xyzAsia

Dear David,
Really helpful site. My experience.
I had myopic shift (2009) which is worsening of vision rapidly. From -3.5 to -6.5 in 1year.
Followed by cataract surgery complicated but highly successful.
Almost 12 mths later Nov 2011 flashes of light in rt eye told I have Posterior vitreoue detachment and not to worry.
Come 25th Dec 2011 rt eye upper vision got affected. Seen 3 days later 28th Dec 2011. I was told I have RD with macula off which is the sensory part of the vision.
Had surgery on the 30th Dec 2011. This included
1)Cryo + Laser
2)Vitrectomy
3)Gas (long acting)
4)Scleral Buckal

Its now 30days since operation.
I am starting to see at the upper end of my visual field.
I am keeping the pirates patch on since the vision is very strange with the left eye being normal.
Their is a now a central wobbly structure which is slowly disappearing.
I did keep my head in a certain position but my surgeon was relaxed about it.

I hope this is the end of the problems but I have been told of all the complications that can happen.
Are their people who just have one procedure and remain well?

Ayub
in UK

I read your entire post about your retinal detachment and I found it really interesting. I am currently experiencing those floaters and flashes in my eyes and my ophthalmologist says I have a posterior vitreous detachment in my right eye. I also have glaucoma and an inflammatory condition called occular sarcoidosis. I am praying that my PVD will not cause any complications with my retina as I don't think I could bear someone going at my eye while I was awake. Thank you for sharing your story with us and good luck with your eyes.

Hi everyone, while doing some research online about my condition I ran into this wonderful place. I have to say that the minute that I started reading your story I couldn't help but to think of my own story. My nightmare began 06/06/06 (creepy date huh?) well that day I woke up at around 2am and noticed that I couldn't see anything out of my right eye.I didn't think anything of it because there was no pain or other symptom that seemed alarming. I went to work that morning and tried calling several Dr's but no one had room to see me so they just kept on telling me to go to the er. At that time I lived in Miami where luckily, I was 10 miles away from Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (which is number one in the country) but I really didn't feel like going to the er. The thing that I didnt understood then was that Bascom Palmer has an emergency room for eye problems, so me not knowing that I kept looking for a Dr with no luck. Then I remembered that a friend of mine was going to medical school for opthalmology and was doing an internship with a retina specialist in another hospital in Miami. Thank God I was able to reach him and after telling him my sysmptoms the only thing he said was "ok Debbie let me call you back in 5 minutes" but his voice sounded as if he was scared. A few minutes later he calls me and tells me that the Dr that he was working for then had agreed to see me given that it was a genuine medical emergency. I was still confused as how it was an emergency but by the time I got to see the Dr that day at 3pm, I understood that things were not well. The Dr told me that I had to have surgery within two days making the surgery day, my then 26 birthday. I can never forget that day. It was the worst bday present life has given me thusfar. They did a scleral buckle procedure that turned into failure within 2 weeks. I had to fly my mom to Miami to help me, and I remember like it was yesterday, taking my mom to the airport for her to go back home and as she left my dad called me. When he asked me how my eye was, I closed my left eye and again I realized it was detached again... the problem now was that the dr that did the 1st procedure had gone to Hawaii on vacation and was refered to Bascom Palmer's ER. So I went and inmediately after that I had surgery with the man whom these days I consider very dear to my heart. During my second surgery they did the gas bubble and had me in the face down position for 3 weeks. That was a very challenging time for me and my mom who was there with me always. So the gas bubble didnt work either, and now we are in detachment #3. Then they did the silicone oil and then I had surgery to take out the oil, they also did cataract surgery and implant a lense in my eye since mine was no good. I remember the day after my first surgery I thought my vision was gonna be the same, but it wasnt. I had then been diagnosed with macular degeneration which will prevent me from having my vision, if anything is just getting worse. 4 years after the last surgery I went to see my Dr in Miami because since then I had relocated to Washington DC and was refered to a Dr in Johns Hopkins for follow ups every 6 months. I moved back to Fl and when I saw Dr Murray 4 years after he had treated me, he was very concerned that my eyes have deteriorated a lot. I am undergoing a series of injections every 2 months because there is a lot of swelling in the eye that can lead to another detachment. To make matters worse, I have been diagnosed with lattice degeneration in the left eye and the Dr is not confident as for how long the retina will be attached. He has mentioned that preventive surgery in the left eye will not be consider a good idea, given the likelyhood of the odds of the right retina detaching 3 consecutive times, so it clearly isn't so receptive. I say if it isn't broken dont fix it, but I live in constant fear for waking up like I did that 06/06/06...I hate that day... I have been an advocate for eye health and I'm glad to know that science is so advanced. I remember during my follow ups after surgery, there would be students using my case as a learning tool, which I really dont mind. I really do feel ready to take upon the challenges that life will bring me should anything happen with my left eye, but I have confidence in God that he will give me an opportunity to continue dealing with one eye only. I admire anyone that has gone through this and I think it is important for people to learn about these problems because like you, I was totally unaware of what a retina was until of course that summer day on 06/06/06.

