Any experience with a vitrectomy?

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Been referred by an eye specialist to one who specialises in retinal surgery as I've got a macular pucker, to talk about whether or not its safe and sensible for me to have surgery. I've had other eye problems with surgery but so far my retinas have behaved themselves.

I've no idea whether he will think that I ought to go ahead, the other specialist says I'm quite high risk for retinal tears compared to the average person. But if he says he thinks I would be a good candidate I still don't know if I should go ahead or not.

Surgery will involve a vitrectomy followed by a peel, will take over an hour under local anaesthetic. I feel sick thinking about it in case it goes wrong. If it does then they'll have to fix my retina and I could end up eyesight loss and more surgery.

Does anyone have any experience please?

Dh has had eye surgery on both eyes (lensectomy, vitrectomy and lens implant). He has Marfan Syndrome amongst other things and was gradually losing his sight - even with thick lenses in his glasses he couldn't see anything clearly and had constant double vision because both his lenses had dislocated. With his medical condition, surgery was always going to be risky but without it, he would soon have been unable to work. People that have Marfans are more at risk of retinal detachment even without having eye surgery.

The op took about 90 mins, he was out of recovery and back on the main ward faster than expected and could see well enough to text me without glasses. I suddenly had to stop pulling faces at him from across the room as he could now see me! Please ask if there is anything in particular that you'd like to know and I can ask him for you.

Your dh would have been at risk. Glad his retinas behaved!
Did he find the op ok? Was he sedated? A bit rough to have both eyes done at once I'd have thought.

It sounds like it made a real and rapid improvement for him. How quickly was he back at work?

Thankd for your help :)

Sorry, I forgot to say that he had one eye operated on then the other one six months later. He had a general anaesthetic for both ops. Will you be sedated or have GA?

He was back at work around 6 weeks after the ops. We did have a scary moment when about 3 days post-op his vision blurred. I rushed him up to eye casualty and nobody seemed to understand what was causing the problem until a more senior doctor appeared and asked which eye drops dh was using (he was on 3 different kinds). One of them had the side effect of blurred vision over a period of time! It resolved when he stopped using the drops.

He hasn't needed to wear any glasses at all for 4 years

What a brilliant outcome :) I had a similar scare after one of my surgeries, it turns out theyd used eye drops I'm allergic to.

I think I will be sedated but I'll find out for sure when I see the surgeon.

That's a really long recovery period though :( I'd hoped to be back at work within a few days. My job is very much at risk at the moment and I dont want anything to jeopardise it.

Did he find the recovery painful?

Dh's ops were a little bit different so hopefully you won't need so much time off after yours. See what your specialist advises regarding recovery times and don't rush back to work too soon. Your specialist/surgeon will probably want to see you a week or so after your op. It's worth having a think now about things that you can do during your recovery as dh found it uncomfortable to do things like watching TV or using a computer for a while.

Dh works in IT. One of the eye drops dilated his pupil beyond the edges of the implanted lens, so he was quite sensitive to light whilst he was using those and this was one of the reasons why he couldn't return to work sooner than he did.

He was in minimal pain, which was controlled by the drops and simple pain relief (paracetamol). The main problems were boredom (!) and the fact that the eye drops had to be used very frequently. So not too bad really.

What would I do without the computer?

I had thus (for detatched retina) last July under local as recovery was faster then twice more again under local as was pregnant. Did not feel anything but obs stressful trying to stay still, first op almost 4 hours but had other things done too.

It was very very painful after as every time my other eye moved this I've did too but that lasted probably only 4 or 5 days. Will you have any gas or oil in there to keep the tears flat? You'll have to posture if you do (sit in certain position for most if time you are awake I kid you not!!)

I was told I'd prob be off work for about 6-8 weeks but was actually off for almost 6 months - only because I had to have it done again several times. Fruend's husband had a retinal tear and he had vitrectomy and laser and was back at work after a few weeks so was a bit of a shock for me!

At the moment I've not got any tears but the peel is pretty high risk for causing them and that's what terrifies me, because then it would be the gas/oil and posturing and the risk of it not working. I've also read about a scleral buckle which sounds horrific.

Did you end up with posturing? It sounds awfully uncomfy :( can you do anything like that?

I had a fright today when I realised I couldn't see the interactive white board despite being almost front row.

How is your vision now?

Had the buckle first op but scar tissue was pulling retina away and gas caused cataract so hence subsequent ops and cataract op too! Had to posture each time, face down for 50 mins out of every 60 whilst awake that was hardest.

My vision is poor anyway which is why it happened -9.5/-14 though it happened to my good eye! I had vision back after my fourth op but obs with the oil in my eye I can't focus/see detail. Told this may improve though prob more like -15/16 in that eye now.

It's been hard going, literally happened out if the blue and the worry of giving birth (induction tomorrow) and to have next op in three weeks. Can no longer wear contact lenses and my bottle top glasses are now even thicker

Oh crumbs.

Well firstly, I hope it goes well tomorrow :) keep us updated if you can.

Then, you are very welcome to use the thread as a venting place, or obv. start your own and I'll keep an eye out for it. ( do you constantly see ironic vision puns?)

I've done the cataract thing, so that's a bonus!