# Ask the guy whose son had a vitrectomy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492 "2013-02-27T04:09:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/1 "2013-02-27T04:09:03Z")
I was inspired by this thread in GQ [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=683587](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=683587) about floaters and vitrectomies to tell the story of my son, who had a vitrectomy. Four years ago, my son who was 7 at the time, had a vitrectomy to correct a condition where he had fluid leaking behind and slowly detaching his retina. After the surgery, he had his eye filled with an inert gas mixture. He had to stay face down for a week as the eye refilled. When I looked into his air-filled eye, I could see his retina, magnified by his lens. Let me re-state that… I COULD SEE THE BACK OF HIS EYEBALL!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek: We just had another post-op appointment. His vision is 20/50 corrected in that eye. Dr. Alan Wagner of Virginia Beach (whose wife, Jody, ran for Lt. Gov of VA a couple years ago) performed the operation, and he is a miracle worker. Any questions? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/2 "2013-02-27T04:28:40Z")
Sorry, did you say something? I had my eyes squeezed shut and was shouting LALALALALAIcan’thearyou! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/3 "2013-02-27T04:51:14Z")
What? His eye had to refill?! How do you keep a 7 year old face down for a week? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/4 "2013-02-27T05:14:39Z")
1. How is seeing the back of his eyeball different from a red-eye photo? 2. How strictly does he have to lie face down? All the time, or can he sit up for meals, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/5 "2013-02-27T05:29:04Z")
Pls elaborate: it only took a week for the vitreous humor to refill? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/6 "2013-02-27T07:55:54Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > What? His eye had to refill?! > > How do you keep a 7 year old face down for a week? Duct tape? 😃 Obviously it worked, wonderful. Lets give a hearty thanks to all the dedicated doctors and nurses that can make medical wonders happen! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/7 "2013-02-27T09:21:19Z")
Your eyeball can refill? Never really thought about it but, ewwwww! The human body is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/8 "2013-02-27T11:03:02Z")
Well, a properly-functioning eye keeps its own internal pressure in the proper range, so yeah, eventually an eye that’s undergone vitrectomy will set itself right again. (Another disgusting fun fact about the eye: If you’ve ever had a bad taste in your mouth after using eyedrops? That’s not a weird side effect. That’s drainage.) So, how **did** you manage to keep him face-down? 😉 Did he imitate Igor when he walked? Did you have problems finding child-sized appliances to rent for sleeping and reading? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/9 "2013-02-27T14:16:19Z")
A friend’s sister recently had the same thing done, and similarly had to keep her face pointed more or less straight down. She’s an adult though, so it wasn’t necessary to duct-tape her face down on a bed. She just had to go through her day literally keeping her chin on her chest while walking/standing; she had horrible back and neck pain the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/10 "2013-02-27T15:50:52Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Well, a properly-functioning eye keeps its own internal pressure in the proper range, so yeah, eventually an eye that’s undergone vitrectomy will set itself right again. > > (Another disgusting fun fact about the eye:\*\* If you’ve ever had a bad taste in your mouth after using eyedrops? That’s not a weird side effect. That’s drainage\*\*.) > > So, how **did** you manage to keep him face-down? 😉 Did he imitate Igor when he walked? Did you have problems finding child-sized appliances to rent for sleeping and reading? DRRRRRAINAGE, ELI. YOU BOY! Love that movie. Here, if you have an eyeball, and I have a straw. There it is, that’s a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your eyeball … I… drink… your… eyeball! ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/11 "2013-02-27T18:54:14Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > [FONT=“Arial Black”]Here, if you have an eyeball, and I have a straw. There it is, that’s a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your eyeball … I… drink… your… eyeball! I’m not sure I’ve giggled so much at a thing on the internet in quite a while. Thank you 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/12 "2013-02-27T19:05:06Z")
What would’ve happened if he stood up? Would his eyeballs…deflate? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/13 "2013-02-27T20:35:16Z")
Small LCD TVs may be your savior. A friend recently suffered a detached retina, and after her eye doc re-pressurized her eyeball, she was doomed to several days of staring at the floor. Her son put a small TV flat on the floor next to the couch, so between that and an iPad, she was able to pass the time decently well. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/14 "2013-02-27T21:38:37Z")
Sorry, everyone. i could not login from work. Yes, it took a week for the vitreous humor to refill. The doctor told us to keep him looking down “as much as possible”. So for a week, he played games on his DS or PSP, and read books while lying on the sofa or off the side of his bed. **AaronX** It was very similar to a red eye photo, except that I could see structures on his retina. **Incubus** I think that the point of being face down is to make the eyeball fill back up evenly. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-whose-son-had-a-vitrectomy/651492/15 "2013-02-28T00:27:24Z")
My surgeon said that the eye refills with water (or saline) not with the vitreous humor that has no known function. I was supposed to stay face down for three weeks (there are two different gases they use depending on the seriousness of the detachment. The first SF6 (did you know that sulfur could have a valence of 6?) and the second is C3F8 (propane with all 8 hydrogens replaced by fluorine). The first dissipates in a week, but the second takes three. And the reason for face down is so that the gas bubble presses the retina against the back of the eyeball. Again, according to my surgeon. Eventually, a second operation was needed and this time he used an oil drop instead. Now face down for only a day, but yet another operation will be needed to remove the oil.