Hi David,

I wanted to give you a follow-up on my experience reported above. In early December of 2011 I experienced a weird fluttering in my LEFT eye in a low-light situation at work, and thought, oh no not again, then the next day noticed with alarm that my vision in that eye had become obscured by a ring of black. I went back to my clinic and was told that my left eye was now undergoing vitreous separation, and what I was seeing was blood inside the eye, which was, she said, good news in that it would be reabsorbed. I said, there's a retinal tear, I can tell, no I don't see it, she said. I said, well I'm not leaving until you find it. After 10 minutes she said, aha, there it is, and I had laser on that retina as well. Meanwhile my right eye has mostly cleared, no floaters at all now, but I still experience some fuzziness in my central field of vision in the right eye. The left eye
has healed well, the ring of black is going away. She said, the good news is you are not going blind, so that is something. I did not find the second surgery to hurt as much, but it was also a much smaller tear so the laser was only pulsed a dozen times instead of the right eye which had 10 minutes of laser. I am hopeful things will clear up. I appreciate your blog, because there just aren't that many resources out there for those of us experiencing these things. I thank whatever gods there may be that my experience was nothing like B's. Thanks for your time, David - here is to good health and recovery for all.

I thought I was lucky with my experience of a detached retna but after reading this blog with not just your experience but others as well, I know KNOW how lucky I was. My detachment occurred on a Friday night while reading a magazine. It was like the pages shifted.....I really can't quite explain it. I was at our cottage and didn't want to have to go back in to the city so I waited until Monday to go see the eye Dr. What I did do right away though was shut my left eye and bring my left hand around and couldn't see my finger until it was past my nose and right in front of the right eye. Unlike many postings I didn't experience the flash of lite or the spot/floaters. When I called to make my apt. My Dr was working out of his other office so Ken called over and called me back saying the Dr's first apt is at noon, he'll see you at 11:45. I arrived at the mall at 11:15, just as the Dr was walking in. I said, "oh Dr. Yale, just the man I'mgoint to see in half an hour, and he said no, just the person you're going to see right now". That's when I thought okay, this may be something serious!!
I was seen by a surgeon at 2:00 that afternoon and on the operating table at 5:30 pm the next day, and because I have asthma, stayed overnight and was home onWednesday morning by 10:00 am. The surgeon put what is referred to as a "buckle" on the eye and there was no need for gas. I received some good advise from a friend who had eye surgery and that was....don't wait for the pain to take the pain pills...if it says take every 4 hours, take it every 4 hrs. He said nothing compares to the pain that you feel in yor eye after surgery, and he was right. I pushed it once and once only. In spring of 2009 I had a second operation on the eye to peel scar tissue off the eye that was greatly affecting my ability to read out of that eye and I am now experiencing the development of a cataract in the eye that in a very short time took the vision from -7.5 to -9.5. I have the utmost faith and trust in Dr. Yale and he will monitor it again in 6 months. If there is further change he will refer me back to the surgeon, who I also trust, to determine what we do next. I know that my story may not be the norm, but I wanted to share it so that those coping with a detached retna see that it isn't always necessary for the gas procedure and limited mobility. The funny thing was the whole time I was dealing with this my attitude was "oh we'll, at least I have another eye if things don't go well, lots of people live with site in just one eye". .....but I'm very happy that isn't something I had to learn to adjust to. At least not yet.

