I'm writing this blog to try to help fellow retinal disease patients who are undergoing retinal detachment and repair surgery to gain from my own experience some idea of what one patient experienced as his recovery progressed. I am not a medical professional and this blog is not intended to serve as medical advice or as a substitute for appropriate counsel from a doctor or other licensed professional. I am just one patient and my experiences may not be typical or representative of what other patients can expect. I advise you to consult a licensed and trained medical doctor for medical advice
Here's an update on my vision and my eye health one year after my latest blog post.
The news is good. My RD surgery eye, my right eye, has been stable since June of 2015, when I had the YAG laser procedure for the PCO membrane. My central vision in that eye is good, probably 20/20. My peripheral vision in that eye remains limited and so my field of view with that eye is mostly in the center 45 degrees or so of that eye's vision. That will be the final outcome of the treatment for my RD, and I can live with this outcome very well.
My vision in my left eye, the eye that had a vitreous detachment about a year ago, is also stable. I'm left with a large, grayish floater in that eye, but there has been no retinal damage. The floater is called a "Weiss Ring". It is part of what remains of the attachment of the vitreous gel to the retina after the vitreous pulls free of the retina. My retina specialist watched the condition of my left eye closely for several months after the vitreous detachment took place. He wanted to make sure that there was no further damage to the retina other than the small amount of bleeding that occurred at the time of the initial detachment. He said that the vitreous detachment is a process and he wanted to monitor the eye throughout that process. After a few weeks, he said that the process was complete and that the eye was now stable. I still need cataract surgery in my left eye, so my vision in that eye is slowly getting more blurred. The eye is now "ripe" for cataract surgery, as the doctors say. But I'm a bit cautious about it. Cataract surgery is associated with retinal damage, and with my history with my right eye, I have to make a decision whether to risk damage to my one remaining healthy retina in order to gain sharp vision in my left eye. It's a tough decision since, with the combined vision in my two eyes, I'm managing very well. I can read, I can drive, I can enjoy movies and performances and I can enjoy my family and my life. But if I were ever to lose the remaining sharp central vision in my right eye, my left eye would be too blurry by itself to allow me to function well with just that eye. If I have successful cataract surgery in the left eye, I would be able to function well with that eye alone. I'm going to wait a while to decide what to do.
So that's my update. I'm doing very well, and my combined vision is very good. I just turned 68 years old and I'm optimistic about my future health.
I probably won't be updating this blog unless further changes occur, though I will check back occasionally to answer questions that might come up. I'm very glad that I chose to write it. From the comments, apparently the blog has been helpful to some readers who have found themselves in similar circumstances and are wondering about their symptoms. That is the reason that I wanted to share my experiences, and I hope that the blog continues to be helpful to others.
