I have had narrow angle glaucoma for over 10 years and despite years of drops and a laser iridotomy in both eyes my glaucoma is slowly progressing. My sight loss in my left eye is not too bad at all ( patchy small areas) but I do feel my central vision is not as good in my left eye ( no cataract or other issues with my left eye). The highest my pressures have ever been is 20-21 ( when I was 1st referred). With drops ( and then more drops added in over time) and after the iridotomy they are around 12-15 and that’s been the case for a few years now.
I have quite a large area of vision loss in my right eye ( also had a clear lens extraction “same as cataract surgery in reality “) in that eye in preparation for the next surgery ( trabeculectomy now planned for my right eye). The surgery has been mentioned as the next step for around 18 months so I’ve briefly discussed it and I will have an appointment with my consultant in a few months to fully discuss the surgery as I didn’t see him at my last hospital appointment but he reviewed all my results and I was informed by phone and letter that I now need a trabeculectomy for my right eye.
With my two eyes I can function fine and passed the DVLA test with no problems. I’m still working (early sixties) and have been told I’ll need several weeks off work after the surgery. I do need good eyesight to continue in my present job. I wouldn’t be able to manage with more blurry or very poor vision. I’m aware that the surgery will not reverse any sight loss in my right eye. I’ve found the Glaucoma UK leaflets and webinars very helpful with a lot of relevant information about the surgery and recovery period etc.
Im aware that everyone is different and there will be a range of experiences but my questions for those of you who have had a trabeculectomy are:-
How did you find your vision during the recovery period? At the moment I sometimes find that I’m closing my “ bad” eye to see text and print more clearly. I found this during the recovery from my previous lens replacement surgery as well. As the operated eye was more blurry for a while ( I also had the complication of corneal oedema) my vision was a mix of the two eyes and it was sometimes easier to shut out the blurriness even though my central vision didn’t feel as clear with my left eye only.
After the recovery period was your vision in the eye that had had the trabeculectomy the same as pre surgery or did you find it has changed or was more blurry or other changes ( allowing for the fact your glasses prescription could have changed post op so you had an updated prescription).
Thanks in advance for any advice, I know everyone’s recovery is different but I’ve not seen much information about what people’s vision is like in the operated eye after the recovery period (compared to how it was pre surgery).