Vitreous Hemorrhage

[Kneale Brownson]

I have a couple friends with retinal detachments lasered back in place who have been skiing since the procedures with no reports of issues with their physicians. A lot of my friends are nearly as old as I. I'd rely on the doctor's advice, especially if he's/she's a active sports enthusiast. That latter is important.

 

[Dave Petersen]

I have a couple friends with retinal detachments lasered back in place who have been skiing since the procedures with no reports of issues with their physicians. A lot of my friends are nearly as old as I. I'd rely on the doctor's advice, especially if he's/she's a active sports enthusiast. That latter is important.

That’s good to know!

 

[Doug Briggs]

Well my 10 days of not moving my head are over and now I can sit up and do some things. Still have 3 to 7 weeks of recovery. They put a gas bubble in my eye to hold the repairs in place.

Glad it is spring and I have quite a few months to heal before ski season.

Kind of hesitant to mention skiing to my doctor, but how many of you have skied after a retinal detachment? I am determined to not let this change my way of living (long term).

A friend had a torn retina and had it repaired with lasers. She still mt. bikes and skis.

 

[Jenny]

I think @Christy has some experience with this and she still skis.

 

[neonorchid]

In my case I was seeing stringy wisk like things in one eye, next day woke up and could only see what looked like an old black and white TV's static snow. Eye doctor said vitreous haemorrhage and refferend me to a retina surgeon. I was given two options. Get put under, surgery, go in and clean out the blood and patch tears with the side effect of requiring cataract surgery a couple years after. The other optionn was a laser patch of the horseshoe retina tear which was visible along with a high probability of a second tear lower down obscured by the pool of blood (gravity), wouldn't know until blood reabsorbed, risking blindness. I took my chances. Sure enough after the bllod was reabsorbed and I thought I was out of the woods the follow up visit revealed a second tear which he said was slightly detached but had went into place with the laser patch. It did not require the procedure involving a gas bubble.
That was about 10 years ago. I go for yearly check-ups, no issues. It had happened at the start of the new year and I did ski that season and onward to the present.

 

[Tricia]

Well this has taken a turn for the worse. Had emergency surgery last week for a retinal detachment.

Been forced to lay on my side the past 5 days without moving. A few days to go. They put a gas bubble in my eye to hold repair in place.

Its crazy to think that this all started back in January and was seemingly healing, slowly, but still healing. 4 months later you're having emergency surgery.

Take the time to let it heal well.

 

[Dave Petersen]

Frightening when you think how fragile your eyes really are.

I have bad seasonal allergies and one of the doctor’s told me she thought I sneezed my retina loose (after the initial hemorrhage 4 months prior). Never thought I could go the past 10 days without sneezing but I am taking some heavy duty allergy meds. Probably for the rest of my life I am going to me nervous every time I sneeze.

Now I just have to wait out this gas bubble in my eye to slowly go down so I can see again — probably 1 or 2 months.

Also waiting for the medical bills to start arriving.

Before they put me under I bet I saw 4 or 5 people in the operating room. Thank goodness for insurance, but I think I am covered at 80 percent. I keep thinking of how many pair of Stocklis I could buy for that 20 percent.

 

[Tricia]

I can't imagine how you've been able to keep from sneezing or coughing.
Allergies are a PITA, and the eye/ear pressure from the allergies can be annoying at best.

 

[Christy]

she thought I sneezed my retina loose

Then again, my retina detached for no apparent reason (aside from being nearsighted and over 40, which are risk factors).

Glad you are up and about. I had to do the 20 minutes face down-20 minutes on side-20 minutes standing or sitting but eyes to the floor for 10 days. I've had major surgery and that was a cakewalk compared to retinal detachment. Trying to sleep face down=ugh. But. I'm really grateful that it worked the first time (even if it did form a cataract, which meant cataract surgery, then there was a follow up surgery to that).

Yes, skiing is no problem--outside in even lighting is when I see best. It's at night with streetlights or in uneven lighting (like the concourse at Safeco Field) where it's annoying. I don't process light changes in that eye well now. But it's better than the alternative.

Btw my current retina dr (you will have to go in annually for checkups) says they wouldn't have had me do the laying down regiment--they use some other type of gas bubble that disappears more slowly but allows the patient more mobility. So if the other one goes, I'll be doing that.

I don't remember how many pair of Stocklis mine cost. I think I purposely forgot the total.

 

[Dave Petersen]

Then again, my retina detached for no apparent reason (aside from being nearsighted and over 40, which are risk factors).

Glad you are up and about. I had to do the 20 minutes face down-20 minutes on side-20 minutes standing or sitting but eyes to the floor for 10 days. I've had major surgery and that was a cakewalk compared to retinal detachment. Trying to sleep face down=ugh. But. I'm really grateful that it worked the first time (even if it did form a cataract, which meant cataract surgery, then there was a follow up surgery to that).

