OK. I will draw a veil over the first three days post-op. I imagine most of you will have been there one way or another. Suffice it to say that the eye only gave trouble for the first 24 hours: otherwise it was physiological shock, migraine and muscle and skeletal pain from the ‘posturing’ which was seriously bad. Not being able to take painkillers made my particular situation rather difficult.
There were one or two episodes when I just wanted to throw myself around the room bouncing off the walls: the poor dog slunk under the bed and refused to leave my side and the poor parrots went completely quiet and still for 24 hours solid despite only seeing me for a few minutes as I came through the house. Amazing how animals pick up on these things.
By the following Tuesday the migraine left and I became human again! One week on and the eye looked like something from Alien. I had not dared look at it before but husband said that it was much better than at first. It hurt too much to take a photo because the pupil was so dilated but basically it looked like a massive dark hole (the enormous pupil) floating in a sea of blood.
To protect myself from accidental views and the public in general I kept the bandages on!!
Sorry about the flash I could not work how out to turn it off
Actually, although I was only instructed to keep the dressings on at night, since I have to protect the eye from heat, cold, wind, dust, grit, light etc. it seems simplest to keep the eye covered up most of the time.
Now, two weeks on, the eye looks pretty normal, thank goodness, just the eyelid is still drooping. It feels sore around the outside and I have a slight black eye but I am adapting an eyepatch with a skull and crossbones to wear for when I can go out. I have seen the surgeon twice and he is pleased with progress. No bleeding, infection or changes in pressure. In fact I have been able to dispense with some of the eyedrops already! He did say that if my eyes were dry I could buy some artificial tears to help keep them comfortable but I said I would just play a ‘weepie’ DVD.
Sitting room set up for viewing TV screen while face down. Note neat two way mirror constructed by husband and massive blue bag of DVDs from son.
I can see nothing out of the eye because of the gas bubble and similarly the surgeon can see nothing inside: his verdict is that I will not know what my vision will be like for about four months and there is no way of knowing if the hole has closed yet. The waiting will be difficult but I am assuming the best for now. I still have to sleep on my front all the time and must not look up or lean back as the bubble must be kept pressing on the back of the eye. Sleeping is very difficult so I am resorting to frequent power naps during the day. Driving is not possible for some weeks which is a bind but I am hoping that friends and family will take me out for some trips: good practice for when I am an old lady.
photo from http://www.retinavitreous.com
At my last consultation I asked him about the techniques he used: I had seen the massive binoculars etc. and wondered whether the tools he used were geared down by some robotic arm to match the magnification. But no. Extraordinarily, he made three incisions that were each half a mm in length, hence me needing no stitches, and through these he inserted a light, a guillotine and some scissors: each tool was smaller in width than a hypodermic needle. He said that the guillotine moved at five thousand cuts a minute and one is being manufactured at the moment which will be able to make ten thousand cuts a minute. It is mind boggling that such precision tools can be made, but even more so that he could manually use them in such a small space and with such dexterity. He did admit that he never drank coffee on days on which he was operating and always made sure he had a good night’s sleep, just to make sure his hands were steady!!!
So all’s well here: just tunnelling through the lack of sleep and being even more clumsy and unbalanced than usual with only one eye. Still, at least the weather is not conducive to gardening so I am not missing too much yet. I have seed potatoes chitting and packets of seeds awaiting the warm weather, but at least I am not tempted to bend, which is against all the rules. And I do have the most lovely surgeon ever who I am next seeing on 7th May:))
Hoorah for your surgeon, and for son and husband to make your life more tolerable during your recovery limitations. You seem to be in good spirits despite everything you are struggling through. That would seem to go a long way toward a fast recovery. When you look back at this time, I am sure that it will seem just a flash of time.
Good thoughts heading your way.
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Thank you so much chlost, you have been such a support! Yes, I am sure this will very soon fade into a tiny blip:)
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Beautiful, even with the patch.
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Gosh Roy, now that is not something I hear often:) Thanks!!
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You are one very courageous lady. Thank you for the update. Still sending you good vibes.
J xxx
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Vibes gratefully received:)) Thanks so much.
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Recovering from surgery is just never fun. I hope you get good news on your vision!
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Thanks so much. Fingers crossed for the final result:)
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I think you look great! Kind of like 1970’s Diana Rigg with an eyepatch 🙂 Now, you recover quickly and keep up those good spirits! That’s an order 🙂
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Yes sir! Doing me best:)
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I hope things are still on the up and up for you.
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Thank you. Getting very grumpy now at the inactivity so i must be improving:))
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I know this thread is kind of old, but my husband is having this surgery in a couple weeks so I’m looking around for information and came across your blog. Can you possibly give me a general idea of how your husband made the two way mirror? We’re going to rent the chair, etc. and I know a mirror comes with the pkg., but I’d like to have a backup or be able to make a bigger one if we need it. Thank you!
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Hi, we have been out for a couple of days and very busy but I will get the details from my husband and try to post them up here tomorrow:)
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Oh, wow – thank you so much! We still have a couple weeks before the surgery (July 16th), so no rush. I definitely appreciate this very much!
Kathy
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Hi Kathy, Would it be OK if I send you the details by email? They are quite lengthy and involve some photos:)
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Absolutely! That would be perfect! Thank you very much! Is just leaving my address below OK or should I send it to you another way?
Kathy
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The address I can see if fine by me if it OK with you! Husband is just finalizing his draft instructions tonight and I have taken the photos. Will send them off to you tomorrow.
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Thank you again so much and be sure to thank your husband for us also!
Kathy & David
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Just found your blog since I’ve been looking for information from patients who have gone through this surgery. I’ll be having the surgery on July 9th. I’m concerned about being able to stay face down. It’s good to know success stories!
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Staying face down was difficult, I won’t pretend it wasn’t. But I was instructed to stand/sit up for five minutes in every hour which helped a bit. Also, different surgeons recommend different lengths of time for posturing depending on the actual size of the hole and how the operation goes. Mine only required three days of me, but I tried to keep it up for a week. In hindsight it was more than worth it because my vision in that eye is now brilliant, although I will be needing a cataract op. soon which is inevitable with this operation. I have heard of people who do not comply with the posturing and I’m afraid their operations did not have brilliant results.
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Oh, thank you for replying!
This is reassuring that it might actually be less than 2 weeks for the face-down position as you and others have noted on their blogs!
To have brilliant eyesight is well worth enduring some discomfort.
I was made aware that cataract surgery would be inevitable, but that surgery and recovery will be a breeze compared to this.
Thank you again for sharing your experience, it truly helps those of us who are about to undergo the same surgery. 😀
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Also, wondering if you could also email to me the instructions on how your husband made the mirror thing. I bought 2 mirrors, tried a piano hinge and a lid support, but, it’s not working.
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Of course but I could not find your email address on your blog! Am I being blind? Sorry, bad pun:)
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Hahhaa, you are so funny! it is:
swoosieque@gmail.com
And thank you again!! 😀
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I have just put them up on my blog in a special post. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any help with them. I wish you the very best of luck with your operation:)
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Thank you!! Now I am off to your blog to find the instructions! 😀
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