To get a new crown (for my tooth, not my head) is something like $1500 a pop.
And he just messes around with stuff you paste and fix in my mouth. (No offense to dentists.)
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And let me say that the idea that I will likely have to undergo this procedure at some point horrifies me. Why can’t they just invent a chemical that helps the vitreous humor stay … humoriffic? How about it, science?
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Just as a can you top this, the vitreous humor in my left eye has been leaking away since whatever keeps the eyeball doing its stuff holding it in has started to call it quits.
Pthisis bulbi, baby, which is fun to say. From grape to raisin in 50 years.
It would respond to any body movement.
I had the gas bubble too until the retina re-detached and they swapped the gas for oil. When the bubble was about half gone, I could have used it as a level if I had pictures to hang - just line the picture up with the line. Or maybe an artificial horizon…
Whatever was with my retina, I certainly had a vitrectomy too. As an outpatient. I got there at 7:30, spent an hour getting drops every 15 minutes and then waited maybe an hour to get into the OR, out of OR by 11, out of hospital before noon.
Sounds like the stuff nightmares are made of. How were your surgeries? Were you fully or locally anesthetized? Was it painful beyond what you could tolerate? Were you relaxed? What lead to you necessitating them? And do you still retain functional vision?
The surgeries themselves were not bad. The worst part was that the detachment started when I was 7 hours away from the hospital. I had to drive, alone, for seven hours while the vision in my left eye started disappearing starting in the upper right corner and progressing over the whole field. By the time it stabilized (about two hours after it started) I had a L-shaped area of extreme peripheral vision.
First surgery was with “twilight” anesthesia - I was awake, but not really aware. I do remember a bit what it looked like from inside. That surgery they smoothed out the retina, removed scar tissue, lasered it in place, and put in a gas bubble to keep the retina pressed to the back of the eye. For a week I had to keep my head in a particular position so the bubble would be pressing in the right area. No pain post-operatively that Tylenol couldn’t handle (except I got really sore from spending a week lying in the same position).
Three weeks later, with the bubble half gone, the retina detached again (apparently happens about 10% of the time). Again into the OR, again with twilight anesthesia. Same basic procedure, except this time they put in silicone oil instead of the gas. Same goal as the gas, but it doesn’t dissipate (and need to be removed later). Again minimal post-op pain
Two weeks later retina detaches a third time. This time general anesthesia and they install what is called a scleral buckle - a silicone band around the eye to change the shape of the eye (and push in on the area of the detachment). Also put in silicone oil. Really bad pain the first night (needed to take one of the oxycodones they prescribed) but minimal after that.
Final surgery was six months later, to remove the silicone oil. This was the easiest, since I was pretty used to the drill, plus they replaced the oil with saline so I didn’t need to hold any positioning.
I have some vision in the eye (fortunately my non-dominant eye), but it is peripheral and highly distorted. The macula (the central part of your vision) has very poor vision - I can’t read or do any sort of detail work with that eye. I can see well enough to walk around, at least in familiar places. Plus I can always feel the pressure in my eye from the scleral buckle.
Oh my god. That sounds horrible. I googled scleral buckle and I wonder how they apply it without dislodging the eyeball to the point of risking permanent damage.
Only $8,000? I didn’t know such surgery existed. I’m going to look into it.
I really need to not have moments of weakness where my curiosity gets the best of me and I go looking at eye surgery photographs. shudder
Go to YouTube and search for “scleral buckle surgery”. There are a number of videos posted. I am not posting a link because they are pretty graphic. Glad I didn’t find them until after the surgery.
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Yes. Yes, it would
I keep telling people to stand on their head, but they wont listen :smack: