Green Eye

The weekly update on the progress in my recovery from my second retinal detachment/reattachment surgery at 7 weeks.

There's really not a lot to report. The bubble, which was billed as taking 6 weeks to dissipate, continues to shrink, but not fast enough for me. It appears a little smaller each day when I look down, which puts it up against the back of the retina, and centers it in my vision. Looking forward it's an increasingly smaller arc in my lower vision. I'm guessing full dissipation is still two weeks away.

The two eyes are generally working better together. Mostly the left, affected eye is focused too short to contribute much except for close in reading. It is still slanted to the right, and I still see two horizons at the beach, although the slanted one is fuzzy and easily ignored overridden by the sharp, right eye. I have scheduled an appointment to get a new prescription for glasses in late July.  Hopefully the bubble will be gone by then. It will be interesting to see how they get on when they focus on the same plane. It worries me a little.

There is no significant pain, just a very occasional twinge, although there's still a general feeling that something is in the eye, that I blame on the rubber band, excuse me, scleral buckle they put around the eye, to help keep the retina pressed against the back of the eye. There's still a little redness in the white of the eye in the left corner, but it appears to be slowly fading.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Redness a bit late, but within reason.

This Lyin' Eye

The weekly update to my recovery from the second retinal detachment/reattachment surgery in my left eye. This is now the sixth week of the "six week" freon bubble that was installed at the surgery. The bubble shrinks daily, but not very noticeably; the top of the bubble appearing just below the rim of my glasses when looking forward. When looking down I see the bubble as a distinct circle that nearly matches the outline of the glasses lens in that eye. I would guess I'm still facing a couple of more weeks with the bubble present. The worst thing about the bubble now is that it reflects images down to the retina (which appear in my upper vision).

So, otherwise? As I hoped would be the case, the two eyes are getting along a little better. The left eye is, as I was told it would be, more nearsighted than it was, thanks to the 'rubber band' aka  scleral buckle around it. But for near vision, reading, TV etc, the two eyes both achieve some level of focus. The left has a tendency to cause my total vision to be a bit blurry out beyond arm length, but the right eye provides a clear image within the blur. The left eye still produces an image that slants to the right, and has a bit of waver in it, but the brain is starting to merge the two view and produce a basically straight image. At the beach, however, I still tend to see two crossing horizons, one sharp and one blurry. I eagerly await getting glasses that sharpen both equally, to see if my brain can force them to align also.

As far as the rubber band, the pain is totally gone. I do have a sense of something odd I in there, but it's hard to separate from the bubble and blur. The eye still has some redness, and I keep applying the ointment they dispense with the ordeal, axel grease and erythromycin, which I use religiously, which is to say, without knowing if, or why it works.

My hope for next week's report is continued improvement in the cooperation of the two eyes, and that the bubble will be high enough not to reflect light most of the time. I'd dearly like to see a single horizon.

Behind Green Eyes

The continuing saga of my recovery from my 2nd retinal detachment/reattachment surgery in my left eye. I'm currently at week 4 in the new recovery. Last week, I reported being able to glimpse a bit of the world more or less focused, above the meniscus of the bubble (actually below, because the eye image is backasswards), but too high to catch the center of vision, and predicted that by this week the center of vision would be in the focused zone (looking forward, not up or down), and I'd be able to report on how it was looking.

I was right (remember, I've been here once before). I can now see forward with a band that includes the fovea. It ain't pretty. As before, the vision is slanted to my right, maybe worse than before, and somewhat distorted, like on crumpled paper.  If I work at it a bit, I can get both eyes to agree on the location and shape of an object directly in front, but away from the center, not so much. It's a bit disorienting to try to put both views together, so I close the left eye a lot. As I was told to expect, as a result of the rubber band around it, the left eye is now considerably more near sighted that it was, with its unaided focal distance of about a foot. It's not really very much use for reading at this point, although it can, alone, if necessary.

I really have no more pain from the rubber band (excuse me scleral buckle) they put around the eye to help the retina stick, just a slight feeling that there's something back there. I'm still a little leary of lifting heavy weights or bending down too far, it might cause a twinge of pain.

In theory, I did my last round of eye drops this morning. Now it's on it's own to continue improving. I'll continue with the antibiotic salve for a while though. It seems to help. 