Thank you so much for your story. I'm in the high-risk group and such an informative and detailed account is so very much appreciated.

David, Thanks so much for your story! I worry about detached retina and glaucoma both; I've had lasik surgery to correct my extreme near sightedness and I'm now over 50:) My pressures have always been normal but today I woke up with 'sparkles' around my left eye that faded in a few minutes, no increase in floaters or permanent black spots. I'll schedule an eye appointment anyway.

You blessed me,
~g.~

Hi David, thanks for this post. I started experiencing vitreous separation in June of this year, 2011, and finally had the laser eye surgery this past Oct 21, 2011. I asked if it would hurt. Oh no, said the doctor. LIAR. My gods, if I'd had some warning...... that really hurt, I said, is it going to hurt tomorrow? Oh no I was told. Well... it's day 3 and it still hurts. It feels exactly like the back of my eye got welded. I don't have the words.

I don't know if the procedure was successful or not as my vision in that eye is now cloudy (it wasn't before) and I am still experiencing flashes.

Anyway the reason I am commenting is because you describe a similar experience with talent. Also, I somehow feel reassured upon reading your post, it helps to know it's a road too unfortunately often traveled.....I hope your eye problems are over.

Thank you for this well-written article.

thanks for sharing your story. I have just had two laser surgeries for retinal tears in the past few days and am hoping it does progress to detachment. Going back to dr. tomorrow. Please pray for me. thanks.

Yes, I had a detached retina as well. Mine was bad. Totally detached.

I was totally blind in my eye for 5 days before I had the operation. It took 10 weeks for the gas bubble to dissolve and I only have a few slight blemishes in my vision 6 months later.

I just count myself as extremely lucky.

