Vision completely black after retina detachment surgery

[dtovar922]

My wife had sudden blurred vision back in January. She had prolific retinal detachment due to complications with diabetes. She described it as a blurry mass in both eyes and a line down the center of her left eye, giving her splitscreen vision. Due to insurance complications we weren't able to get surgery until April. The surgeon chose to do one eye at a time, so we decided to do the left eye first. The doctor said the surgery went well, reattached perfectly with minimal scar tissue removed, and he used a silicone bubble to hold the retina in place. It's been six months now and during our last check up he said the retina is healing well and the oil bubble is holding in place. However there might still be a little fluid behind the retina that needs to drain on its own before she can see again. Right now, her vision is completely black in that left eye, and her right still remains detached. I fear that if we delay any more action she could lose her vision completely.
Should I get a second opinion on this or is this normal for this type of surgery?

[dtovar922]

Update: went to see another specialist for a second opinion. Bad news.
He says the left eye which had the surgery was still definitely detached and would never get better in the state that it is in. The silicone oil bubble seemed to be only partially filled, which could be part of the reason. The right eye will be lasered down on the 22nd so hopefully that will be one less hurdle we need to jump.
I want this new specialist to perform another surgery on the left eye if there's a slim hope that the eye is still saveable. Even 10% chance is better than 0% in my opinion.
My wife is freaking out at the thought of the laser accidentally destroying her last remaining eye. I can only reassure her that we won't let her go blind, but I'm starting to get a little apprehensive myself.
What is the success rate for laser surgery on a detached retina?

[JohnHaganMD]

First of all these problems are each one of a kind and do not lend themselves to setting "odds" like much more standard procedures like cataract surgery or eye muscle surgery. If she has proliferative diabetic retinopathy the risks to her better eye is probably much better with the laser than allowing the PDR to get out of control. The surgeon that looks in the eye is the only one that can give you both the risks of both treatment and non treatment and try and quantitate them.  Remember to have her keep her diabetes under meticulous control.

[dtovar922]

I understand these problems are unique to the individual in these cases. We've never gone through anything like this before and I'm just sort of grasping at straws for some hope that my wife will get at least some of her sight back. And that the laser treatment won't completely black out her remaining eye.
Her blood sugar is under constant monitoring and stays within 100 to 120 now, so there's that going for us.
I suppose we will have another update in a couple of weeks.

[JohnHaganMD]

Understand.  In spite of all advances diabetes remains one of the leading causes of poor vision and blindness in the world.  Many more cases can be helped than 10-20 years ago and advances are made every week.  Best of luck and feel free to post anytime you have a question I might be able to help you with.

[JohnHaganMD]

I would suggest a second opinion from a different retina surgeon. This is a huge problem with very guarded prognosis. Additional opinions would be useful.

[dtovar922]

I will do this. It worried me when he first said the oil bubble would dissolve, and then said it would have to stay in permanently.
He seems hesitant to work on her other eye. I know if he were to do so she would be completely blind until it heals but right now she can barely do anything strenuous without seeing flashes. It's really giving her terrible anxiety and it's been almost an entire year dealing with this so we both just want this to be over with.

[JohnHaganMD]

Its a very difficult problem.