Had a 10:00 AM appointment this morning with Dr. Chaudhary. Sunday mornings at the St. Joseph Hospital Eye Clinic is a very quiet place .... he was seeing three patients while Dr. Adam was also in, seeing several more down the hall. There were no clinicians on duty, so both doctors were appointing examining rooms for the patients, applying the dilating drops, plus conducting all the other routines normally done in advance of their examinations.
What an exclusive club I have joined! Dr. Chaudhary explained that only 1 in 8000 people experience a detached retina. In our town of twenty something thousand people, that means only 3 of us have probably experienced it. My old neighbour and gardening buddy Don was one. So I have to wonder who the other lucky club member is?!?!
Chaudhary spent an incredible amount of time today explaining my particular case and the two options of repair he is contemplating for Thursday's surgery.
This morning's examination revealed to him that I have a giant tear. He was very candid and honest that this is not good news. Restoring my retina will be extremely difficult and there is a very high degree of risk for impaired sight complications subsequent to the procedure.
There are two main options on how he will hold the retina in place once he proceeds under the microscope.
But first, he will do some damage control, removing existing scar tissue via laser.
This microsurgery is performed with a very powerful microscope. He explained that modern ones have a good depth of field.
For this surgery he will use miniature instruments placed into the eye through tiny incisions in the sciera, (white part of the eye).
This is not the optimum approach of attack, but the safer of two possibilities. The best approach for working with the instruments is directly through the front of the eye after the removal of the lens, but the actual lens removal is last resort, probably the approach if this second reattachment is unsuccessful.
On Thursday he will remove approximately 90 per cent of my vitreous gel. It will eventually be replaced naturally by the body's own aqueous fluid.
If he fills the void with a C3 F8 gas bubble, his preferred choice, that will slowly evaporate, my eye filling the void by itself.
However, another replacement for the vitreous gel, and one that I understand holds the retina more firmly in place, is the use of silicone oil. The problem with this method is the necessity of yet another operation to remove this oil.
Once the operation is concluded, they may or may not allow me to go home. There are still routines to be decided. He does not know as yet if general anesthesia will be used. On my arrival they will be inserting intravenous in the event they will.
After the operation my head positioning for one week is paramount. I wish they'd just set it in a vise! I am not one to stay still ...
One in eight thousand people ... I would gladly give this up to someone else in the seven thousand, seven hundred and ninety-nine member group!
My next and last appointment with Dr. Chaudhary before I go under the eyeball knife is on Tuesday at 10:00 AM.
Anyone out there performing miracles?
What an exclusive club I have joined! Dr. Chaudhary explained that only 1 in 8000 people experience a detached retina. In our town of twenty something thousand people, that means only 3 of us have probably experienced it. My old neighbour and gardening buddy Don was one. So I have to wonder who the other lucky club member is?!?!
Chaudhary spent an incredible amount of time today explaining my particular case and the two options of repair he is contemplating for Thursday's surgery.
This morning's examination revealed to him that I have a giant tear. He was very candid and honest that this is not good news. Restoring my retina will be extremely difficult and there is a very high degree of risk for impaired sight complications subsequent to the procedure.
One major problem I may face is the slipping down of the retina like the wall paper it resembles. This causes warped central vision. The good news is my peripheral vision should be restored.
He also guaranteed me that I will experience a cataract on my eye as a direct result of the upcoming surgery, probably in the range of 18 months afterward.Some people may prefer to go ahead blind at this point, (I know, a very, very, very bad pun), but I want to fully know what to expect and the next options available if this second operation proves to be unsuccessful. Opthamologists have a huge bag of tricks and there are in fact more options. Dr. Chaudhary explained that each successive detachment and repair increases the odds for poor or no sight.
He discussed this Thursday's surgery at length, officially called a "Vitrectomy".There are two main options on how he will hold the retina in place once he proceeds under the microscope.
But first, he will do some damage control, removing existing scar tissue via laser.
This microsurgery is performed with a very powerful microscope. He explained that modern ones have a good depth of field.
For this surgery he will use miniature instruments placed into the eye through tiny incisions in the sciera, (white part of the eye).
This is not the optimum approach of attack, but the safer of two possibilities. The best approach for working with the instruments is directly through the front of the eye after the removal of the lens, but the actual lens removal is last resort, probably the approach if this second reattachment is unsuccessful.
On Thursday he will remove approximately 90 per cent of my vitreous gel. It will eventually be replaced naturally by the body's own aqueous fluid.
If he fills the void with a C3 F8 gas bubble, his preferred choice, that will slowly evaporate, my eye filling the void by itself.
However, another replacement for the vitreous gel, and one that I understand holds the retina more firmly in place, is the use of silicone oil. The problem with this method is the necessity of yet another operation to remove this oil.
Once the operation is concluded, they may or may not allow me to go home. There are still routines to be decided. He does not know as yet if general anesthesia will be used. On my arrival they will be inserting intravenous in the event they will.
After the operation my head positioning for one week is paramount. I wish they'd just set it in a vise! I am not one to stay still ...
One in eight thousand people ... I would gladly give this up to someone else in the seven thousand, seven hundred and ninety-nine member group!
My next and last appointment with Dr. Chaudhary before I go under the eyeball knife is on Tuesday at 10:00 AM.
Anyone out there performing miracles?
