Macular Hole Surgery

[parkavenue]

I had macular hole surgery and still see hazy and wavy lines 2 and a half weeks after gas bubble surgery.
My doctor, who appears to be very famous in New York, only told me to keep face down two days, which I did with equipment from Vitectomy Solutions.  I told him that I read about it differently, but he said that was old school, and said 2 days. Have you every heard of this?  Tomorrow I have appointment and will ask what type of hole and size I had.   I had hole about a year before surgery.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

please read my answer posted on your first posting. JCH MD

[alexc86]

I am 27 years old, during floaters vitrectomy got macular hole, its 3 month after mhs, lines are distored as semi circle, so it seems I am a new client of Dignitas, life is ****....  cheers

[cathie77]

Yes i do have a cataract forming,i had a check up on September 13th.
The surgeon told me that as yet the cataract is not very dense,my next appoinment is in March 2012.
I dont know why they dont remove it now,maybe they like to leave it as long as possible.
I am being treated on the national health service in the UK,maybe if i paid for private treatment it would be done sooner,but iam quite happy at the moment because i can see ok.

[homecrafter]

Did you ever find out if you had a Cataract forming?

[cathie77]

It is now 8 months since i had a vitrectomy to repair a macular hole.
The surgery was successful in closing the hole,i had to posture face down for 10 days,but i was allowed to sleep on my side at night.
I am very pleased with the result,i no longer see things distorted, although i do have a small blurry patch in that eye,i can read 3 lines on the eye chart whereas before i could not read any.
I was told the blurry patch is where the hole was.
I have my next appointment in 2 weeks time to see if i have developed a cataract,which iam told is a side effect of the surgeryi am not sure if i have one or not,my sight seems to be quite clear.
I was really scared when this first happened,as i had never heard of a macular hole before,i am just so thankful that something could be done to fix it.

[eddiem819]

I had Macular hole surgery back in March, after 2 months recovery, hole is gone, but when looking at object, it's like 3D movie.... Doctor said I have Marcular Pucker.
Is that normal with Macular pucker after Macular hole surgery?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=

[helcatsman]

I had my surgery on 15 Aug. Not sure of hole size, but told to keep head down a week and did.  Gas bubble disappeared today, but vision hazy and can tell there is a small spot in center vision where view is distorted so that several of these letters disappear when close the good eye.  Not sure what my gas was, but the bubble would reflect the computer screen up into the non bubble part in the form of a block of light and lights caused vertical lines.  I could get rid of them by holding my finger at the level of the bubble.  Vision one week after surgery inproved from 20/100 before surgery to 20/50 and feels slightly better, so hoping it will improve over the months to come.  Looks like every one will be a little different.  I am 70 and first noticed the vision problem 5 weeks before my surgery.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

1. Yes but not used as often and you'll need to discuss with your surgeon
2. The smaller the hole the better; yes it is possible to restore normal or almost normal vision; with a big full thickness hole never happens.
3. No one not even your surgeon can tell you the final result (say 6 months out). Be patient.  Use the search feature and archvives and read what others have shared about their experience.

JCH MD

[parkavenue]

Is there an alternative to this gas bubble surgery when you have a macular hole?  ALso, in your opinion, have you heard of sight getting restored to the level it was before the hole?  Even when hole was there for more than a year and is now completely closed?  I still see some wavy patches.   I don't know how much the half gas bubble left is causing.  Most of the haze is gone.  3 weeks today post-surgery.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Key word "often" not "always"

JCH MD

[parkavenue]

I did not realize that the repair of a macular hole was brutal surgery with a long drawn out recovery.  It is still less than 3 weeks and the gas bubble is less than half and the haze above the gas bubble is getting better each day.  I had no pain, no side effects..  Of course I will not be satified until my vision is backand clear, but the macular hole is closed completely, and my drops are now once a day.  I only hope I will get rid of the wavy line which is still in the hazy part of my eye above the bubble, and that I will see text clearly when I do paperwork.  My next appointment is 2 weeks away

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

This is often brutal surgery with a long drawn out recovery. Use the search feature and archives and read the many posts. Time will tell.

JCH MD

[parkavenue]

I went back to Doctor today and was told my macular hole was gone. Another person that had the surgery the day after me was told the same.  Both of us compared notes and were both told by our same doctor to only do face down for 24-48 hours, but both of us admitted to each other we both did it for a week because of what we read on the internet about the benefits of face down healing and both of us did not want to take a chance with our eyes.  Now we both have a gas bubble at less than the 50% mark after almost 3 weeks post=surgery, and we are both waiting for the gas to be fully absorbed so we can see again.  Today I saw objects and general environment, and was able to ready some large letters for the Doctor, but no clarity up front and through the haze.  I also have a kind of triple vision, right eye fine, left eye hazy about bubble, and jiggly through bubble.   I go to bed early to rest my eyes to be better the next day and hope more gas is absorbed each day.  Eye drops are once a day now rather than 4x