Cystic trabeculectomy bleb advice please.

[1inana]

I’ve been told that my bleb is ‘cystic’. The young doctor at the clinic seemed very anxious to impress this on me but, being only partially hearing, I found her difficult to follow. I had an attack of acute glaucoma just before the onset of COVID and lost all the sight in my left eye. My right eye followed resulting in an emergency trabeculectomy which has at least preserved some central vision. You will understand that I worry about any risk of losing more vision. Does anyone have experience of cystic bleb? Should I worry? Is there anything I should be doing? I am very careful with that eye.

[muddledme]

Hello 1inana,

As you have only partial hearing and impaired vision I would think that it is even more important that they should ensure you have a chance to understand the condition of your eyes and future care and treatment. Hopefully once they realise you need this advice they may be more helpful.

Perhaps you could phone the consultant's medical secretary ,( ask her to speak loudly) and perhaps she could relay your concerns to the medics. If no luck then perhaps you could write to the consultant.

Often the Glaucoma Helpline can give you some very useful ideas and information ph; 01233 64 81 70.

As the clinics are so busy I think we often need to keep battling on until questions are answered clearly.

Best wishes

[1inana in reply to muddledme]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I hadn’t tried the Helpline because phone conversations can be very difficult. However, you prompted me to look again and I’ve discovered that I can email them which I’ve done.

[muddledme in reply to 1inana]

Ah , yes I always forget about e mailing the helpline. Thank you for the reminder.

[Longwalks3]

Having looked online it seems that a cystic blob is one that leaks. I had this problem after my trabeculectomy in 2018. In my case my conjunctival tissue is very thin and fragile because I am very myopic (short sighted). This makes the tissue very difficult to stitch and in the end, although I had a second repair operation, the bleb scarred over and the trabeculectomy failed. The good news for me was that I have had other treatments subsequently and my pressures are now stable. Unfortunately like you I have lost a lot of vision but I trust my surgeon and live in hope that he can preserve what vision I have left.

[1inana in reply to Longwalks3]

Thank you, it’s encouraging to know that there are other treatments if the trabeculectomy fails.