New and saying hi. Trish here from California.

[trishrg]

I will be having surgery for a full thickness macular hole in my right eye on July 10, glad I found this place. I have been checking in, getting daily digest. Seeing how others are handling is very helpful. Obv. not thrilled about the face down thing, but I'm sure I will be fine, as have been so many others before me. Reading that is very helpful. Anyhow, still working full time. I'm a birder / twitcher / casual photographer of said birds. Noticed my eyes getting bad, went for a new Rx for glasses in December, got sent to retinal specialist, and here I am now. All I wanted was some glasses. Grateful to have found this forum and I'll be checking in. Cheers.

[Eyecloud]

Hi and welcome to the group.

Wishing you all the best for your surgery on the 10th, I am having a cataract done on the 10th. also!! Hopefully a successful day! 🤞🏽

Good Luck!

[Daffodilia]

Good Luck with surgery and recovery

[rollerboy]

Hi Trish - I have no idea what a 'macular hole' is, but I don't like the sound of it and wish your surgeon every success and you the best of good fortune. I've had AMD for 12 years in both eyes, and am giving it a hard time ...

Rod

[trishrg in reply to rollerboy]

Here you go Rollerboy. It's a lovely snap of the MD's monitor. Full thickness macular hole is exactly what it sounds like. A hole in my macula.

Thanks for the reply.

Macular Hole

[Moptart]

please keep us posted and I hope all goes well! I am scheduled for Vitrectomy on July 15! From what I understand the number of days face down varies. Hopefully your won’t be too many days!

[trishrg in reply to Moptart]

Will meet you back here after recovery and we can compare notes. 👍

[Shimano]

welcome trishhrg. Hope all goes well with your surgery.

[springcross]

Hi trishrg. Just a short line to wish you good luck for tomorrow, I hope all goes well. 🙏

[Whitegoose]

Good Luck, wishing you all the best.👍

[trishrg]

Hi all and thanks for all the comments, welcomes, etc.

I had my surgery as scheduled and am now resting face down most of the time, with a little up time here and there for drops or to stretch my neck. My face down time was extended from "a couple of days" to "Thru the weekend" and now, thru Monday. Feeling my Dr. was a bit wishy washy and I would have been much better off were he just forthcoming from the start. Now that I decided it was worth it to order the face down equipment, the shipping is delayed, but should be here today.

Anyhow, surgery went well and so far so good on the recovery. My eye is of course a sight to see. I got a nice pirate patch to wear. Arrrrrr. Quite sporty I must say.

Next follow up on Thursday. They will do another OCT scan then and compare. Will keep y'all posted.

Cheers.

[Moptart in reply to trishrg]

Trish so glad to hear you’re on the mend! Bummer doctor added more days to face down! I’m still scheduled for Monday, the 15th and am nervous about pain management and of course outcomes!

Btw, I’m in California too!

[marypw in reply to Moptart]

I had vitrectomy and cataract surgery - no pain at all!

[Moptart in reply to marypw]

That’s good to know! How was recovery from vitrectomy?

[marypw in reply to Moptart]

To be honest the gas bubble is pretty frustrating - it takes a few weeks to go. But it does!

That eye does get a bit dry sometimes, but I only have a little wiggle on the Amsler grid, so 18 months on it was well worthwhile. Very best wishes.

[trishrg in reply to Moptart]

Moptart,

You're going to do great. During the procedure, there's really no pain to speak of. There was some "discomfort" mainly pressure, which I told them about and they juiced me a little extra which made the rest of the procedure easier.

Since then really only discomfort is 2 of the 4 drops I'm taking sting like a bear, normal side effects according to side effects. I'm rotating ibuprofen Acetaminophen, and that's doing the trick for me. PM meds are helping me sleep great too.

[Moptart in reply to trishrg]

I’m so glad yours is over and you are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (no pun intended ). Thank. You so much for sharing your experience Trish.

[springcross in reply to trishrg]

Glad it's all over for you and that your posturing will be over before you know it!! All the best.

[rigdog52]

Morning Trishrg, I know it is morning where you are at because I'm in California also. Hope all went well with the surgery. Stay cool this heat will leave one of these days !

[Moptart in reply to rigdog52]

Come to San Francisco for a cool off!

[marypw]

I had to do a week of facedown, but found hiring a chair was really helpful. I could doze off in mine and watch TV. Just make sure you do 6 hours a day and prop yourself up in bed so you don’t roll backwards.