Yes, skiing is no problem--outside in even lighting is when I see best. It's at night with streetlights or in uneven lighting (like the concourse at Safeco Field) where it's annoying. I don't process light changes in that eye well now. But it's better than the alternative.

Btw my current retina dr (you will have to go in annually for checkups) says they wouldn't have had me do the laying down regiment--they use some other type of gas bubble that disappears more slowly but allows the patient more mobility. So if the other one goes, I'll be doing that.

I don't remember how many pair of Stocklis mine cost. I think I purposely forgot the total.

Yeah, I have the gas bubble, but I still had to lay on my right side for 10 days & nights. Pretty uncomfortable as my hip would really start hurting -- I tried all sort of pillow combinations to take pressure off my hip. Also wedged myself in at night with a tv pillow and other pillows so I wouldn't roll over while sleeping.

Pretty strange now looking through a gas bubble -- I pretty much try to turn my head a bit so I read with my left eye. Not sure when I can drive again.

Glad I didn't have to sleep face down like you, but my tear was in a different location than yours.

 

[Dave Petersen]

I can't imagine how you've been able to keep from sneezing or coughing.
Allergies are a PITA, and the eye/ear pressure from the allergies can be annoying at best.

My poor Mom had heart surgery 10 years ago and caught the stomach flu from one of the nurses! Pretty painful.

 

[Christy]

Not sure when I can drive again.

It's not actually illegal to drive if you are blind in one eye. I had blurry vision in that eye for 8 months due to also getting a cataract (which wasn't recognized at first) and some red tape reasons that made it hard to schedule the cataract surgery. I live in a city so I usually don't need to drive, but I ended up driving a little, during the day, occasionally. FYI I'm not suggesting you do something you don't feel is safe or that your dr forbids, but you may not have to wait until your eye is perfect to drive. This experience made me realize there are probably a lot of people out there driving with compromised vision.

 

[Dave Petersen]

It's not actually illegal to drive if you are blind in one eye. I had blurry vision in that eye for 8 months due to also getting a cataract (which wasn't recognized at first) and some red tape reasons that made it hard to schedule the cataract surgery. I live in a city so I usually don't need to drive, but I ended up driving a little, during the day, occasionally. FYI I'm not suggesting you do something you don't feel is safe or that your dr forbids, but you may not have to wait until your eye is perfect to drive. This experience made me realize there are probably a lot of people out there driving with compromised vision.

It is just weird with this shrinking bubble bobbing around in my eye every time I move. My doctor told me not to drive until he clears me and the way things are right now I don't think I want to for a while.

It's kind of like I am looking at a translucent solar eclipse.

 

[cantunamunch]

It's not actually illegal to drive if you are blind in one eye.

But you completely have to retrain your neck to swivel into every blind spot you have, both mirrors and behind pillars, with the one good eye. It's way to easy to delude oneself that peripheral vision will suffice - it doesn't.

 

[Christy]

I love the phrase "retrain your neck." If you mean you need to look around more then yes you do. It sounds like a moot point for the OP but in general, the DMV is the arbiter of whether or not a person can drive safely with an eye condition. I'm not sure if they make your neck respond to commands when they test you.

 

[neonorchid]

It's not actually illegal to drive if you are blind in one eye.

But you completely have to retrain your neck to swivel into every blind spot you have, both mirrors and behind pillars, with the one good eye. It's way to easy to delude oneself that peripheral vision will suffice - it doesn't.

All of which is much less of a problem than the loss of Depth Perception from no longer having Binocular Vision.

 

[Dave Petersen]

All of which is much less of a problem than the loss of Depth Perception from no longer having Binocular Vision.

I was just pruning a couple dead petuna heads from a hanging basket and I kept missing them.

How did Carl do it?? Well I guess he didn't because he was bitten.

 

[cantunamunch]

I was just pruning a couple dead petuna heads from a hanging basket and I kept missing them.

Use a side light (NOT a headlamp, more like a neck light) that casts strong shadows for anything like that.

 

[Tim Hodgson]

Dave, be gentle with yourself. Let yourself heal. Then learn everything there is to know about your condition.

 

[Dave Petersen]

Five weeks after surgery for the tear in my retina.

I was trying to describe what it was like to my wife, so I just ended up creating it in Photoshop.

That gray circle is the gas bubble they put in the eye to hold the repairs in place while it heals. Right after surgery it nearly filled the eye. It shrinks slightly every day.

I've been cleared to do a few things like mowing my yard. Still can't fly or travel to a different altitude.

Left: Good Eye Right: Recovering eye 5 weeks after surgery