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Posterior pole buckle for myopia - my experience
by dukey, Jun 30, 2009 07:41PM
Ok so it is probably about time I wrote a "review" of my surgery as many people have asked me about it.
So I had surgery with Dr Ward on June 3rd in San Jose. I scheduled my initial visit with him a couple of days before surgery as I knew I would qualify for it. My pre-op appointment was the usual battery of tests including OCT, peripheral exam, staphyloma identification etc. The office is very nice and very, very fast which usually correlates perfectly with the cost. Dr Ward really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I was a perfect candidate for surgery as vision is still 20/25 in both eyes but with rather extensive degeneration in right eye and some in the left. The damage in my right eye seems to have been caused by a CNV followed by some kind of RPE tear. It seems to be "quiet" now. I chose to get my right eye done first though. This is very much my dominant eye but is also the one that I percieve to be the most "at risk" and is therefore the one I am most afraid of losing....to put it bluntly. This decision is your own and requires some thought. Dr Ward will not make this decision for you unless, I imagine, it is very obvious which eye needs to be done.
Surgery was 2 days later. I got to the hospital at 6 am and did all the pre-op stuff with the nurses and anesthesiologist. They tried to collect an "estimated" co-pay, which I thought was BS so I dodged it skillfully as I have the "gift of the gab". You then get geared up and then get wheeled into the theatre (as it is called in the UK) at about 8 am . I was put to sleep which felt great and was woken up about an hour and a half later to a grinning Dr Ward, which was a bit scary as he looks like Austin Powers lol. I felt like **** immediately after and was shaking badly but I have always reacted badly to general. Dr Ward was trying to show me pictures of my eye after the surgery but I was so out of it, it was not a good time. I was then literally thrown out of the hospital as soon as I could open my eyes. This is my only complaint and is really the only thing that is not under Dr Wards control. You are on a conveyor belt with all the other out-patients and I guess you just have to accept that.
My eye was patched heavily and was definitely uncomfortable. You are given prescriptions for drops and other meds which control IOP and swelling/infection (tip: get these prior to the surgery). I was back in the hotel by lunchtime and went straight to bed. I left the patch on until later that evening when I had to put the first drops in. The vision is TERRIBLE after surgery. I mean it is finger counting only. This can be a bit scary but I expected it which helped. The swelling is BAD too. You look like someone has whacked you with an iron bar. Your eyebrow seems as if it has been moved halfway up your forehead. My eye was very red and was dilated with Atropine, which is not a nice drug. You take IOP meds by mouth too which makes you urinate a lot and has some other sides which can be weird (tingling etc). I left the patch on with a shield overnight and ripped it off in the morning. I don't take to eye patches too well and felt a lot better with it off. You do get the odd stare but I think most people just think you have been in a really bad fight.
Eye movement is the biggest adverse event you will notice immediately. For days after surgery, movement is restricted to the right and is quite painful in this direction. This gets better drastically over the following days and weeks. There is a lot of double vision to the right and up but it's not that troublesome and lessens over time. You have a follow up visit the next day to check pressure (mine = 13) and check motility/infection etc. If all is OK, that is pretty much it. You are free to go.
I am now 3.5 weeks post-op. My vision was 20/25 on average before surgery and returned to 20/50 after about a week and was easily 20/30 after 2 weeks. It is now 20/25 ish and improving everyday still. I was back at work after a few days. The vision is still not 100% expecially when using both eyes together but it takes a little time to get everything back in sync. It's more subjective really now more than anything else. I still have some mild double vision to the extreme right but that too is getting better. The eye is still quite red but I was told that it takes 8 weeks for this to really go away. The pupil is dilated until the atropine wears off, which can take 2 weeks.
There are some things, albeit very subjective, that I have already noticed following surgery. The vision in the right eye seems different and more detailed than the other eye. The vitreous is VERY different, not as "soupy" and I do not notice as many floaters. Apart from that, it is early days.
I wont comment on the cost yet as insurance claims are in right now. I got pre-approval but that is no guarantee. However, looking at the filed insurance claims, you do not want to undertake this without insurance as you could be in the hole $50 - 100K in the blink of an eye. My feeling is that it is VERY expensive and the hospital that Dr Ward uses is outrageously expensive. The hospital alone charged my insurance $50,000.00 and I was only in the hospital for 5 hours!!!!!! I am sure my insurance will not pay anything like that but I will post back when I know more on this. He should look elsewhere for a hospital in my opinion but this is California unfortunately where everything is more expensive.
That really is about it. Any comments, questions welcome.
