surgery some years ago, for which one is awake with dilating and anaesthetising eye drops. That was bad enough, but then, after I took a taxi home to my Mom who was watching the kids (dh was out if town) my left eye went blurry. I phoned the office, and caught them just as they were leaving and told them my corneal flap had detached. They were more than a little patronising when they asked me how I knew. Uh, maybe because I can feel it floating around in my eye and I'm not a complete moron? It got fixed (kind of, vision in that eye is still wonky in a hard to define way) but I was entirely traumatised. Complete placenta previa leading to an emergency C-Section was a breeze compared to The Eye Surgery Experience. I know something is 'not right' with that eye but I'm too nervous to have in checked out in case they suggest fixing it!

Rest your eyes, spend as many hours a day as you can in the face down position, and I hope it heals quickly and you never have to let anyone near your eyes ever again!

 

Ugh. Horrible experience you had too. I can't imagine!

 

I will, and yes, I'm done with all this.

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:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

Something similar happened to me. I woke up one morning with a dark cloudiness in 1 eye. The same day I went to the ER (the doctor could do nothing there) sent me to a local opthalmologist, who sent me to a retina specialist. I had a retinal hemorrage. He scheduled surgery the next day. Under anesthesia, he removed the vitrious and lasered the retina to stop the bleeding. It's been over 3 years and no cataract yet, so don't worry too much about that.

 

I'm so sorry you had to go thru the procedure with no anesthesia, but now you know you can do it!! You are strong and brave.

 

I will repeat the warning: if you have any signs of retinal problems (flashing lights, lots of new floaters, falling curtain) go immediately to an ophthalmologist. (After my experience, I wouldn't bother to go back to the ER. Your hospital may be equipped to handle eye emergencies however)

 

a couple of links:

Retinal detachment

Vitreous Hemorrhage

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Ugh so that's what I get to look forward to in 20 years???? I have myopia and astigmatism so bad I'm legally blind with out my glasses :( oh well got eye doctor appointment on the 20th to see how things have changed. :)

 

 

Maybe not. That's the weird thing. I have much better than the average 5-6 or over diopter (only 2!) of the highly myopic, to whom this more normally happens. And it happened to me, which is rare.

 

Just remember that if you ever see huge numbers of floaters preceded by flashing lights, go to a surgeon, not just an optometrist. I might have had a small tear immediately that the optometrist could not see with his less sophisticated equipment. That would have been easy. Instead, she had to go all Clockwork Orange on me.

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oh my!! What an ordeal. I've had 3 friends go through this in the last year. I've had LASIK surgery too and it's nothing like that. Horrifying. Sadly, I've since heard that those with LASIK surgery have a higher incidence of retina detaching. :crying:

 

 

 

 

I've heard that too, about the Lasik. My eye doctor and many of his friends had it. He had a vitreous detachment at 50, but it didn't progress to a retinal detachment.

 

Not doing the Lasik. I will stick to my glasses, I guess, after all this!

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Oh no, that sounds awful. I am glad you got it over with and hope everything heals successfully. Take it easy.

 

Thanks. The good news is that though there is a HUGE BLACK BUBBLE in my vision, I no longer see the gray shadow of the detachment.

 

I spent the entire night in the most uncomfortable position with my head down and to the side, exactly as she said. She called today and after I told her this, she said I may have already fixed it, and congratulated me for forcing myself to stay in the uncomfortable position the entire night, as many patients don't or can't.

 

So that's slightly encouraging. She said she may run to the office and see me tomorrow instead of Monday to see if we have been successful. Please, God, let it be so! Pray for me.

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Wow, so sorry that you had to go through all of that! How brave you were, though!!

 

I'm also severely myopic & get warnings about retinal detachment every time I see my eye doctor. And I panicked when I had cataract surgery WITH anesthesia.

 

Hope you recover quickly!!

 

Thank you! And I pray you never, ever have a detachment. It isn't a certainty at all.

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Oh.my.word. You are one strong and brave woman!!!

 

I sincerely hope your recovery goes well. :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

I don't think so. I am simply greater-risk averse! ;) And I HATE hospitals and everything about them. I've watched relative after relative die there. I'd have surgery in my bedroom before going to one, if I can help it!

 

But thanks. Yes, I pray it does!

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:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

Something similar happened to me. I woke up one morning with a dark cloudiness in 1 eye. The same day I went to the ER (the doctor could do nothing there) sent me to a local opthalmologist, who sent me to a retina specialist. I had a retinal hemorrage. He scheduled surgery the next day. Under anesthesia, he removed the vitrious and lasered the retina to stop the bleeding. It's been over 3 years and no cataract yet, so don't worry too much about that.

 

I'm so sorry you had to go thru the procedure with no anesthesia, but now you know you can do it!! You are strong and brave.

 

I will repeat the warning: if you have any signs of retinal problems (flashing lights, lots of new floaters, falling curtain) go immediately to an ophthalmologist. (After my experience, I wouldn't bother to go back to the ER. Your hospital may be equipped to handle eye emergencies however)

 

a couple of links:

Retinal detachment

Vitreous Hemorrhage

 

Amen, sister. Glad yours went well. Apparently, when the vitreous is removed, the eye will refill with saline. Do you notice any differences now? Is your vision as good as it was?