Barring the unforeseen, I don't expect a dramatic change by next week, the window of focused vision will widen, but since the bubble isn't expected to entirely dissipate for at least two or more weeks, the zone of better vision should be wider, and the two eyes maybe working better together, I hope. 

Wake Up to Find Out That You are the Eyes of the World

 According to Hunter/Garcia.

Today is the third week anniversary of the second retina detachment/reattachment surgery in my left eye, and as promised, I'm updating this as a guide for others going through this ordeal.

I'm at week three of the perfluorpropane bubble that supposed to last about six weeks, so presumably that bubble is about half gone (although, at six weeks last time, I still had some residual bubble). Looking straight out, the line of the bubble is near the center of my vision, so it has quite a ways to drop. If I look down, I can barely make out the edges of the bubble around perimeter.

Last Monday I predicted that I would get a glimpse of the mostly focused world through that eye again in a few days. I was right. I started seeing the thin line of sight that was actually passing through fluid and back to the retina on Wednesday. Every day since, the band has grown a little wider. It's still above the center of vision in that eye though, so I'm not really sure how close it is to a decent focus, and at what distance it will really focus. The eye surgeon told me that the eye would be more nearsighted than it was due to the effect of the rubber band (excuse me, scleral buckle) they put around the eye elongating the eye slightly. It should only be a few more days until the band includes the center of vision, and I can really see what it's going to be like. I can already see that it still slants right (my Fox News eye), but I'm not sure how distorted it might be.

Speaking of the rubber band, I continue to adjust to it. I can alway tell something is a little off, like having a bit of grit in the back of the eye, but it's not really painful. I've cut my pain regimen down to 1 or 2 doses of acetaminophen a day; the eye feels pretty decent when I get up, but through the day, occasional eye movements elicit a twinge of pain, not horrible, but something I'd rather avoid. Bending down too far might cause pain too. Eventually, by later afternoon, the acetaminophen is called for and then one for bed, more for arthritis than eyes. 

Today the eye drop routine declines to once per day, a steroid to suppress inflammation, and another drop to counteract the steroids tendency to raise eye pressure. I continue to goop on the antibiotic salve they added to the mix. It seems to help some. The white of the eye is still somewhat red and tender.

My prediction for next week is that I'll be able to see text clearly in the widening band of better vision. I hope that it will be good enough (and close enough to my old prescription) that I can actually read with it.

In The Land of the Blind, the One-eyed Man is King

According to Erasmus. Unfortunately for me this is not the land of the blind. Just quick update on the 2 week anniversary of my second surgery to fix detaching retina in my left eye.

No particular new issues to report, thankfully. The PFAS (perfluoropropane) bubble they installed in the eye is slowly shrinking, just as it did last time, and as it is expected to do. The bottom of the bubble is visible just above the midline of vision in that eye, and based on my experience last time, it's only a matter of a few days more until I begin to get a glimpse of the world without the bubble, beginning as a narrow band above the center of vision.

The major difference between this surgery and the last is the installation of the rubber band, excuse me silicone scleral buckle, around the eye, in an attempt to hold it tighter against the retina. I ain't gonna lie. The rubber band isn't pleasant, at least initially. After the steroids they put in the eye in surgery wore off, it was darn sore, and I discovered that alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen largely suppressed it. Still, looking at close items, or glancing hard sideways would set it to hurting more. Yesterday was the first day I tried stopping the ibuprofen (I don't want to use NSAIDs, based on the risk of bleeding, even though the surgeon approved of its use). It's working, but I definitely become aware of when the acetaminophen wears off.

The swelling and redness externally is dissipating, but not yet gone. This time I've been much more diligent about using the erythromycin ointment that they prescribe for eye discomfort, and it seems to be helping. I can't figure out why grease with antibiotic in it would help the eye feel better, but it seems to. I'm down to two different eye drops, twice a day, a steroid, and an anti-pressure drop to counter the pressure increasing side effect of the steroid. Only two more weeks to go for eye drops.  

In The Eye of the Beholder

 A quick update on my eye situation. It's been a rough week; apparently wrapping a rubber band (excuse me, scleral buckle) around one's eye leads to significant pain. Yesterday, I broke down, and started alternating ibuprofen with the acetaminophen, and it was much better.

