Update time! Today’s appointment did not go quite how I expected.\
The good news - the doctor confirmed my PCO in my right eye. He also confirmed there is some in the left eye but that it is mostly in a non-visible area, so he doesn’t think it warrants treatment yet.
He also says that I’m likely a candidate for a touch-up lasik procedure to further fine tune my vision. The refraction shows some benefit in the left eye. Previous refraction showed a similar benefit in the right eye, but..
They were not able to get good information or even imaging today. The doctor was initially concerned that he was seeing noticeable clumps of floaters or blood, so he did additional imaging and testing. He saw no evidence of that in the deeper testing. But he did observe significant degradation in the vitrius, and some concerning pigmentation in the macula. He wants me to see a retina specialist for further diagnosis, and to determine next steps.
I asked him if there were specific things he was suspecting, but he said it was such a wide range of possibility before further imaging (nothing important, macula degeneration, edema, macula dystrophy, etc) that it wasn’t worth guessing yet.
So..no scheduling of the YAG procedure yet. I’ll call the specialist tomorrow morning and see when I can get in.
I saw an ophthalmologist yesterday for an annual checkup and to ask whether it’s time to get cataract surgery. Nope, not close. “It would be a really bad idea to subject yourself to the risks of cataract surgery given how little your cataracts are interfering with your vision”.
I guess i just can’t see in the dark, and can’t focus as well, because of general degradation. Although she also said that both my retinas and optic nerves looked very healthy.
When I was handed that recommendation I found those words very frightening. Along with all the potential possibilities of what was wrong. I’m standing here on the other side of my problem saying that it’s better to know than not know, even if you won’t get perfect vision back from whatever is needed to do.
While my problem (macular hole) is a serious issue the retina doc was very reassuring, told me what could (and couldn’t) be done, what sort of testing needed to be done, what he recommended including how it would inconvenience me during my recovery, suggestions on how to mitigate that inconvenience, likely experience after surgery and healing (you can’t fix a spot of retina that’s been destroyed) and a great big heap o’ reassurance that these days a great deal can be done to fix problems. Then told me that I would almost certainly need cataract surgery 6-12 months after the retina surgery (which turned out to be true) but that that would seem a much less involved procedure than what he would probably need to do, and that I would get through it all. Which was a lot to absorb in 15 minutes but he was very efficient, too.
In my case it was something that needed surgical fix, by which I mean the doc had to physically go into my eyeball. Other problems have other solutions. Some problems can’t be fixed but there are therapies to stop or slow progression. And yes, there are some that can’t truly be fixed and I don’t want to downplay fears of those, but you need to go to the retina doc to find out what’s really going on and what can be done about it.
I had a very good outcome. There is some residual visual defect in my right eye but I have to really look for it/pay attention to notice it these days because your brain learns to “edit” that out of your visual field. Of course, I continue to worry that the problem, or a similar one, could reassert itself. Getting old isn’t easy. Meanwhile, while I was worrying about my post-surgical vision I received a cancer diagnosis which sort of took my mind off my vision for awhile, but that’s another story. Good news - I’m in remission on that medical front, too, right now. Like I said, getting old isn’t easy. But it still beats the only alternative.
Basically, what I’m saying is that you really do have to wait for the Retina Guy (Gal) to do the diagnosing because that’s their wheelhouse. But as scary as “surgery on your eyeball” sounds when I actually had it done I found it less distressing than some other procedures I’ve been subjected to in recent years.
I’m hoping you, too, have a good outcome.
By the way - as a consequence of needed surgery they had to remove all the “eye jelly” from my right eye. Turns out that’s not as big a problem as you might think. As a side benefit, that also removes any floaters you have before. I have some floaters on the left (pretty minor stuff) but none on the right. Yay! No right side floaters! Yes, that’s me making the best of the situation.
I have my appt for Dec 9th. The referral was for a doctor about 30 min away. When I called, they said they had another office with another doctor less than half a mile from my house, so I checked with my surgeon, and he was fine with that option too.
Of course, I’ve been reading about all the worst-case scenarios, so @Broomstick’s end results are a good reality check. (and yay remission!!!)
I also have a good bit of floaters, and since my fluid is already degraded and not fully functional, I think I’d be ok with that part too, if that’s part of the plan. I just had a nice chat with an AI about the fact that it’s already not doing it’s job, so it’s not as useful as it should be.
