I think that the sight loss area below my right eye has got worse between 31 Dec and now , 15 Jan. Had surgery 1 Dec. Has anyone else experienced this? Background : I was diagnosed with normal tension open angle glaucoma in July this year. My visual fields got worse between August and November, and a bit too close for comfort from the central vision in my right eye. I had cataract and Hydrus stent op on 1 Dec. I was on Diamox for 3 days afterwards, then usual drops plus pilocarpine. I finished the course of drops on 31 Dec.I do a rough and ready ' disappearing peg ' test to see if the blind patch below my right eye is changing ( I arrange pegs on a kitchen worktop and see how many disappear when I look at a central point with my right eye) On 31 Dec 5 pegs ' disappeared'. Last Thursday, 12 Jan, 8 pegs 'disappeared'.
I'm very surprised and very worried by this. Especially as I had had appt at optician on Wed 11 Jan and central vision is much improved. Eye pressure on puff test was 13 ( 11 on Goldman a week after op) which not as low as I would hope , given that my right eye reading at diagnosis was 20.
I've done all the right things- I contacted consultants secretary on Friday but haven't heard back. Was told my follow up appt with consultant for next week has been cancelled and new one is 1 Feb.
So I'm going to contact my optician tomorrow, Mon, to see if they can check me over.
I'm a female living in my own and I've been in a distressed and anxious state about this all weekend. Any shared experiences or kind words would be appreciated!
PS, I don't think this is retinal detachment kind of emergency, as there are no other symptoms , apart from some light floaters which the consultant has checked.
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Iona57
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So sorry to hear that you are worried about your sight 6 weeks post surgery.
I have had two Preserflo Microshunts inplanted and I was also nervous afterwards if anything seemed different. At the hospital I was given a 24 hour emergency number to call and chat to the duty eye doctor .I used this service twice and found it very reasurring. On both occaisions I was invited to be examined within hours.
In most big hospitals there should be a duty eye doctor ,and I was seen at weekends.You could always enquire about this service from your A&E dept or even your GP.
I found that when I stopped post op eye drops my eyes became dry and my vision was worse than usual, sort of fuzzy. So well worth getting that checked out.
Your vision may well have changed post op so eventually new glasses may help.Of course they always advise waiting at least 3 months after the op.
I have found my eyes have gone on changing quite a lot, much longer than 3 months.
I also found that it is sometimes worth phoning the medical secretary again,as I had a very positive response from a different person the second time, especially if you mention the worry about potential sight loss.
Hi Muddledme,Thank you so much for your reply . On your advice I have just phoned Eye Casualty in Oxford, and they have booked me in to be checked over tomorrow morning and do a visual fields test.
Thanks for the tip about dry eyes. I've noticed mine is more prickly recently.
The main thing I wish someone had explained to me before my op is that recovery can be very haphazard and non-linear. It can vary by the day and it's one step forward and three steps back sometimes. It doesn't help that I haven't yet got new glasses!
Like muddledme I have also had a Preserflo inserted and recovery can be slow; weeks or more realistic months before your eye settles down completely or you can get new glasses.
I think recovery time is played down by surgeons, maybe necessarily so, and it can be frustrating as you are naturally impatient for improvement. There are many posts on this forum where people refuse to take time away from their normal lives or jobs for even a day after surgery. This forum helped me understand the process which is why so many people here reach out to others to share their experience and let you know you are not alone.
Wishing you the best of luck for your next appointment and keep us updated.
How nice of you to ask! I had scans and a visual field test done, and Goldman IOP ( 15 right , up from 13 post op ). Outcome was that they detected what the doctor described as 'water at the back of the eye' which can be causing blurry vision. Doctor prescribed steroid drops Dropodex four times a day and anti inflammatory drops Acular three times a day. I didn't get an answer to my original concern about whether my actual visual fields are affected. I thought the blurriness was to do with not having the right glasses.
I googled 'water at the back of the eye' and it sounds pretty scary- fluid from broken blood vessels in the retina, a complication of cataract surgery. Fortunately I have an appointment with my consultant next week, 25 Jan, so I hope I will get my questions answered
Hi Iona. You shouldn't be too concerned about the slight pressure increase, the eyes pressures vary day to day, even hour to hour. I've been to the hospital a lot lately and the pressure in my eye with no Glaucoma can be anything between 11 and 19 depending on the day. Funny you say about water at the back of the eye, I've just been treated for this and was the same,.was told that will make vision blurry ( I wasn't as brave with you with Google though, as I find this can often give the worst case scenario and make things seem worse ) Hopefully when this clears up for you with the treatment and you see improvement.
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