Expected discomfort after retinal detachment repair surgery

[yoda_master2]

My mother just had retinal detachment repair surgery. She had had floaters and flashes for over a year, but last week she began seeing a black shadow on the corner of her eye, and it grew within a couple of days. She immediately had surgery, within 3 days of when she started seeing it, and never had the vision in her right eye fully blocked. The doctor said that she was right on time, because the most sensitive nerves were not damaged. She had pneumatic retinopexy (gas bubble) performed and scleral buckle applied to her right eye. The day after the operation she did not see the black shadow anymore, but she saw a white veil over her right eye (sensing light), and bubbles kind of floating in a watery substance.  
Over the days she's begun to see shadows on the top part of her eye, sensing movements, but she still sees the white, bubbly veil on the bottom part. I assume her eye is already replacing the gas bubble with the newly generated vitreous, but I'd like to know if this makes sense.
She's growing impatient and I'm wondering what an average recovery time is for a patient like her and when could she be expected to regain vision. She is in her early 50's and very healthy. We are aware that her prescription may change, but I would just like to know the average expected times for recovery are (like when is that veil supposed to dissolve, and when is she supposed to regain reading vision, etc.) based on other doctor/patient experiences.
I would appreciate any information that would help me set her mind at ease.
Thank you.

[Forum-OD-MP]

no "newly generated" vitreous.  more like just resorbing the gas.

average recovery time for gas bubble/scleral buckle...6 weeks?  a long time.

[yoda_master2]

Does it sound like a normal recovery?
Six weeks for the bubble to be reabsorbed and the white veil to vanish or for her to be able to focus and reach the best post-surgery vision possible?
I know it's hard to tell without examining her, but would you say she has a good chance of having good vision again?

She's also having laser applied to her other eye to prevent the other retina from detaching. Should she notice any change in that eye after the laser is applied? should she be in any pain?
Thank you.

[MikeTN]

I had a very similar procedure done, laser, buckle, bubble and it took about 10 weeks for the bubble to go away.  My doctor said there is about a 50% chance of developing a cataract.  The way he explained it to me is your lens is just fluid and protein and the bubble dehydrates the lens.  So some of the cloudiness she is seeing could be the beginnings of a cataract.  The bubble will go away at different rates in different people.  I've heard any where from 5 to 12 weeks from the people I've talked to so just tell her to be patient.

[SomeCallMeTim]

I had two operations on my left eye. The first time a gas bubble was put in and the doctor said that the gas should be reabsorbed after 3-4 weeks. That operation failed and they did a vitrectony and scleral buckle I was told that he put in a gas that would take 8-10 weeks to reabsorb. Over time the "line" that indicated the edge of the bubble gradually moved. I think I still had a tiny bubble that would occasionally pop out at 9 weeks but by 10 weeks it was completely gone.

Perhaps your mother's surgeon could give a more accurate timeframe depending upon what was put in the eye.

[jingo]

A related discussion, vitrectomy - silicone oil was started.