I have a routine eye doctor appt scheduled for the 2nd. I saw her a few weeks ago for initial diagnosis of the PCOS and we were inclined to cancel this appt, but I might keep it as a consultation, since she knows my history. I also have the opportunity to talk to my father’s retina specialist (he has some thickening of the macula that is threatening to pinch a nerve, so gets an injection every five weeks.) I need to get notes from him, to give to my retina gal when I see her.
You have vitreous humor, which is the “eyeball jelly” and is in the eyeball, and the aqueous humor, which is fluid in the front part of the eye. To fix my retina problem the surgeon removed the vitreous humor to get where he needed to go. After the fix he injected gas into my eyeball to keep it inflated. This leads to Weird Visual Effects, but I was already having those from the macular hole, they were just different WVE’s. I had to remain face down as much as possible during the first few weeks of recovery so everything in my eyeball would remain in place. To help with that I rented a bunch of “positional aids” that allowed me to do things like watch TV while face down, and to keep me from rolling over at night. Insurance didn’t cover them. They were still worth every penny. If that’s a recommendation you should really consider doing the same.
Vitreous humor does not re-grow.
Over time the eye that was operated on keeps secreting aqueous humor. This eventually replaces the gas bubble in your eyeball. Then you live the rest of your life with one eye full of jelly and the other full of fluid. A lot of monitoring of eye pressure goes on with all this and of course it’s entered in your Permanent Record.
I had to learn how to apply eyedrops. I had never ever had to use eyedrops before. The first time I tried to apply them the bathroom looked like a firehose had got loose in it. OK, I exaggerate a tiny bit. There’s a lot of eye drops involved.
Despite how cringe-worthy statements like “operate on your eyeball” and “cut into your eyeball” and “insert a probe into your eyeball” sound the actual experience wasn’t horrible. During the actual surgery I was sedated/under anesthetic so I don’t remember any of it and the doc said I did NOT scream or thrash or swear or anything. Post-op my eye felt a little sore but I didn’t really perceive it as painful. Maybe I took a Tylenol or two somewhere in there?
Again, I don’t want to minimize that there are some risks here. However, the internet is very, very willing to give you nothing but the worst case scenarios.
Prior to surgery the doctor warned me that even with his best efforts I might see no improvement in my vision than what I had when I came to him. That even if my vision was better it was not going to be exactly perfect because there would, inevitably, be some scarring and scars don’t see. I had a very good outcome, my vision IS better than it was, but as I noted there is still a defect in my right visual field. Most of the time I don’t notice it anymore. I’ve gotten on with my life. At my yearly eye exam the “regular eye doc” does note that all of that occurred, asks me if I’ve noticed any visual changes/problems, and definitely takes a look at the back of my eyeball.
Interesting thing - the eye doc place I’ve been going to for years offers to take a photo of your retinas. It’s not covered by insurance, but one year I said sure, go ahead, I figured having a base line wasn’t a bad idea.
A couple years later my retina problem showed up. Took another picture. Put them side by side. Oh, look - even a layperson can see something has changed!
So… yes, eyeball surgery is scary. It can help you. If the day of surgery you’re really freaking out they have drugs to help you with that. It’s not like you’d be the first person to have issues with the concept.
Yeah, same thing with my “simple” cataract procedures- starting with four prescriptions each 4 times a day- now in my 4th week down to one is 3X and the other is 1X. But I had to order extra as i kept getting the drops on my eyelid, instead on the eye.
You’d have to have some really major ones before they’d do a vitrectomy for floaters, it’s not a trivial surgery and carries significant risks. It’s one thing to do it to prevent your retina from rolling up like a window shade, flopping over, or otherwise doing things it really, really shouldn’t be doing vs. sucking out the floaters. There have been instances when it has been done for floaters but that’s pretty extreme.
Oddly enough - the lady in charge of anesthesia for my cateract surgery asked me about the vitrectomy. Apparently she does have serious floaters, to the point they’re near to jeopardizing her driving privileges.
I had really big annoying floaters for a while after my eyeball jelly detached itself from the back of the eyeball. But… Probably the sharp edges of the jelly have worn off or sometime, but at any rate, i now only have minor floaters. That got better on its own.
Although she also said that both my retinas and optic nerves looked very healthy.