Detached Retina

I was diagnosed with a detached retina three weeks after an optometrist
said my eyes were fine. I had an operation in Feb 2006 (a buckle was
attached and a gas bubble was inserted). The surgery was not successful
and I have blurred vision. I have subsequently been told by a surgeon
at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute that because of the delay from the time
of the optometrist said I was fine and I had the operation there is
nothing that can be done to restore vision in my eye with the detached
retina.

There were eight tares in my eye and the doctors say my vision may
eventually be restored. Vision is blurred and it moves as if a lake is
in my eye.

If anyone out there has a similar situation and has any recommendations
please reply by email to .

 

Learn to see out of one eye? I didn't get my first detachment taken
care of promptly and that's where I'm at right now. Although my vision
in that eye tests out at 20/25 with the Snellen test, it isn't really
very usable.

Be sure you now know what to look for in regards to a detached retina.
You can't afford to lose the other eye.

At six months, you may still see some improvement in your vision. It
takes a long time to heal sometimes.

Note that your eye may have been fine when you saw the OD, and the
detachment occurred later. If the OD didn't do a dilated exam, it may
not have been possible to catch. A detachment usually starts on the
periphery, and ODs seldom check that vision unless there appears to be a
problem.

I had a detachment in the other eye, and you can bet that I was in the
ER real soon, and had surgery the same day.

 

Did you have symptoms of a retina detachment at the time of your OD
examination? If not, it is certainly completely possible that you were
indeed "fine" at that visit and the tear(s) occurred at a later time.
That is true. 6 months post-op is a good time to consult with a retina
specialist to see if your vision complaints can be addressed.

Excellent advice. See my additional comments below.

Just a note on this: If a patient comes in and presents with symptoms
of a possible retina detachment (flashes of light, recent onset of black
floaters, gray or distorted area in vision), they are *always* dilated
and the retina observed with appropriate instrumentation.

Even so, it may not be possible to be able to visualize the detachment
if it small and is located in an extremely remote location. Sometimes
it can spontaneously re- attach. It is also possible to have some of
those symptoms which go away; and then we observe a normal retina which
later on that day or days or weeks later does indeed detach.

With symptoms occurring and when in doubt, I would send that patient off
to a retina specialist right then and there, while still dilated if
possible.

In any event, don't loose hope and do seek another opinion from a retina
specialist. And as Dan wrote, make darn sure you know what the signs and
symptoms are and act quickly to get it fixed if there is "a next time."

LB, O.D.

 

I have never had a detached retina, but have posterior vitreous
detachment,
which carries a slight risk of that. I have had several follow-up
visits to my
initial visit for the PVD diagnosis and have read that more followups
than
an initial 2-3 week followup is advisable after the first sypmptoms of
sudden
floaters and flashers. In my case the floaters and flashers meant PVD.

It may be your eyes were fine and that in three weeks' time after that
your retina detached. From what I have read, you have 24-48 hours after
the
classic symptoms of detachment to get it reattached and those symptoms
of detachment are pretty clear, I think.

I have also read that the surgery to reattach is generally very
successful
and that sometimes it takes much for the vision to be completely
restored.
I am not an opthamologist, but I have been to many, some of the best in

their field, and have read a lot. Have you tried taking supplements
for your eye,
such as lutein?

 

You don't say why you went to the optometrist, but if it was for complaints
that might be related to a detached retina, you probably should be talking
to a lawyer.