#vitrectomy

Quick Health Updates:

Regarding my ankle, I am up and walking full weight bearing without any support such as a cane or crutches🎉🎉🎉 My evaluation appointment for physical therapy is scheduled for May 20👍

Today's Walking Photos: To avoid burying the lede, I’ll start off by saying Happy Birthday To Me. But there’s more to the story, so do read on if you dare.

Aaaarrrrggghhh, unbelievable – my last post here was on February 12th. See, remember the snow and ice in my last post? Well, so that got worse, we got more snow and ice and wind, and a few days later our power went out. For three days. And then there was the downtown company that we’re working on emptying out, and things got really busy there and I never seemed to have time for a walk. And then March arrived and I thought okay, weather’s calmed down and work has calmed down and hmmm I just might have spare time again to squeeze in some walking and then NOPE SORRY BUDDY IT’S DETACHED RETINA TIME AGAIN.

Yeah, in the same dang eye where I had cataract surgery in August and then a detached retina in September, I now suddenly had a fresh and new detachment in a different spot, and it was severe enough this time that it couldn’t be repaired with an in-office procedure like the one in September. This called for a full-on surgery in the hospital, called a vitrectomy. Inexplicably avid readers of this blog may recall the gas bubbles that were placed in my eye during the September procedure – well, for a vitrectomy the eyeball is actually nearly filled up with a single gas bubble which serves the very important purpose of placing necessary pressure on the surgical repair site, but which in the meantime completely occludes the vision in the eye until it is gradually absorbed into the body. Did I mention that the bottom edge of the bubble – which appears at the top of one’s visual field because everything is reversed in our vision – undulates like the surface of a dirty fishbowl as one walks or moves one’s head? Or that when one is at rest, the bubble pulsates with one’s heartbeat? Well, consider it mentioned.

So yeah, I haven’t felt terribly inclined to walk. BUT. It is long-standing tradition here at Pat’s Walking Photos that my birthday is the one day each year when I post a photo of myself. As a result I realized this morning that today was the day when I needed to resume walking. Your reward (?) is the top photo in which you can see the rakish eyepatch I’m wearing much of the time in order to decrease the disorienting and fatiguing visual information that my addled, gas-inflated, post-surgical eye is constantly sending to my brain. It doesn’t completely eliminate this extraneous information, but it does help. 

I included the second photo because a) I’ve been away so long that you clearly deserve a bonus photo; and b) it would have made a perfect Birthday Throne for my self-portrait, but it was too squarely situated in someone’s front yard for me to make such an audacious move. But it’s fun to admire, right?

Eyeball update, after the surgery on 28 June.

It's looking even less disturbing now! Obviously still some redness, but nothing near "fucked-up SFX sclera lens" level gnarly anymore. Still feeling a little irritated, but not too bad now. I'm near the end of the prescribed course of steroid drops, but may also try some OTC "artificial tears" type lubricating ones. Apparently it's not at all unusual to need them for a while after a lens replacement, and that may help explain the irritation now.

The last initially unplanned followup late last week was just for a quick pressure check, which could thankfully be done at the clinic here in Malmö where I've been going for the laser zap-zap. We didn't need to go back to the surgical clinic in Lund for that--though, I don't guess I blame them for not wanting to just send patients home with one of their little handheld pressure gauges and instructions to update them on the numbers. 😅 As much as I would have preferred that option.

The pressure was still holding at just about the same as the good eye! So, I don't need to go back (to Lund again this time!) until the already scheduled roughly one month followup the first week of August. Then, assuming things are still looking OK? I should finally be done with the eye surgery clinic! 🥳

As a bonus, the eye surgeon on the last trip there also commented on what a good job they'd apparently done on my retinas. So, yay?

Best of all, though? I am actually seeing pretty damned well again! Except for a little bit of hopefully temporary distortion and a few annoying black dot floaters that my brain keeps telling me are gnats way too close to my face. The bit of wavy weirdness is likely down to some lingering inflammation, from what I have read. It would be totally liveable if it stuck around.

The weird and fairly sickening dark gas bubble "my head is now a spirit level" effect finally totally went away a few days ago. I have been sort of hoping that the little round gnat dots are just detached smaller bubbles, but if so they've been stubborn ones. No further apparent change there. But, again, totally liveable worst case.

(Also? The constant freaking migraine is no longer constant! *fingers crossed*)

And, of course my existing glasses prescription is totally wack for that eye now. It's honestly freaky as hell, in a way. Brand spanking new aftermarket lens inside, suddenly less nearsightedness than it's probably been since I first got glasses as a kid. That eye is now slightly farsighted, if anything. Hard to tell yet about the astigmatism.

There is no good distance to look at anything clearly with both eyes at the same time--with or without the glasses on--so, I've basically just been choosing one permutation there depending on what I do need to focus on. Hoping they will decide ASAP that things have settled down enough for a new prescription to stay stable for a while!

(I would be absolutely fine to drive with working glasses right now, btw. That was honestly one of my biggest hopes out of this mess.)

Eye update: it is looking slightly less disturbing now, at least.

(Not thrilled about the state of my eyebrows, zooming in. 😬 But, that has kinda been low on the priority list lately.)

Still feeling pretty damned irritated about a week out, probably not helped by some of the battery acid-feeling drops they're still insisting that I use. Not sure the topical steroids can even keep up with that, tbh. I have started having to just leave one type in to start working for like 15 minutes, then gently rinse the eye because it honestly feels like shampoo in there. No blistering so far, at least. *fingers crossed*

No wonder it's been feeling worse toward the inside corner all along, though, looking at the thing. That's also still looking pretty swollen compared to the "good" eye.

It has definitely gradually been getting more vision back, which is still distorted as hell and honestly pretty sickening beyond the migraines. Besides just finding myself going around with it squinched shut a lot, this has been my favorite accessory lately when I'm even wearing the glasses. I have a pirate patch that elastic bands on my head too, but sensory issues limit using that.

Oh yes, I never got around to saying anything about the followup on the little post-surgical high eye pressure panic.

When I went back the next day for that second urgent check, it had indeed gone down to the point that the guy didn't want me back until the already scheduled followup appointment next week. So, yay?

(That different surgeon was particularly shit at communicating, and didn't actually tell me what the pressure was--just that it was acceptable. I just really wanted out of there by that point, so didn't even press.)

OTOH, I am supposed to continue using all 4 drops until then. 😑 Including the two types of glaucoma stuff, and the dilating shit that's helping fuel the freaking migraines. There were evidently NOT supposed to be antibiotic drops after all, but thankfully no obvious signs of infection so far? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Advance Vitrectomy Procedure