Thursday, April 3, 2008

Eye surgery- round two

Yep I had to do it again! I went yesterday morning for a follow up appointment for the surgery I had and guess what? I had not healed and had to do it all over AGAIN! This time it was alot worse as far as the P-A-I-N. The dr. had to use a different type of laser and he only gave me the numbing drops because he said I did so well the last time. Well I should have guessed it was going to be worse when the room we went into had warning signs posted everywhere and then he strapped my head in. Not the same type of machine as last time I'm tellin ya. Last time my eye was a little red and I had a headache afterwards. This time, my eye was a big goopy mess, blood shot like I had been on a 5 day binge and I could feel something pull in the back of my head everytime he zapped me. What the heck? He said it only took like 73 zaps this time so we should be good to go now. Ya think?!!!
I'm feeling better today except for the red eye and lack of sleep. Please pray this will take care of the problem. I would hate to think about what the next alternative would be. Good grief!
This is what I have-Vitreous & Retinal Detachment
Most of the serious retinal problems which require surgery are caused by problems with the vitreous, the clear jelly-like substance which fills the space in the eye.
Posterior Vitreous Detachment
With age, the vitreous becomes more fluid, and less jelly-like. As the eyeball moves, small pockets of liquid vitreous can move around inside the vitreous cavity. This movement causes the vitreous to pull on the retina, and, with time, the vitreous can separate from the retina. This is called posterior vitreous detatchment (PVD), because it usually happens at the back (posterior) of the eye. PVD happens in most people eventually, and is rarely a problem.
Flashes and Floaters
When PVD occurs, the detached vitreous can tug on the retina. The brain interprets these tugs as flashes or large spots in the vision. The vitreous can also become stringy, and form visible strands which appear in the field of vision as floating threads or small spots and circles. A patient with these floaters should be examined, to check for other retinal damage. If there are no problems, the patient can fairly easily learn to ignore the floaters.
Retinal Tear and Vitreous Hemorrhage
Where the vitreous is securely attached to the retina, vitreous detachment may cause the retina to tear. If the retina tears across a blood vessel, there will be bleeding into the vitreous - this is called vitreous hemorrhage. Small amounts of bleeding cloud the vision, leading to the sensation of walking through a swarm of insects - more severe bleeding leads to a mass of red or black lines, and vision may become very dark. A retinal tear is a serious problem; vitreous hemorrhage is even more serious.
Retinal tears may be sealed with lasers or cryotherapy, or both, to prevent retinal detachment. Both these treatments seal the retina to the wall of the eye, repairing the tear and preventing detachment.
Retinal Detachment
A retinal tear is considered so serious because the vitreous liquid may leak through the tear, and collect under the retina. Gradually, the build up of liquid separates the retina from the wall of the eye, a condition called retinal detachment. The two major treatments for retinal detachment are scleral buckling - where a sponge or length of silicon plastic is placed on the outside of the eye and sewn in place, pushing the sclera toward the tear in the retina - and pneumatic retinopexy, a less severe treatment where the surgeon injects a gas bubble inside the vitreous cavity. The bubble pushes the retina against the wall of the eye, allowing the tear to seal against the eye wall.
* I had the retinal tear- lucky me.

2 comments:

GillespiesGirl said...

Dear BFF!!! I hate to hear about your lil' ol' eyeball. Hoping you are feeling better and have many prayers going up for you.

Luv U much!
UR BFF

Lisa said...

I have a question for you. I am still trying to figure out this site. How can I search and find someone that I know has a blog? How do you subscribe to the post or can you?



I hope this surgery will correct things for you once and for all. i love ya

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