Where I've Been...
I detached a retina in my right eye about three weeks ago.
It was really, really awful.
It just happens to some people after 40… plus I’ve had some trauma in the past.
It started with a torn retina about two months ago, which required laser surgery. That didn’t work. One day a shadow started to fall across my vision. The surgeons performed much more extensive surgery that night.
Here are some fun links that describe it (not for the squeamish):
www.stlukeseye.com/Surgical/Vitrectomy.asp
www.webmd.com/eye-health/scleral-buckling-surgery-for-ret...
www.umdnj.edu/eyeweb/faqs/cryo.html
Aside from the extreme stress of possibly losing my eyesight, the worst part of all this was that I had to lay face down in bed for two weeks so that a gas bubble they placed in my eye could hold the retina in place. That sort of positioning and immobility is NOT good for a healthy back…
Anyway, the good news is that everything is now going exactly right. My eyesight is getting better every day, and the eye is healing nicely. I’ll need a new glasses prescription when all is settled (about 5 more months), and with glasses I should be 20/20.
I have to really credit a great surgeon, plus Mrs. Andertho (for putting up with a grumpy me) and most of all… prayer. It was a very sobering experience, and I think in many ways I’ve grown through it. I’m glad it’s all getting better now though.
This picture is from the day I returned home from the hospital (plus a little Photoshop to give it the requisite sense of unreality that I felt – it was really all red like that IRL though).
I’m not sure I’ll be churning out too many new pics for a little while though…
Where I've Been...
I detached a retina in my right eye about three weeks ago.
It was really, really awful.
It just happens to some people after 40… plus I’ve had some trauma in the past.
It started with a torn retina about two months ago, which required laser surgery. That didn’t work. One day a shadow started to fall across my vision. The surgeons performed much more extensive surgery that night.
Here are some fun links that describe it (not for the squeamish):
www.stlukeseye.com/Surgical/Vitrectomy.asp
www.webmd.com/eye-health/scleral-buckling-surgery-for-ret...
www.umdnj.edu/eyeweb/faqs/cryo.html
Aside from the extreme stress of possibly losing my eyesight, the worst part of all this was that I had to lay face down in bed for two weeks so that a gas bubble they placed in my eye could hold the retina in place. That sort of positioning and immobility is NOT good for a healthy back…
Anyway, the good news is that everything is now going exactly right. My eyesight is getting better every day, and the eye is healing nicely. I’ll need a new glasses prescription when all is settled (about 5 more months), and with glasses I should be 20/20.
I have to really credit a great surgeon, plus Mrs. Andertho (for putting up with a grumpy me) and most of all… prayer. It was a very sobering experience, and I think in many ways I’ve grown through it. I’m glad it’s all getting better now though.
This picture is from the day I returned home from the hospital (plus a little Photoshop to give it the requisite sense of unreality that I felt – it was really all red like that IRL though).
I’m not sure I’ll be churning out too many new pics for a little while though…