[Moptart in reply to marypw]

I see your response I did order furniture…

[trishrg in reply to Moptart]

Moptart Hoping your procedure went well yesterday. Will be looking for an update.

[Moptart in reply to trishrg]

Trish everything went well and pain-free), I just have nausea from anesthesia which should pass soon. I was given the long-acting gas bubble because of high myopia, hopefully will mean less risk of retinal detachment, 🤞 .

All in all the doc said at todays appt to be face down 1 week! This is my second night and have a long way to go.

Trish I hope your recovery continues well and fast! You are almost there!

[trishrg in reply to Moptart]

Moptart Glad you're doing well, minus the nausea of course, which is hopefully past by now. So grateful I don't have that problem.

Best to you in your recovery. We can compare notes in a few weeks. And the weather, lol. I'm in So Cal near Disneyland. It has been gloriously NOT TOO BAD here, thank goodness.

Good luck with the face down. There are many naps in your future. Take advantage!

[trishrg in reply to marypw]

Agreed, chair was def. worth the rental price. Now... if I could just get a masseuse over, I'll be doing super!

[trishrg]

I made it thru my 5 days facedown. Really wasn't too bad though I may be snacking a little more than I should be out of sheer boredom. I still have little to no vision in my right eye, so I think I'm right on schedule. 😜 Furniture packed back up and ready to return the rental.

Thursday I go back for 1 weeks follow up with new OCT imaging. Will update more after that appt.

What a ride. Hopefully I get back to birding again in time for fall migration.

Cheers all!

[trishrg]

Wanted to send a quick update on progress. My gas bubble departed entirely this afternoon, making it 17 days almost to the hour from my surgery to when I noticed that last spec was no longer visible.

I've had a little issue with one suture being inflamed, red, swollen eye lid. Thought I had an infection and of course in my mind, I was going to lose my eye or die so made an urgent appt.. Dr. said I'm fine, no infection, just an angry suture, here take more Preds drops to help and come back in 4-6 weeks. Seems to be doing okay and ibuprofen helps with the sore eyeball.

Other than that, vision is still pretty wonky. I would liken it right now to how it would look like after looking at a bright light and waiting for eyes to adjust. They are waiting to adjust.

With pinholes I could see 20-80, without 20-120.

I'll pop in again with progress updates when something changes.

Moptart How's your healing going??

[Moptart in reply to trishrg]

Hey Trish, you’re really on the mend and probably 100% by now! Unfortunately, I’m on my 5th day post recovery on my “2nd” vitrectomy due to a detached retina! That’s one of the risks, especially in high myopic eyes (-9).

so I underwent a repair with laser and some type of (I’m not sure of pronunciation…pneumatic retinopexy), and he followed up with silicone oil, not the long acting gas this time.

I will have to have the oil removed in about 3 months..another surgery, I’m hopeful this is going to work !

[trishrg in reply to Moptart]

Moptart,

Thanks for the update and sorry about your setback, but sounds like you're on the mend again. What a mess though. I hope you continue to heal normally.

I'm not quite 100% but continue to improve.

Cheers

[wooflehound]

Hope it all going well. I had this 3 years ago right in the middle of covid lockdown in the UK. Only 2 days face down so got off lightly. Very strange watching the gas level getting smaller every day, then turning into a ball bouncing round my eye.

Unfortunately I hadnt realised my other eye wasnt so good but it does sort of help out a bit. I was told my sight would gradually improve over the next six months which it did, but my optician says my brain will still continue to gradually learn to adapt for a while yet. I needed cataract surgery 6 weeks post vitrectomy due to the damage from the gas then a YAG procedure a few months ago.

Good news is Im still legal to drive ( with self imposed limits). Cant read a book but can use a kindle. I use HOYA lenses in my glasses. Have one pair for near/ middle and another for distance driving. so I keep my job and my independance.

Hope your continuing to recover well.

[trishrg in reply to wooflehound]

wooflehound Thanks for sharing your experience. Fortunately, my left eye, which is my "strong" eye is still visually good. I can still do my photography since I'm left eyed.

I had IOL implants after cataract surgery 6 years ago or so. I had yag laser on both eyes last December when this all started. I've been wondering if a cataract could grow back yet again after the bubble, but time will tell, or I can ask "dr. google" too I guess.

I'll read up on HOYA. New name for me.

Cheers.