Re: Bad news from my ophthalmologist: Macular edema and retinopathy. .
- From: BessieBee <idontsmoke@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 13:53:55 GMT
On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 00:33:37 -0700, Chris J. <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 01:12:22 GMT, BessieBee <idontsmoke@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 13:31:43 -0700, Chris J. <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
He made an appointment for me to see a specialist in Phoenix in two
weeks, for further evaluation and possible laser surgery.
Chris, No advice from me on your numbers or control, but just a quick
note to let you know that I've had laser eye surgery (both eyes) for
edema and retinopathy. It wasn't a walk in the park,
Could I ask what it was like? Was hospitalization required?
I will not be having both eyes done at the same time (no matter what
the Doc says) so I won't be fully vision-impared and immobile
afterwards (good thing, as I'll probably be driving) but I would like
to know what to expect.
Your doc won't do both eyes at the same time. My procedures were one
week apart. The initial plan was to do 4 treatments, 2 on each eye,
but it was cut down to one per eye because I tolerated it so well.
No hospitalization required. It was done in my doctor's office. You
will need somone to drive you home. Your eyes will be dilated prior
to the surgery and (if like me) will be very sensitive to light for a
few hours afterwards. I felt like a celebrity walking around
afterwards with shades large enough to cover half my face. :-)
jFor the actual procedure you'll be seated in a chair with your head
completely braced to keep it from moving. Your eye will be held open
with some sort of doohickey (sorry for the technical talk) but I
didn't even realize the doctor had put that in because he'd also given
me stuff to numb the area.
You are told to look right at the bright light and the laser machine
makes a kind of clicking noise when it's working. The doctors does
one area then repositions the laser for the next one. The entire
procedure took about 20 minutes per eye. I was told at the very
beginning to let the doctor know when I'd had enough and he would stop
anytime I asked him to. I never asked him to stop because I wanted it
over and done with.
Both the doctor and nurse suggested that I pretreat myself with
aspirin or tylenol prior to the procedure. They also suggested that
if I wanted to take a tranquilizer before hand that would be OK. I
took only extra strength tylenol before.
There was no way I wanted to drive afterwards. I spent the ride home
pretty much with my eyes closed or looking down to prevent the very
uncomfortable glare of headlights. When I got home I went to a long
standing meeting and felt fine, though the vision in the treated eye
was a bit fuzzy still. Took a few days, at most for the fuzziness to
go away. It didn't prevent me from going about my usual routine,
including driving the next day.
but it wasn't
nearly as bad as my running wild imagination thought it would be. If
nothing else, it serves as a reminder of why I don't want to let it
happen again.
Positive thoughts are being sent your way from eastern Iowa.
Thanks very much.. What were your results? Did the surgery work for
you?
That was just over a year ago and I haven't been back. The only
followup was to have my vision checked in a year or so. I'm due for
that now.
I guess the procedures were successful. I wasn't experiencing any
symptoms, but the problem was caught when I went in for my long
overdue vision check. The laser surgery didn't require any change in
my lense prescription.
You'll do just fine. It's a PITA to have to deal with this stuff, but
there's nothing I wouldn't do to keep my eyesight.
Do you have a date set?
BessieBee
.
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