post surgery worries

[moonsnail]

I have chronic retinal detachment in my left eye.   I am 24 and I was diagnosed with retinal detachment 3 years ago.  I am scheduled to have secleral buckle surgey in September.  I am very nervous about what my eye will look like after the surgey.  I have read that some times the eye may become disfigured or that it may not have the muscle strength to keep it from being "lazy".  If anyone has had any experience with these post-surgery situations please write .

[ryann13]

I'm 21 and had a scleral buckle surgery with silicone oil done a month ago on my left eye.  From what I can tell, every patient has very different experiences and it's very easy to freak yourself out with all the potential complications.  I remember signing a release form saying I understood all of the potential complications that were listed above in a HUGE paragraph, some being vision related (like double vision) and others being more about physical appearance (like a droopy eyelid).  

Since you inquired about the appearance of the eye... a month after my surgery, you can't tell anything is weird with my eye unless you really look at it.  I still have some discoloration around the corner whites of my eye but that is slowly going away.  My pupil is still dilated, even though I'm not taking dilation drops, and I'm told it can take quite a while for pupils to return to normal contracting and expanding.  I also read it's possible for the nerves to be damaged so to pupil always stays dilated.  I'm hoping that doesn't happen to me.  Finally, there's something slightly funky with my eyelid.  I feel like I'm opening and closing it normally, but it's a bit droopy compared to my other.  Not extremely so but... yeah.  I've got another surgery in 3 months to remove the silicone oil, so we'll see how everything heals up and gets back to normal after that.  It seems like if there are complications there is almost always another thing that can be tried to correct it.  Although this whole process gets to be a bit exhausting...

Hope this helps.  That's just my experience.  

[moonsnail]

thanks for responding...It is good to hear from someone about their experiences.  I am very nervous about the surgery sometimes it keeps me up at night thinking about it.  I hope that your surgery goes well.  It would be nice to keep in touch.  Keep me updated on how everything goes.  Thanks again!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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[katika29]

I had a buckle and vitrechtomy performed at the same time, as well as silicone put in to make sure that the retina does not get detached again.  Do you have vision in your eye now?  I would advise that you get the operation as soon as possible because I ignored the warning signs of my detached retina -- floaters, and flashes of light occuring at side of eye, then I lost my sight and it was like a black veil obscuring my eyesight. Since I waited too long I do not have functional vision, however, my retina is re-attached and I do not have a black veil appearing.  I do not want to scare you but make sure that you have someone with you to take care of you afterwards, because the morning after the operation I felt chills and was sick, so I went back to Dr. with my husband first thing in the morning - Dr. said my eye pressure became very high even though I was given medicines to prevent that.  They did not warn me about that and I didn't know what was happening.  You must be brave because I believe you do not have a choice, from what you are saying you need to have the retina re-attached. Try to find the best and most experienced retinal eye surgeon you can, one that answers all your questions.  The most important thing is that he should have a lot of experience doing your type of surgery and you will be fine.  Good luck.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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[moonsnail]

Thank you so much for your information and support.  I do have vision in my left eye.  I know that I cant ignore it anymore and you are right I do have to be brave.  My doctors are the best in the country and I feel confident in their experience.
Thank you again and good luck with everything.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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[berrywoo]

hello.
I hope that things are going well for you. The scleral buckling surgery can leave you w/ a droopy lid along w/ other problems.
In my experience the scleral buckling procedure isn't too bad. Although at times your eye may feel a bit odd until you get used to it. For my left eye, the initial surgery did make the lid droop a bit, but the lid was alwasy a bit on the droopy side. However, after my eye healed the lid is back to normal.
The buckling of my right eye didn't cause any sort of lid drooping or other muscle control issues.
As far as post-op pain, you may experience a bit of discomfort which can be relieved w/ either OTC pain meds or if those don't work you can ask the doctor to Rx you something stronger. I found the OTC meds to work quite well, although I was given an Rx for pain meds those made me nauseous so I stuck w/ the OTC stuff.
The only major problem I experienced after surgery was that my retinas refused to stay attached. It took a few tries (five to be exact) to stabilize the retina of my left eye but that left me with only light perception and hand motion.
As for my right eye it has been a little over three months since surgery number 4 and the doctor is still concerned about scar tissue growth. However, so far the retina is staying attached and my visual loss remains contained to the periphery, although it is a significant portion of the visual field. Visual acuity in the eye was always poor, since it was the weaker of the two eyes prior to the RDs. Currently, w/ a pair of +3.5 OTC reading glasses my distance vision is 20/80 and my near vision is about 20/100 since I'm aphakic and have yet to be refracted. Although I doubt my distance vision will improve much as pinhole testing doesn't yield any improvements, but my near vision should improve considerably w/ the proper correction.
Anyways, good luck to you and I hope your surgery goes well.

[berrywoo]

I forgot to add a few things.
Don't be to concerned w/ the cosmetic issues that surgery may bring. Do worry about the actual visual changes that may occur as a result of surgery.You should be informed that the scleral buckle causes a myopic shift in vision. I hope you've talked w/ you doctor about all the risks involved. Again good luck and take care of the other eye.