Seeing a "bent' world.

[JLF702]

I’m a 55 year old male. Nearsighted with glasses.  Last September (07) I had surgery for a detached retina in my right eye. The recovery went well but a cataract formed. Had the cataract surgery in late January this year. That recovery went well. Finally got my new glasses last week. My problem is, the world I see with the eye that was operated on is “bent”. There is no such thing as a straight line. Horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Circles are ovals. It’s not severe but it also isn’t that subtle. So basically right now my brain is getting two different signals from my eyes. One the way things are and the other, well, lets just say it’s different. I’m getting by but it is difficult. My question is, has anybody else experienced this “bend” in their vision? What do I have to look forward to? My doctor says everything looks fine inside but I’m not seeing so good on the outside. It's been 6 months since my surgery, about when will I hit the "it's about as good as it's going to get"?
Thanks for your time.

[JodieJ]

If you're interested, you can download Dr. de Wit's paper ("Retinally Induced Aniseikonia") from his website (address above).  In the paper he describes how he went about prescribing lenses to correct the visual distortion in three patients with different retinal problems (epiretinal membrane, retinal detachment, and retinoschisis).  Blurring or partially blocking the vision in the affected eye was also helpful in two of the cases.

After being told by several excellent local doctors that nothing could be done to make my binocular vision more comfortable, I was extremely happy to discover that something really could be done in my case.

[RP388]

JLF702
Hi...I am also a male age 57 and work as a computer admin. I had laser surgery for a torn retina a year ago...and first saw bent lines and edges about 6 months later. I was then diagnosted with epiretinal membrane with an OCT scan. I now have these symptoms:
1)Slightly yellowing in what I see..also somewhat dimmer 2) I see tiny white swirly ambeba type objects  that are very pronounce on any lighter surface....millions of them (These are not the regular dark floaters that I usually see). 3) Straight lines appear somewhat wavy 4)When I blink I actually can see an image of my vessels for a few seconds 5) Objects are slightly larger than with the other eye
(Like Jodie once told me...the membrane makes you see some strange things!)
My retinal doctor said to just watch and wait until my vision goes to 20/40 or more before a Peel is done. It is now about 20/30. I was fitted with "mono vision" contacts that stress the "good eye". This seems to help with all the computer work I do.
How is your corrected vision with the effected eye?
(Thanks for the info for the correction lenses Jodie. I didn't think that was possible).

[JodieJ]

I'll again try to trick the censor.  Dr. de Wit's address is opticaldiagnostics (one word).  It's sandwiched between "world wide web" and com.

[JodieJ]

I also have similar problems post retinal surgery (vitrectomy with ERM peeling).  Retinal surgeons can now save vision in situations which were once hopeless, but the surgical outcome may involve new issues.  You may still experience some improvement in the distortion, but probably not enough to make your binocular vision comfortable.

It is extremely difficult to find an eye care professional able to diagnose and treat such problems.  Dr. Gerard de Wit of the Netherlands is probably the world expert on prescribing corrective lenses for retinally-induced distortion/image size differences, and he has published several papers on this topic.  His website is at optical diagnostics *******.  Dr. David Guyton at the Wilmer Eye Institute has also published papers about treating this condition.  It was my experience that even the best local doctors weren't helpful (and I saw several of the best ones.)