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Has anyone here had a detached retina? I have a lazy right eye. 3 weeks ago my retina detached. After appointments a week later I had surgery with a gas bubble but it's still partly detached. Now I'm getting a victrectomy on Thursday and the surgeon wants to use silicon oil. But he says in my case it should not be removed. Everything ive read states it should be removed eventually.

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That's a tough one in that I wonder if the doctor did a good job explaining things.


I'd talk with the doctor again to check on the discrepancy you are noticing in what should be done next.


One detail you alluded to does seem common with certain medical procedures (and especially the eyes) - it is often better to wait until a condition matures to a certain stage before performing the procedure.

In my case I'm told I have lots of retinal scarring from childhood and they can't pinpoint the hole. The last procedure sort of worked in that my retina is reattached in the middle but there's an area at the top which is not. My eye seems a lot better but the specialist stated that once the gas bubble disipates the retina will detach again in the middle since the top isn't attached properly. Oil is supposed to be more successful but I've never heard of leaving it in. I asked him about that and he said it was fine. Maybe since this eye is so blurry to begin with.

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Whoa! I hope it all works out for the better for you.

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Yah me too. Thank you. I'm pretty nervous. Always dread hospitals and surgeries. Good news is it only takes an hour. I'll be sedated during but still awake. Then they send me home. I've been unable to work for a few weeks now and it appears it'll be another week or so after this. I could have waited till Monday but then I'll just be ancey all weekend.

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Detached retina? Yes. But I wasn't able to go see a doctor (no insurance). As a result, I'm pretty well blind in that eye. When the fluid in your eye gets behind the retina, it kills what's behind it. I was told that they could operate and lay the retina back down but it would not improve the vision.

Do you have severe myopia? I do, and that caused a thin spot in the retina which eventually caused it to detach.

I'm right handed and blind in the right eye. Man if that didn't take years getting used to.

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Yah I'm pretty much blind in my right eye too. I suppose it is severe myopia. It's been ultra blurry ever since I can remember.

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I had a partial detachment, called a vitreous detachment. I work in the aviation industry and I was out in the hangar and I started seeing some spots. I thought they were gnats and I was grabbing at them. Then I saw some cobwebs in my right upper area and I was plucking on my eyelashes to clear them. When none of this didnt work I went to my optometrist and was informed of the detachment in progress. An analogy is wallpaper peeling off the wall. My optometrist said I need immediate retinal surgery, but I couldnt get past the gatekeepers at Kaiser. I had to wait a week to get in, but the surgeon used a laser to stop the detachment. For two weeks after that, my eye has dozens of dots floating around which the surgeon said is blood. In two weeks, it cleared up. I still have a few spider webs floating around. The only thing somewhat disturbing is the eye surgeon said it's not if, but when my other eye starts to detach. It's a normal consequence of growing old

I had the vitrectomy yesterday and it was a success. Now I have to heal.

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Went for my 2 week post op checkup. Everything is good according to the specialist. My retina is attached, healing and smoothed out. In 2 months he'll do another exam and decide if it's a good time to remove the oil.

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How's your sight? Does having the oil in there cause vision problems?

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For me that eye is pretty blurry to begin with, so overall it looks pretty much the same as it used to. But that's a good thing. If you normally have decent enough vision the oil will make it blurry. I didn't realize how much I rely on that eye until this happened. The detachment was making me feel strange, light headed, dizzy. Not well. With the oil I also get almost a lens flare effect from certain light sources hitting me straight on.

The only other thing I notice is a flickering or flashing in the area where the retina was repaired. It's been slowly decreasing though but it's still somewhat annoying. Especially when I'm moving around outside. But my eye is much brighter now.

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Been about a year since I had this done. Still have the oil in my eye. Have had several eye appointments with the specialist over the last year. The doctor said I could have had it removed a few months ago but cautioned against it. Not sure what happens from here. I have to go back in in Oct for another exam. I can't imagine what this is like for folks with better vision. I was blessed with a lazy eye and poor vision in that eye, so the difference between before and now, vision wise, isn't much. But I can tell there's a cataract building from the oil scratching the lens. With the good eye closed, the bad eye seems cloudier, milkier etc. And when lights hit that eye it's pretty annoying. And there's always a bit of a weird sensation there. Like a slight heaviness, or dryness. I also can't imagine what this would cost if I didn't have health care.

Not that anyone cares Just thought I'd update since it's been pretty much a year since I first went down.

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I care. I hope it works out for you.

