General reply to montmil, sent to all in the event anyone is interested or
might be faced with a similar scenario in the future:
Monte, I'm
very happy for your success with the first surgery (to correct the pressure condition). Am I guessing correctly that the pressure-relief procedure you had was a "vitrectomy"? If so, did the surgeon use the "gas bubble" technique? That's not fun, and it's a huge PITA (figuratively speaking, for that part of the body is pointed at the ceiling for a
long time—as in a few weeks.
). Further good news: compared to what you've had, cataract surgery will be a piece of cake. (I've read stats that the full-success rate is in the high-90th percentile, and there's very little discomfort, if any.) If that's the case, I toast your successful outcome. (I've got an open bottle of IPA with me at the computer.)
I had a condition called "macular pucker" in both eyes. (Macular pucker, unlike macular degeneration, is correctable with a high success rate.) The surgery to correct macular pucker is generally a vitrectomy also, but there are fewer complexities involved, and consequently less risk. In a full vitrectomy with gas, the post-op patient has to keep head down almost constantly for several weeks (a la Lon Chaney in the 1923
Hunchback of Notre Dame), even to the point of sleeping face-down, with face in a framing device that might have been inspired by a toddler's potty seat.
Also, there is more risk with the more serious procedure. Faced with blindness, I'd still take the odds, but it's nice to know you had a winning hand.
Mine were all (relatively) simple procedures, but it has taken about 8 months, due in part to "the human factor." Procedure #1 was vitrectomy on the left eye to correct macular pucker. (It seems much more unpleasant than it really is, but I'll describe by PM only upon request.) Monte, did the surgeon tell you that a frequent side-effect of retinal (or otherwise internal) surgery is cataract formation? Mine did, but I was unprepared for the speed. I went from 20/40 post-op in mid-July to 20/700 (that's right) by November in my left eye. Meanwhile, I had hoped to get cataract surgery in the left eye by September, but because of a 3-way standoff (euphamistically called a "Rio Grande" Standoff (the
real term is objectionable in modern times)) among surgeon, surgical center, and insurance company (the surgical center wore the black hat), I had to wait until November and have it done by a different surgeon at a different surgical center. (Great outcome, however.)
Right eye was next. This time, for scheduling reasons I had cataract done first in early December. I'd already been assured by both retina & cataract surgeons (yeah, two different eye surgeons; next, we'll have them specializing on the left or right eye!) that I could have them done in quick succession, and the order is unimportant. Outcome seemed good. Cataract surgeon put me on post-op eye drops, most notably a steroid suspension that could be called "the A-Rod Eye Cocktail."
(If any international members are puzzled by this obscure reference, PM me, and I'll explain.) I was still on the drops when I had the second (retina) surgery 11 days later. Not a problem; just continue the drops, since it was the same dosage & same stuff. Now the Joker turned up in the deal: I went to a routine checkup for the retina surgery 9 days post-op, and the pressure in my eye was up (not dangerously). My surgeon was out of town, so one of his partners examined me. The partner took me off the steroid because it tends to raise pressure, and put me on pressure-reducing drops. Three days later, I began having blurred vision & pain in right eye, so I called the medical practice & talked with a third retina surgeon, who said I should
not have come off the steroid drops cold-turkey. He put me back on the steroid and cut the pressure-reducing drops.
Three days later (late December)—no pain, but vision in right eye blurred. I happened to have a post-op appointment with the cataract surgeon. (Remember her?) She checked my eyes, found my right eye had deteriorated beyond pre-op levels, and saw what she thought was swelling on the retina (more specifically, in the macula, which covers the retina). She told me that she had to put me on hold until the retinal group stabilized my eye. She kept me on steroid (but a different formulation she prefers), gave me a different anti-pressure eyedrop prescription, and said she would send a letter to the retina surgeon. She said something disturbing: "This will be OK,
but it might take a year or more!" (Hell, at this point a year is a fair piece of my remaining life expectancy—and I've got a perfectly good R65 collecting dust in my garage!)
A week later (mid-January)—I saw
my retina surgeon (finally). He concurred with the cataract surgeon in all respects & kept me on the drops. Last Tuesday—vision much better. Retina surgeon happy, will see me in 3 months, is writing letter sending me back to cataract surgeon for eyeglass prescription for reading. (I'm using drugstore reading glasses at the moment. Thankfully, my distant vision is darn good without glasses, though slightly <20/20.) So, in a week or two, I should be ready to get back in the saddle (literally). Now if I can get my mount-up knee behaving again, I'll be happy.