3 1/2 years ago, I had a horsehoe tear (almost detached) for two weeks. Didn't know to get it seen because the floaters didn't hurt. Neither did the flashing light. No one tells you that it is an emergency. At eye exams, they just say, do you see ___? If not, they say good. The laser to try to repair it. Felt like the inside of my head was sizzling and being destroyed. Several weeks later, it detached. Two thirds of what I saw was absolutely black, There was a narrow slit left where I could see. While the retina surgeon saved my eye- vitrectomy and buckle- (and another surgeon for cataract and follow-up cataract surgery), I have been living in hell for 3 1/2 years. I am told my eye never adjusted to the buckle. It IS as if i have been punched in the face, and the eye and surrounding area hurt and feel pressure and feel swollen. It feels as if a thick glass bowl is in my eye/head and it hurts all the time, and sometimes there is a stabbing feeling, and as if I am looking all the time through a thick glass curve like you see at the aquarium. It is exhausting, scary, and depressing. What I see drives me crazy. I can never get away from this nightmare. I will never commit suicide, but that is the way it makes you feel, and even as you say Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! to everything with which you are constantly obsessing because it takes up all your time and energy, that is all you can do . I cannot get out of the car and put the keys away. I cannot let go of the keys. I am gripped with fear. I have tried. Too often, it ends up with this and other sequences, I try 3 times, and can't go through with it. I get out of the car, close the car door, and walk across a parking lot into a store as if everything is normal. It is not. I am gripped with a tightened knot in my stomach and facing the distortion I see all the time. Out of sight out of mind. So so many things are forgotten. I am off-balance. I can stand on my "tip-toes" - that is not the issue- it is the terrible feeling that wells up inside from what I see that creates the gripping anxiety and panic. I hide all of this. Not sure what or where a center of balance is. Going into stores, driving- it is all a nightmare, but I fight my way through and do it. It is beyond being on a sickening ride at the fair and not being able to get off that ride. At the fair, the ride is over there, and you can get off and leave it. It is to have that ride and effects in your head and stomach all the time. I am scheduled to see a neurological ophthalmologist. Don't know what he can do, but the appointment was made because I suffer all the symptoms of Alzheimer's. I am confused, but hide it well. I have forgotten words and don't spell well, both of which were part of my expertise, and have no immediate term memory. If something is out of sight, I don't remember that I touched it, picked it up, was handed an item, or did something. It isn't the usual occurrence that happens every now and then to all of us. It is ALL THE TIME, WITH EVERYTHING. I do everything but am living a nightmare. I look normal and am panicked all the time. Everything that we automatically do in a certain order, I have to question. Everything that was automatic is now confusing. Days of the week, month; I make appointments on the same day and have to struggle through realizing that I made two appointments on the same day, overlapping times. I bump into things, and sometimes drop things. Not sure where I am stepping. Wavy and zig ag lines, a shiny mismash of - what- vessels at the bottom - pulsate like a heartbeat, part of the retina is gone so it is black in one corner. Going from light to dark and to light is blinding and awful. Fluttering image like the rapid wings of a butterfly. Looking a person in the eye makes me want to scream and run away - holding the eye contact is so overwhelming and unbearable. Not even sure where my body is relative to the world around me. I feel weighted down, and getting up is a struggle. Moving an item from one place to another feels like it is very heavy and takes an eternity. The feeling of panic, anxiety, and despair are constant with the overwhelming feeling within my stomach that feels like a constant welling up of fear. I cry all the time, and try to pull myself together to go to work. 3 1/2 years.... I believe that had I known to go in right away, my eye and my life would have been saved from this torture and nightmare. You can't image how much i had to go over this to make corrections of mistakes that I never would have made prior to the retina disaster.

HI David,

When I read your article about your retina problems, I can't help but to reflect on my own experience with retina detachment. I first found out I had retina problems when I saw flashing lights and multi coloured lines back in 2000. The leading government eye hospital in KL diagnosed me to be having a large retina tear on my right eye. Maybe its my bad luck or just karma-I had some friends in the medical fraternity and was undecided whose opinion to take. One eye doctor friend told me the operation was simple and the senior consultant that operated on me was competent, while another fertility doctor friend said the only retina surgeon that could do this operation in Malaysia was Dr Sheshan Lim. Naturally, I took the eye doctor friend's advice and it turned out disastrously. After operating for the torn retina, within 2 weeks, the vision was impaired again and I asked the consultant why. He was flipping through my patient's notes and maybe it was intuition, I knew at that moment he could not fix my problem which has now turned more serious-I now have retina detachment. I surfed the net and found out about Singapore National Eye Centre. I sent them a mail and they recommended me to contact Dr Ong Sze Guan, the retina surgeon and Director of Training and Education then. Dr Ong tried various ways to fix this problems-I had laser welding done-it was so painful that tears rolled out. I had 3 surgeries, first time with gas implant into the right eye-it failed to work. Second time was with silicone oil implant and third operation, to remove the silicone oil from the eye. So all in all, I had 4 surgeries from year 2000 till 2003. Now fast forward to 2011, there has been no developments on the right eye which is a good thing, I am having blurred vision as the lense has been taken out but the eye is stil intact. The upper vision is slightly blurred as if there is a small curtain covering the eye. Other than that, the eye is healthy and I am waiting for new technology that could restore my vision. I have learned to live with double vision but otherwise all is well. Last year I had cataract done on my left eye in Singapore and now I do not need glasses. However, I still go back to Singapore twice a year for check-ups to determine if the 2 eyes are ok.

