L to R: Dr. Robert Adam, Dr. Varun Chaudhary et Moi
Dr. Chaudhary and Myself
Dr. Chaudhary and Myself
Dr Adam, left, consulting with Dr Chaudhary. That's me in the chair wondering how the heck the Montreal Alouettes could have blown that football game on Thursday night.-o-o-o-o-o-
Dr Adam phoned this morning at 9:00 AM to confirm my appointment at 11:00 AM with himself and ophthalmologist Dr Chaudhary at St Joseph's Eye Clinic in Stoney Creek.
After introductions, Dr. Chaudhary spent a lot of time examining me, explaining that he could see the retina was torn in three places and had collapsed once again like wallpaper. He had one interesting reason why a retina may detach in the first place, and perhaps what has happened to me.
The eyeballs of short-sighted people, (those who need corrective lens to see distances ... like me), change shapes in a fashion that stretches the walls on which retinas are attached, causing tears to and detachments of the retina.
Chaudhary signified my personal case has become much more major, that my eye is doing what it is supposed to do when fighting off a foreign intrusion. The doctors do not want my body to be so aggressive in its fight to block the retina from reattaching itself to the back wall.
To complicate matters, the gas bubble injected in my first surgery had broken up and some little bubbles had become trapped between the retina and the back wall of my left eyeball.
Chaudhary moved both my eye and head around in an abundance of positions and managed to dislodge a couple of the small bubbles trapped behind the retina.
He then examined and did a small laser opertion on my right eye. He had detected a small tear in its retina.
Due to summer shut downs, the eye clinic is now closed for two weeks, however, due to the seriousness of my redetachment, I will be scheduled for an operation this week using staff on call for such situations.
Chaudhary had me scheduled for another pre-op examination tomorrow morning ... Sunday ... making me wonder if ophthalmologists ever take days off! (Actally, he was in Italy when I had my original reattachment surgery with Dr. Martin.)
My reattachment surgery is tentatively scheduled for this Thursday at St. Joseph's at James and Charlton Streets in Downtown Hamilton.
Unfortunately, Chaudry explained that there is no guarantee that I will get my vision back but that is secondary to their main goal of restoring the retina to where it belongs so that I do not get a series of major complications that can result if it is NOT in the proper place ... although most of those complications are in the 1% range.
I'm currently taking anti-inflammatory drops four times daily and dilating drops, because if the pupil is open it helps to push back the retina in the right direction. I have had to keep my head up and slightly to the left all day. Tonight I have to either lie on my stomach with my head down or sit up with my eyes down and forward for about 4 hours. Sleeping tonight I have to lie on my right side with my nose in the pillow to maintain the right position for the bubble still in there.
IF YOU ARE PRONE TO QUEASINESS STOP READING HERE.
On Thursday Dr. Chaudery will be performing a "Virectomy". Under local freezing they extract about 90% of the the vitreous gel, (which fills the eyeball), and replace it a C3 F8 gas bubble.
One benefit of having all the liquid removed ... most of the floaters are probably removed too!
Dr. Chaudhary was very candid with me, explaining that a retina which has detached several times can result in ambulatory vision, or less.
After introductions, Dr. Chaudhary spent a lot of time examining me, explaining that he could see the retina was torn in three places and had collapsed once again like wallpaper. He had one interesting reason why a retina may detach in the first place, and perhaps what has happened to me.
The eyeballs of short-sighted people, (those who need corrective lens to see distances ... like me), change shapes in a fashion that stretches the walls on which retinas are attached, causing tears to and detachments of the retina.
Chaudhary signified my personal case has become much more major, that my eye is doing what it is supposed to do when fighting off a foreign intrusion. The doctors do not want my body to be so aggressive in its fight to block the retina from reattaching itself to the back wall.
To complicate matters, the gas bubble injected in my first surgery had broken up and some little bubbles had become trapped between the retina and the back wall of my left eyeball.
Chaudhary moved both my eye and head around in an abundance of positions and managed to dislodge a couple of the small bubbles trapped behind the retina.
He then examined and did a small laser opertion on my right eye. He had detected a small tear in its retina.
Due to summer shut downs, the eye clinic is now closed for two weeks, however, due to the seriousness of my redetachment, I will be scheduled for an operation this week using staff on call for such situations.
Chaudhary had me scheduled for another pre-op examination tomorrow morning ... Sunday ... making me wonder if ophthalmologists ever take days off! (Actally, he was in Italy when I had my original reattachment surgery with Dr. Martin.)
My reattachment surgery is tentatively scheduled for this Thursday at St. Joseph's at James and Charlton Streets in Downtown Hamilton.
Unfortunately, Chaudry explained that there is no guarantee that I will get my vision back but that is secondary to their main goal of restoring the retina to where it belongs so that I do not get a series of major complications that can result if it is NOT in the proper place ... although most of those complications are in the 1% range.
I'm currently taking anti-inflammatory drops four times daily and dilating drops, because if the pupil is open it helps to push back the retina in the right direction. I have had to keep my head up and slightly to the left all day. Tonight I have to either lie on my stomach with my head down or sit up with my eyes down and forward for about 4 hours. Sleeping tonight I have to lie on my right side with my nose in the pillow to maintain the right position for the bubble still in there.
IF YOU ARE PRONE TO QUEASINESS STOP READING HERE.
On Thursday Dr. Chaudery will be performing a "Virectomy". Under local freezing they extract about 90% of the the vitreous gel, (which fills the eyeball), and replace it a C3 F8 gas bubble.
One benefit of having all the liquid removed ... most of the floaters are probably removed too!
Dr. Chaudhary was very candid with me, explaining that a retina which has detached several times can result in ambulatory vision, or less.
