Trabeculectomy at 18

[Madara786]

Hi I had a Trabeculectomy back in July and sadly my vision has never been the same. The first few weeks my surgeon was surprised because everything went well, my vision was the same and my eye pressure dropped to a good level (13) from what it was (57). But afterwards my eye pressure dropped too low to (7) and my vision became distorted so I had to do a autologous blood injection op to raise the pressure but that didn't work. Only worked temporarily for the week and went back down to 7. Recently had another op where my surgeon added sutures, again it only lasted around a week where my pressure was 11 - 12 but now its dropped to 9. Its been a long hard 6 months not really sure where to go from now

[muddledme]

So sorry to hear about your problems since surgery.

I found it helpful to ask the consultant all my questions, especially the preferred pressures and future options, although it is not easy with the short time slots at the eye clinics. Some opticians have done extra glaucoma training and perhaps the eye clinic could let you know of any where you live. We have one locally who has been such a help.

The other excellent advice has been the Glaucoma UK helpline and the regular webinars. After about 7 years and two shunts I still learn a bit more each time and this makes such a difference. "Knowledge is nothing without understanding " As many members of this site will agree, keep positive .

Sometimes it does all seem a struggle or even a battle but hopefully with determination you will get there.

Best wishes in the New Year .

[Littletreasures in reply to muddledme]

I am experiencing the same. I had the surgery in summer and my pressure dropped to 4. My vision is blurry. Stitches have been suggested but I’m too scared to have anything else done as it always seems to make things worse. I had a bleed in my eye and I’m worried that having stitches will make this happen again. My optician is unable to find a prescription that will help as it just all goes woozy. I was doing ok at staying positive until I was told by the optician last week that I’m borderline for driving and since then I’ve been feeling very despondent as I won’t be able to do my job without a car or go places. It all seems so much worse when I wake in the wee hours. This morning I went down stairs at 4 am and just sat and cried. I’m sorry I have no advice or reassurance to offer you.

[Littletreasures in reply to Littletreasures]

Apologies my post was supposed to be a reply to Madara786

[frankthebank]

Hi Madara, My story is similar to yours, I had a pressure in the 50s and no amount of tablets and drops would lower the pressure to less than mid 30s I then had to wait a few weeks like this before trab surgery which caused eye damage, after this recovery was going well then I blew my nose and ended up with a pressure of Zero, the surgeon hoped it would scar and rise but never did, so after 3 more weeks and more eye damage I had corrective surgery, this then resulted in a pressure of 7 which the surgeon was happy with (and this is one of the top surgeons in the country) my vision improved but due to what happened before a lot of damage was already done. Since then I have seen multiple doctors and the pressure is always around 9 which they all agree on is a good pressure; this is enough to maintain the eye structure causing no further damage and also means no Glaucoma drops need to be taken. I don't know if your case is different but from my own experience 9 is a good pressure so I'm wondering why you think this is an issue? Is your vision getting worse or was the damage already done from previous high pressures?

[Madara786 in reply to frankthebank]

My surgeon told me 9 is okay for some people and my eye structure has formed a little more but I require higher pressures to see better. I've noticed my vision is better at higher pressures of 13 to 14 after the blood injection but when it dropped again back to 9 that's when my vision went distorted again

[frankthebank in reply to Madara786]

I understand this is the thing we are all individual cases so advice varies depending on eye tests. The trab is such a difficult operation, as there's a lot of guess work on the size of the bleb and how much it drains the eye. It sounds like you might need more corrective surgery, which I know is hard to take, so I wish you all the best, on the bright side though at least you don't have to worry about high pressure anymore.