I made a costly mistake by choosing the wrong doctor. The period of 2000-2003 was one of the most traumatic periods of my life-my marriage failed, I could not concentrate on my business and it too failed, plus the trauma and uncertainty not knowing whether my eye will turn blind...luckily, I had tremendous confidence in my ability to rise again and my family was there to help me pull through.

Someone should start a retina detachment support group in Malaysia and I would be pleased to lend my support.

Rgds
Peter Tan

Hi, i hope you have since found the Road Rules book. There is an electronic copy (FREE) that can be downloaded from the Road Transport Department (Jabatan Pengankuatan Jalan) it is title KPP (English Version)... and it even explains the Signaling Right and then Turning Left.

http://portal.jpj.gov.my/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=18&Itemid=96&lang=en

Dear Mr Astley, I was so happy to read about your post on rules and regulations Driving in Malaysia just after i got the same fine twice for a P sticker on my bike which I guess fled away while I was driving but didn't notice but the same policeman gave me the same fine twice and I was pissed off but reading your post I get to smile again and my anger dissapeared.I wrote my experience down and if you wish to hear from it I might send it to you by mail.
Thanks a lot
Cheers..
=D

Hello David,

I recently underwent surgery for a retinal detachment that had reached the point where I needed emergency treatment and a full vitroectomy, as the retina was separating from the macula. My condition began slowly with the appearance of a curved discolouration in the lower left of my field of vision in the left eye, however it was incorrectly diagnosed as a floater by my optician and I did not seek expert opinion until several weeks later when it very rapidly spread across my field of vision. Fortunately at that point my wife insisted on taking me to the local hospital where the detachment was diagnosed - I was referred to an opthalmic surgeon and underwent surgery the next day.

It's now two weeks later and the eye is healing well, with only a little surface irritation. The gas bubble has decreased by about 75% but still causes some distraction. I can, however, now see that although my vision in that eye will be clear and colour sight good, shapes are quite distorted, and I suspect this will be a permanent condition.

I found your website whilst looking for information about the condition and its treatment, and I wanted to thank you for sharing in detail your experiences. I was particularly relieved to read that you have been able to adapt to "mismatched" vision, as it gives me hope that I will also learn to accept and deal with this deficiency.

Healthy vision is so precious, but we take it for granted until it is disrupted. I hope others will take heed of your experience and understand that early diagnosis and treatment are absolutely crucial.

Regards
Tony

David

Thanks for the info on retinal problems on your website. After being diagnosed with hypertensive retinopathy last year now left with smal"scar" over maucal on L/eye my consultant, after 9 months noticed in the R/eye a 1mm hole which no flyid, but had appeared sealled - 2 weeks of worry and back and all the floaters and everything for years were explained as you say. No change after 2 weeks but it looks like the 1mm hole had sealed itself and could have been there for years. Still see all the small(blood) floaters and the few spidery ones but hope itll be fine. Never had flashing lights just saw stars after coughing twice!

best regards

Bruce

Thanks for the reading on your retinal detachments. I am recovering from having had a retina detachment 2 weeks ago and your description of your experience has been quite infomative. Great pictures!

Thanks David. That all helped me to get some perspective on whats happening to me right now.
Good luck to you
Peter

Hi David,

I found 'malaysian road rules' amusing and reflective of the real situation. Some observations to add:

1. Malaysian drivers always take the racing line. If they are on the left lane of a two-lane road, they will cut across to the right when the road curves right. Same thing when they are hogging the right lane and the road curves left.

2. Malaysian motorcyclists ride Perpetual Motion Machines. They never stop at junctions to Stop, Look, Go.

3. Malaysian drivers feel the need to straddle the dotted line of a two-lane road. That way you cannot overtake them. Also, with the dotted line between their legs they won't go off track.