Macular hole surgery

[OddBoots]

My mum has just been told she has a macular hole in both eyes (rare to have it in both) so unless she wants to stay with very poor vision she needs surgery. The problem with the surgery is that after it she needs to spend up to two weeks face down for the vast majority of the time, day and night.

She has been told she will be loaned a padded ring cushion thing that she can sit forward resting into and I'd be happy to buy her a massage table but I wondered if anyone here had experience of this surgery and could offer suggestions about how to make the recovery easier?

The cushion is really helpful, I had to posture face down for 50 mind out if every 60 (whilst awake) for a week. I had to send my children to my childminders all week it really was not possible to have them here . I used a combination if cushions/pillows but the one I used in hospital was perfect. The amount of time and position you won 't know until after the operation, mine was detached retina so slightly diff and had it done three times posturing was by far the most frustrating part x

My Mum has had a macular hole in each eye, although not at the same time- they were about 3 years apart. I don't recall her having to lie face down, although she may have needed to and I've blannked out the memory!

When she got the first hole, she delayed seeing a doctor or an optitian, as she thought the blurred vision was due to a bad head cold. By the time she was seen, the hole was too big to operate on effectively, so although the operation worked to some extent, the vision in that eye is still poor.

When she got a hole in the other eye, she had it looked at straight away and had the op much more quickly. She was effectively blind after that op, as the first eye was already bad, so I had to look after her for a few months until the vision returned. She is now able to drive, read, etc, although her vision is still not good and her eyes get tired towards the end of the day.

I know you didn't post looking for general macular hole chit-chat, but I thought it might be helpful for you to hear that the operation can be successful.

Oh! Another thing I remember is that everything had to be very clean after the surgery. If dust gets into the eye it can become infected, I think. I went and vacuumed her mattress, under the bed, and wet dusted the whole house.

I also made sure her bathroom was absolutely spotless, and that she had a supply of new face flannels, cotton wool pads and fresh white ramekins for bathing her eyes.

Of course, she could just have been making all that up as a ruse to get her house cleaned

Thank you all. Her biggest worries are getting travel sick on the way home from the hospital and sneezing/coughing after surgery - hopefully the doctor can put her mind at rest there.