vitrectomy recovery

[judy5]

Anyone care to share their experience and how they survived the face down position after surgery

[gigs924]

Preparation is important.  I bought several easy to put on jogging suits, zip-front, not over the head (in bright colors to cheer me up and comfortable to sleep in) and put them on a waist high rack so I could reach them easily.  Obviously straws for drinking.  I could not concentrate on watching movies on a dvd player as suggested, nor could I condentrate on reading.  I rented equipment, chair, a device to lay my head on extended over the foot of the bed and I kept rotating these positions as well as jusy laying head on kitchen table. I bought a chaise lounger with face-out, but it was too uncomfortable to be of any use.  It was a challenge to keep head-down, but after starting it you just know you have to finish it.  There is no giving up.  On my 4th day my neck hurt so badly I called the dr. and he prescribed Tylenol with codeinne.  He only suggestion tylenol at first.  Talk to your dr first about what he might prescribe for you.  It really was bearable, but I would not be anxious to do it again.  Good luck.  You can do it.

[Genzero]

A related discussion, Vitrectomy with Oil bubble was started.

[Winterpeg]

To matt:
The gas bubble took about 9 weeks to disipate when I had my Vitrectomy. I was only heads down for 12 days after the surgery and at that time the DR said that everything was looking great(retina patched up) and that I could resume normal activities, other than very heavy weight lifting. I hope that you are still not heads-down!
Have a great day;

[matt_ret_d_vitrectomy]

Hang in there!
I'm recovering from vitrectomy with face-down positioning myself right now, and I'm getting very impatient also.  But, the best things I've found helpful have been 1) "donut" pillow + wedge chest cushion for facedown resting and sleeping (there are one or two "vitrectomy" sellers of this, but it is very similar/identical to massage therapist equipment 2) a massage chair for sitting face down to be able to read, surf internet, etc, comfortably and 3) a double mirror device (I made my own with 2 small mirrors and office tape) to allow right-side-up, face-down TV watching.
And finally, frequent massages to keep my back and neck muscles from going too crazy.
It's been 6 weeks since my surgery - my recovery appears to be especially slow in absorbing my gas bubble, and I'm trying to be a good patient, but it is very hard.  These items have helped a lot make it this far along.
Good luck!

[AnnaE]

There are a lot of posts here. Do a search. If you are anticipating surgery, also look at vitrectomy solutions.com.

[hsum4]

Dear judy:

I never had the face down recovery, but I did have a vitrectomy.  My sight was really good at first, but then I had to have a IOL cataract replacement lens put in.  Now I have to get rid of some fibrous tissue that seems to be pretty normal in cataract patients.  They do this with a YAG laser.  I had an eye infection because of the lack of tears after the cataract operation (at least Dr Hagan III said it might be from lack of tears) I attribute it to eye drops because it didn't occur until I used these.  Other than that my vision is pretty good.

hsum4