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Wow! I'm sharing this story with a bunch of people. I will pray for you too.

 

I have to ask...did it hurt while she was doing the surgery?

 

Not really. It was more like seeing lightning blasts everywhere. I gotta admit that when she entered the needle in the white of my eye to do some freezing thing (I didn't want to get all the details), I squeezed my husband's hand so hard he practically jumped. It was strong pressure, not really pain. And I babbled nonstop, talking about teens (which we all had), vacations, islands I'd like to visit, scriptures, pot brownies, etc. .

 

The talking really, really helps, though I did make sure to get her permission. I'm so highly distractable that I would want my patient to SHUT UP. She said she was easily able to filter me out and focus, so I talked nonstop.

 

I did the same with my home births, though I was speaking scriptures I had memorized. Childbirth was all hard pressure and hard work, not pain, to me. Really helps to speak, especially God's Word, I found. I was unable to do that and stay panicked at the same time. I was shouting them through that whole "ring of fire" thing though.

 

My husband told me after that I probably should not have talked about pot brownies, because she might think I did drugs. So I told her on the phone when she called that I was just kidding. She laughed and said, "Well I know druggies and you aren't one. I knew you were kidding and I thought it was funny."

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Amen, sister. Glad yours went well. Apparently, when the vitreous is removed, the eye will refill with saline. Do you notice any differences now? Is your vision as good as it was?

 

I can tell a difference, probably due to how much they lasered the retina to stop the bleeding and cauterize some of the other blood vessels. The laser not only treats the damaged blood vessels but also damages the light receiving cells in the retina (they are innocent bystanders!), so now, the sight in my left (treated) eye is "dimmer" than my right eye, so my vision is not quite as good as it was, but only barely noticeable. From what I understand, if someone has repeated retinal laser treatments over time, the damage to the retina can lead to serious vision loss.

 

Also, they refilled my eye during surgery with something, I don't know if was saline or not. From what I understand, the eye doesn't replace the missing humor itself.

 

Best wishes for your speedy recovery.

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I can tell a difference, probably due to how much they lasered the retina to stop the bleeding and cauterize some of the other blood vessels. The laser not only treats the damaged blood vessels but also damages the light receiving cells in the retina (they are innocent bystanders!), so now, the sight in my left (treated) eye is "dimmer" than my right eye, so my vision is not quite as good as it was, but only barely noticeable. From what I understand, if someone has repeated retinal laser treatments over time, the damage to the retina can lead to serious vision loss.

 

Also, they refilled my eye during surgery with something, I don't know if was saline or not. From what I understand, the eye doesn't replace the missing humor itself.

 

Best wishes for your speedy recovery.

 

Hmm. I wondered how it got the saline in there. I guess they would have to put it in.

 

Apparently, there is a surgery they do where they fill the inside with oil. After the eye heals, they have to go back in and drain it out and put saline in. Ugh.

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I can tell a difference, probably due to how much they lasered the retina to stop the bleeding and cauterize some of the other blood vessels. The laser not only treats the damaged blood vessels but also damages the light receiving cells in the retina (they are innocent bystanders!), so now, the sight in my left (treated) eye is "dimmer" than my right eye, so my vision is not quite as good as it was, but only barely noticeable. From what I understand, if someone has repeated retinal laser treatments over time, the damage to the retina can lead to serious vision loss.

 

Also, they refilled my eye during surgery with something, I don't know if was saline or not. From what I understand, the eye doesn't replace the missing humor itself.

 

Best wishes for your speedy recovery.

 

 

The eye does eventually replace the vitreous humour that was removed. It just takes quite a while.

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I haven't been online all day, so I missed the whole thing -- I'm so sorry! I would have been praying for you all night long!!!

 

What a horribly scary thing! :eek: And emergency surgery is terrifying enough -- but on your EYE, and with NO ANESTHESIA???? You deserve some sort of Congressional Medal for getting through that!!!

 

I'll pray that you make a quick and complete recovery. :grouphug:

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UPDATE: The doctor called and asked if I could run by the office today, since she had to see someone else anyway. I am no longer seeing the shadow to the periphery of my vision, and just spent two terrible nights basically face down and to the side. She said we had done it! The detachment is now reattached to some glue-like stuff she put in there, but she said it would take 10 days to harden.

 

Ten days of sleeping upright in my recliner to keep the bubble of gas she put in my eye against the newly reattached area, like a bandaid, she said.

 

Praising God that the tear didn't happen in the lower quadrant. I guess that would be ten days of sleeping upside down on my head!

 

Thank you for praying and I'm so glad I'm done with this!

 

Woo Hoo!

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:grouphug: praying for a quick and complete recovery. You and your dh are amazing! Ookey eyeball surgery is definitely something I would not want to be awake through. You are my new hero!

 

 

Thanks! I think I should clarify that she went into my eyeball with needles from the side, not directly through the front of my lens or anything! No one could do that!

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