My mothers going through it. She's been getting treatment which involves injecting a chemo drug into the eye. She doesn't have cancer, it's a case of they found another use for the drug. It's been working for several years, three to four shots a year. The shots cost several thousand each for people who are not on medicare, medicare makes them reduce that to a couple hundred.

But the doctor said last visit that surgery might be needed in a year or two. She doesn't hear real well and she thought said he said in a year or two she will be old enough to get that surgery. She said I'm 86 isn't that old enough. She said she was thinking about confronting him about it, and insisting that she get that surgery.

But then I picked through it and convinced her that the doctor probably didn't say she isn't old enough, that what he probably was saying that her condition was reaching a point where the shots weren't controlling the condition completely, and what he was saying was surgery would be needed in addition to the shots in a year or two. She called the office and apparently what I was saying was true, she calmed down.

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear what you're going through. I know what it's like to live with a chronic condition but one that effects your vision has got to be one of the worst kinds.

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Thanks guys. At least this has been an enjoyable summer compared to last year


Hey Sam, does your mom have a detached retina or is it another eye condition?

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My brother in law went through a partial retinal detachment a few months ago with the gas bubble and keeping his face toward terra firma for a couple of weeks. He said that when the retina began to detach it was like a black screen being horizontally drawn in his eye but closing from the bottom up. They got to it in time to fully re-attatch. He has full unblurred vision in the eye. But one bad outcome...the retina attached slightly off horizontal. So the horizon in the affected eye is 2-3 degrees off horizontal from the good eye. And it's not going away, ever. The optometrist added a prism to his glasses which helped a bit, and he says although there are moments when he's not consciously aware of it, it's always there. Most problematic for him is reading.

Apparently not an uncommon negative outcome.

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So it'll be two years come August since I had surgery. Just had another specialist eye appointment last week. I get it checked every 6 months.

I still have the oil in my eye. I've gotten used to it, but the problem is, it's created quite the cataract. It's pretty annoying in bright light or in places where there are florescent light overhead.

I have the option of getting it removed any time I want. But the surgeon always tells me there's no guarantee my eye won't fall apart again.

Since it's a lazy eye to begin with I can deal with it. But at some point it'll have to be removed. I'm pretty sure I caused this from exercising and over doing it.

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I am dealing with floaters, flashes and a bit of clouding.

No detached retina yet per exam Thursday, but this is not fun.

What was the surgery like as in pain, anesthesia, how long could you not see etc?

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If it's not a detachment yet and they can see where the damage is (holes etc, if that's the problem), they might just use a laser to repair it.

Lots of people have floaters which can be common. Just depends how much.

If you have to get a vitrectomy, it shouldn't be painful at all. On me they used a light general anesthetic. I wasn't out cold but it went by pretty fast and there was no pain. They also use a local on your eye.

Thing is, it's a case by case thing. There are a number of treatments depending on your case. If your retina is not in bad shape like mine, and they don't do laser, they'll most likely use a gas bubble injection which presses the retina back in place and eventually dissipates. I had that done as well as the first option, and with a different doctor. Not only did it not work, it wasn't pleasant. But that was most likely the practitioner's fault.

As far as sight, this is my bad eye to begin with. I fair better than many in that regard because I've never been able to use this eye for proper vision. But I do need it for peripheral etc.

The retina can take a lot of time to heal. I still have chemicals in my eye 2.5 years later. I get checked every 6 months.

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Thank you...I also have cataracts in my right eye which is at -.525 and whatever else, real bad I guess. A little cloudy sometimes, very little but it is there.

I appreciate having you here to discuss this with as I go thru this.

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"Corporate Democrat" phrase created at the same place "Angry Mob" was...People keep falling for rightwing talking points. How sad.

Cataract surgery is supposed to be a piece of cake nowadays.

My mom had it done a year or so back. Said it was nothing.

My MIL, who is a complete spaz and total nervous wreck, kept putting it off over stress and anxiety. Then she finally had it done over the summer and was like "Huh? that was it?"

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Thanks again, I am lucky too in that in an area with terrible healthcare we have a couple highly rated ophthalmologists.

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"Corporate Democrat" phrase created at the same place "Angry Mob" was...People keep falling for rightwing talking points. How sad.

My mother had cataract surgery back in the late 80s and it wasn't a big deal for her. I've have friends who've had it and they recommend getting it if you need it.

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"Corporate Democrat" phrase created at the same place "Angry Mob" was...People keep falling for rightwing talking points. How sad.