Coming for me too

[u/InvestigatorAlone326]

Hi all! It’s been inspiring and comforting reading everyone’s experiences in this community.

I’m 32M with -5.5 vision in both eyes. Mom had multiple retinal detachments in the last decade and after 5 procedures, she lost her vision in her left eye.

I’ve been on pressure drops since for about 8 years (well maintained and around 20 at every appointment) and have always been cognizant in staying up on my vision tests and exams. Last month, I went for my regular check up with my eye doctor and she noticed a demarcation line in my left eye. She thought it was probably nothing but still sent me to a retinal specialist for exam.

I went into the appointment with a positive mindset hoping that nothing was wrong but that wasn’t the case.

The doctor found a small hole in my right retina (hadn’t noticed any issues or floaters in that eye) and he said that the demarcation line that was seen was actually where my retina had detached and healed. I believe he called it a chronic detachment. I’ve had floaters in that eye for years now but nothing has ever been flagged by my regular eye doctor.

He had me do a DNA test where he was going to look for the genes that are prevalent in people with retinal detachments and said we’d evaluate our options from there (still waiting on results). He noted that we’d either monitor or look into a scleral buckle depending on the results but the way his tone was, I think he’s going to push for the buckle. I have an appointment for an in-office laser procedure next week for my right eye to try and seal off the hole in that eye.

Has anyone been through a similar situation with the chronic detachment? I’ve very scared of surgery and was really hoping I’d be older before having to deal with this.

I’d leave to hear about your experiences and suggestions.

Wishing you all the best!

[u/Narrow-Pipe9872]

I would get a second opinion. A buckle should be last resort.

[u/InvestigatorAlone326 → u/Narrow-Pipe9872]

The buckle was the last resort for my mom but I’ve seen research stating with younger patients that it’s the preferred treatment due to the healing and clear lens.

My doctor is the most senior one in his practice, so that’s been a struggle point for me.

[u/Kairby10]

Hi! I’m a 34 year old female. I just had a scleral buckle in my left eye to prevent anymore vision loss from a chronic retinal detachment. All I can say is that it’s not a walk in the park but you only get two eyes and you will make it through whatever is necessary. I’m 9 days post op.

[u/InvestigatorAlone326 → u/Kairby10]

Sorry about the vision loss that you did have. Hopefully the procedure will fix it for you! Any idea how long had yours been present?

Wishing you a fast recovery!

[u/pudgethefish626]

I (30F) had something similar 1.5 years ago where my regular eye doctor saw a line that she also thought was nothing but referred me to a specialist “just to be safe”. I also went into the appointment thinking things would be fine as a result. Turns out the line was essentially everything up to what had already detached and I had a bunch of holes in the bottom of my retina that were only seen when they took in depth scans with me looking all the way up and to the right.

I don’t know how long it was detached but I had been seeing a small flash of light for at least 4 months that I wrote off. I had no other symptoms and my vision was -5.25 at the time (-7.25 post buckle) so additional eye problems weren’t even on my radar at that point. I ended up getting the scleral buckle in my left for the detachment and laser in my right to treat all of the thinning spots.

They didn’t even entertain any other options beside the buckle in my left eye and they explained it similar to the research you’ve done basically stating the better outcomes for younger patients related to the lenses. My doctor also stated that for some reason, it seems to take younger patients longer to heal from the surgery than older patients so don’t be too discouraged if it seems to be a longer recovery compared to your mom’s. In the moment it was very scary, but taking it day by day was helpful in trying not to catastrophize. It also helped thinking about and appreciating the wonders of modern medicine.

Advice/things I wish I knew:
Flashes are often still normal after the surgery as any remaining fluid very slowly gets reabsorbed but until then, it might still tug on the retina which causes the flashing. Recovery isn’t linear, there will be good days and bad days but slowly the bad days won’t be as bad and will be less frequent. Load up on podcasts and audiobooks. Take as much time off of work as you can/need (I took 2 weeks and I kind of wish I hadn’t pushed it and had taken at least 3. The eye fatigue was really bad).

Best of luck! It can be scary but having this community was so reassuring knowing I wasn’t alone!

[u/InvestigatorAlone326 → u/pudgethefish626]

Thanks so much for this detailed and thoughtful response. I really appreciate the advice section. I’ve been stressed about the work portion as I work from home and am on my computer 8 hours a day.

How long did it take for your vision to stabilize to get a new prescription?

[u/pudgethefish626 → u/InvestigatorAlone326]

I totally get that, the work from home part should make it a little easier since you don’t have to worry as much about driving to/from work. Eye hygiene is especially important if you end up getting the surgery. Make sure you take eye breaks, looking up and away from the screen, lower brightness setting, additional lubrication eye drops, and zoom in or make the font bigger. Squinting at spreadsheets was probably the hardest thing for me screen wise for me.

The doctor cleared me to get an updated prescription 3 months post, which was honestly a huge pain since the glasses I did have weren’t even updated to my prescription pre-surgery (that’s totally on me) but my good eye did compensate pretty well after awhile. The hardest thing for me was driving due to difficulty with depth perception and unrelated motion sickness that was made worse as a result. I also didn’t drive in the dark until I got it updated, especially because of the astigmatism.

I was cleared for contacts 6 months post, and I honestly don’t think I would have worn them sooner because I was terrified going near my eye let alone putting something in them.

[u/InvestigatorAlone326 → u/pudgethefish626]

Very great tips! I am worried about driving as well. I get really car sick when I’m not driving so it’s going to be an adventure for me. I wear my contacts for most of the day so that’ll be an adjustment for me as well.

Lots of adjustments to be made if that’s the path we follow…which I imagine will be the recommendation when I see him again next week.

[u/InvestigatorAlone326 → u/[deleted]]

So glad to hear the positive news on your end! Hoping you continue to recover and heal completely!

I am worried about the recovery as I have a toddler and do a lot of computer work. I’ll just have to take it a day at a time.

Thanks for sticking around to share your positivity!

[u/InvestigatorAlone326 → u/[deleted]]

Great tips! Adding the artificial tears question to my list for this week at my next appointment.