So I had surgery with Dr Ward on June 3rd in San Jose. I scheduled my initial visit with him a couple of days before surgery as I knew I would qualify for it. My pre-op appointment was the usual battery of tests including OCT, peripheral exam, staphyloma identification etc. The office is very nice and very, very fast which usually correlates perfectly with the cost. Dr Ward really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I was a perfect candidate for surgery as vision is still 20/25 in both eyes but with rather extensive degeneration in right eye and some in the left. The damage in my right eye seems to have been caused by a CNV followed by some kind of RPE tear. It seems to be "quiet" now. I chose to get my right eye done first though. This is very much my dominant eye but is also the one that I percieve to be the most "at risk" and is therefore the one I am most afraid of losing....to put it bluntly. This decision is your own and requires some thought. Dr Ward will not make this decision for you unless, I imagine, it is very obvious which eye needs to be done.
Surgery was 2 days later. I got to the hospital at 6 am and did all the pre-op stuff with the nurses and anesthesiologist. They tried to collect an "estimated" co-pay, which I thought was BS so I dodged it skillfully as I have the "gift of the gab". You then get geared up and then get wheeled into the theatre (as it is called in the UK) at about 8 am . I was put to sleep which felt great and was woken up about an hour and a half later to a grinning Dr Ward, which was a bit scary as he looks like Austin Powers lol. I felt like **** immediately after and was shaking badly but I have always reacted badly to general. Dr Ward was trying to show me pictures of my eye after the surgery but I was so out of it, it was not a good time. I was then literally thrown out of the hospital as soon as I could open my eyes. This is my only complaint and is really the only thing that is not under Dr Wards control. You are on a conveyor belt with all the other out-patients and I guess you just have to accept that.
My eye was patched heavily and was definitely uncomfortable. You are given prescriptions for drops and other meds which control IOP and swelling/infection (tip: get these prior to the surgery). I was back in the hotel by lunchtime and went straight to bed. I left the patch on until later that evening when I had to put the first drops in. The vision is TERRIBLE after surgery. I mean it is finger counting only. This can be a bit scary but I expected it which helped. The swelling is BAD too. You look like someone has whacked you with an iron bar. Your eyebrow seems as if it has been moved halfway up your forehead. My eye was very red and was dilated with Atropine, which is not a nice drug. You take IOP meds by mouth too which makes you urinate a lot and has some other sides which can be weird (tingling etc). I left the patch on with a shield overnight and ripped it off in the morning. I don't take to eye patches too well and felt a lot better with it off. You do get the odd stare but I think most people just think you have been in a really bad fight.
Eye movement is the biggest adverse event you will notice immediately. For days after surgery, movement is restricted to the right and is quite painful in this direction. This gets better drastically over the following days and weeks. There is a lot of double vision to the right and up but it's not that troublesome and lessens over time. You have a follow up visit the next day to check pressure (mine = 13) and check motility/infection etc. If all is OK, that is pretty much it. You are free to go.
I am now 3.5 weeks post-op. My vision was 20/25 on average before surgery and returned to 20/50 after about a week and was easily 20/30 after 2 weeks. It is now 20/25 ish and improving everyday still. I was back at work after a few days. The vision is still not 100% expecially when using both eyes together but it takes a little time to get everything back in sync. It's more subjective really now more than anything else. I still have some mild double vision to the extreme right but that too is getting better. The eye is still quite red but I was told that it takes 8 weeks for this to really go away. The pupil is dilated until the atropine wears off, which can take 2 weeks.
There are some things, albeit very subjective, that I have already noticed following surgery. The vision in the right eye seems different and more detailed than the other eye. The vitreous is VERY different, not as "soupy" and I do not notice as many floaters. Apart from that, it is early days.
I wont comment on the cost yet as insurance claims are in right now. I got pre-approval but that is no guarantee. However, looking at the filed insurance claims, you do not want to undertake this without insurance as you could be in the hole $50 - 100K in the blink of an eye. My feeling is that it is VERY expensive and the hospital that Dr Ward uses is outrageously expensive. The hospital alone charged my insurance $50,000.00 and I was only in the hospital for 5 hours!!!!!! I am sure my insurance will not pay anything like that but I will post back when I know more on this. He should look elsewhere for a hospital in my opinion but this is California unfortunately where everything is more expensive.
That really is about it. Any comments, questions welcome.
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How long did you remain in California before you were "okayed to fly back?
Thank you for the detailed synopsis. Please let us know when your vision has fully returned and whether there are any lingering side effects.
Please keep us updated. I'm also glad you posted the costs involved.