Today we had the one week check up with the surgeon at Wilmers Eye Clinic in Baltimore. After a couple of exams from techs, and lesser doctors, and some photographs of the retina, the big guy (who isn't really very big), came in, verified their work, and assured us that things were on track. Of course, we've been here before. He also approved of my pain management scheme.

Also today, the head down posture requirement has been lifted, permitting me to go back to my desktop computer, and I start to taper off on the eyedrops. 

The View from the Bubble

Just another update for the progress of recovery from the retinal detachment, vitrectomy and retinal reattachment surgery in my left eye (find links to the complete story here). As of Thursday, it's been 5 weeks since they implanted the bubble of C3F8 (perfluoropropane) in the eye to keep the retina in place as it reattached. It is expected to last about 6 weeks, and that timeline still seems plausible. The bubble still occupies about a quarter of the visual field in that eye when I look straight forward, a curved arc on the lower edge of vision, because the image formed on the retina is bassackwards to reality. When I look down, I can easily see around the whole bubble, and watch it shrink day by day. If I actually try, I can still use that as a low power microscope, seeing in focus about two inches from the eye. I hope that by next Saturday's report, I can report the bubble is gone, but that might be cutting it close. 

As far as my vision, I can see above the apparent bubble pretty well, and with both eyes I have decent binocular vision, depth perception and decent peripheral vision looking level. If I look too far up or down the bubble interferes. The view from that eye is not entirely straight; straight lines have some "wiggle" in them, and vertical and horizontal lines lean right. I call it my Fox News eye. Using both eyes diminishes the waver and lean, but does not entirely eliminate it. I'm still hoping that it's caused by the bubble, but, alas, I'm not convinced. However, the focus is surprisingly sharp, and it seems my old glasses prescription is still not all that far off.  I was about to get a new one two days before this whole thing started anyway. If I have any new complaint, it's that the bottom of the bubble is acting like a mirror, and casting annoying images on the retina, particularly in bright lights.

Anyway, I hope that this might be of some use someday to somebody beginning a similar journey. I have to say one of the failing of the medical system is for the doctors to slow down, and tell you what to expect, and what represents 

My Eye Has Seen the Glory

Of a world in focus. Another brief update on the progress on my recovery from the retinal detachment, reattachment and vitrectomy surgery I had 4 weeks ago Thursday. When last I posted, about a week ago, the affected left eye was still completely blurry due to the bubble of Freon 12 they put in it to hold the retina in place, but that bubble was obviously shrinking by absorption, as it was expected to do over approximately 6 weeks. The evening after I made that post, I began to get narrow glimpses of focused (or at least, much better focused) reality as the bubble shrank to the point of exposing some of the pupil to eye fluid, allowing a normalish light path through the pupil, the liquid, and to the retina. At first, I wasn't even sure, and I had to hold my hand over my eye to make sure I wasn't blinking and catching the image with my OK right (and dominant) eye.

Over the course of the last week, that window has expanded. The bubble now occupies the lower half of my vision in that eye excluding apparently the macula, and a broad band above it is in approximate focus on the world. I can read text on the computer with it, better using my glasses, which are almost certainly not the appropriate prescription. However, the text looks as if it was typed on a piece of paper which was then crumpled and mostly re-flattened and tilted to the right, like Fox News. If I use both eyes simultaneously, it seems somewhat better, but it's a little disconcerting. I'm hoping more healing will fix that, or that my brain will somehow learn about the distortions and apply a software patch.

Colors seem to be correct, although yesterday, in the dark waiting for Pete to pick me up, it seemed white lights or areas of low light (like a gray house across the street), were brighter in the left eye. There might be a residual area of slightly darkened vision in the lower right, where the retina first detached, but I'm not convinced. It has improved drastically since I could see a little dark animal in that corner. 

The bubble continues to shrink more or less as advertised, which means I have a couple of more weeks until it's completely gone and I can cut off the green tag on my wrist which warns first responders not to airlift me out, or drive above 2000 ft for fear of the bubble expanding and bursting the eye, not that the wrist band is still legible.  If I look down, the circle of the bubble has visibly shrunk. I have a retina doc appointment at Wilmers about then, and I'm hoping for continued good news, and continued, albeit slow improvement until then.