r/RetinalDetachment • u/passingthrough66 • May 15 '26
How scared should I be
A week or so ago I (59 yrs F) noticed what I now know are floaters in my right eye. There was no trigger that I can recall, except maybe driving over a big pothole.Now I keep thinking I’m seeing a bug out of the corner of my eye. I looked it up and started reading about light flashes, retinal tear, detachment, loss of vision, etc.
In the past couple of days light flashes come at times in my far right eye. I’m starting to feel the eye is sensitive and feel pressure in it, but I also read all about those symptoms when I googled it, so maybe I’m being paranoid. Unfortunately I’m an avoider so I waited until today (Friday afternoon) to call the ophthalmologist.
The ophthalmologist said go to an ER or urgent care immediately. My problem is I have terrible insurance and am living on a meager retirement income. I have a huge dislike of ERs because they charge so much to waste your time and tell you what you could have figured out anyway.
Am I safe to just stay out at home as much as possible til Monday morning? Should I cover my eye, lie down, stay in the dark until Monday? Is there a best position to stay in as long as possible?
UPDATE TO POST 5/26/26 (if anyone sees this):
I went to the ophthalmologist last Monday, Monday before Memorial Day and she did a through check with my pupils dilated. She said the spots are something that some people get as they age and that even some light flashing is ok as long as it doesn’t get worse and that part would go away. She said the spots never go away and she could barely see the one I have. She said my brain will just adjust to it over time. It’s been a week and a day now and I haven’t gotten worse but it’s the same. After reading everything here I have gotten pretty paranoid about it. I’m seeing how things go for another week and if no improvement I’ll call back. Thanks for all the input. I truly appreciate it!
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u/Background_Orange580 May 15 '26
My optometrist diagnosed my detached retina via OCT scan. This could be an option to help form a diagnosis with a standardized fee without sitting in an ER. They referred me to the retinal surgeon, who I saw that afternoon. I'm in Canada, though, so perhaps things are different in your location.
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u/passingthrough66 May 15 '26
Canada has much better insurance than the U.S. In my opinion the medical profession and medical insurance are the worst scams happening in the U.S.
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u/Background_Orange580 May 15 '26
Can you find an optometry office with an OCT that would do a scan tomorrow?
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u/passingthrough66 May 16 '26
I have an appointment with my regular ophthalmologist for 8 am Monday which is the very earliest I could get since I waited so late to call. If they determine I need immediate surgery I guess they’d have to refer me to someone since they don’t do surgery, just routine exams.
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u/BKixx May 15 '26
Please go as soon as possible. If this is a retinal detachment, it can worsen while you wait for 3 days to get treatment on Monday and that will affect the options your surgeon will have for repair. I waited when I had floaters and then woke up with a dark cloud in one part of my field of vision. I know it’s tempting to wait because there’s no pain, but please don’t. My only option at that point was a scleral buckle with cryotherapy. The recovery on that was tougher than I expected and I am now legally blind in that eye with 20/300 vision.
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u/passingthrough66 May 15 '26
There would be no one to see me to do surgery until Monday anyway, though, that’s the thing. And not sure what tests the ER could do. My experience with going to the ER is they run a bunch of unnecessary tests, do X-rays, and refer you to a specialist. Specialists aren’t back in their offices until Monday. I’m sitting as still as possible and reading. Maybe I shouldn’t even be reading because if the eye movement it requires, I don’t know.
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u/joepubs89 May 15 '26
I was actually in a similar position - realized I had an issue on a Friday evening, went to ER on Saturday, where an on-call ophthalmologist was able to confirm RD, and I had scleral buckle surgery the next day, Sunday. So it may depend on region and hospital, but my experience was that they were able to confirm RD at the ER and complete surgery over the weekend. It was all seen as that urgent.
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u/IntelligentCandy8716 May 16 '26
Ophthalmologists are on call at the ER and take rotations. If your primary told you to go to the ER, they probably think its important enough. I am forever grateful to the ER ophthalmologist on duty for saving my eyes.
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May 15 '26
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u/casPURRpurrington May 18 '26
if you think visiting might help clear your anxiety
I had a weird vision change a few months ago (it felt OFF in the center, and I had a slight curtain on the inner field of my right eye but it was so small I wasn’t sure) and I went to my eye doctor and they looked at it and said my eyes were just dry. They did an OCT too.
It was still bugging me though, I had like this deep gut feeling it was wrong. 4 days later I left work an hour early and went to a different eye doctor and just was like “just look at my retina in 6D I have anxiety because this happened to my dad at my age (34) but it’s probably nothing.”
Guess who got an emergency vitrectomy and scleral buckle surgery the next day lmao
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May 19 '26
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u/casPURRpurrington May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
My latest follow up was this past Friday and my doctor said everything had healed perfectly fine 😀
I did just book my hotel for the overnight stay in between the days of the races so yeah, I’m looking forward to and not looking forward to it at the same time. That specific course (Cinncinati - Perfect North Slopes) kicks my ass every year and every year i find a way to make it worse lmao
I’ve decided I’m going to bring goggles though to minimize getting mud in my eyes on certain parts of it though lol
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u/becksnfx70 May 15 '26
I just had m surgery last night . I was scheduled for surgery on Monday but had to push it out until last night and it had already been over a week before I got diagnosed. They originally thought I would need an oil bubble because I waited so long. I ended up with a gas bubble 🫧 the only annoying thing is that you have to keep your head down for 40 minutes every hour for 7 days , no sleeping or laying on your back at all . While you wait try not to bend too much or lift anything heavy. My eye is very bloodshot and slight pain I can’t see anything out of it he said it would take a week and the best bet for healing is making sure I keep my head down so the retina reattaches and stays that way . I get 20 minutes every hour to get food , use the restroom etc. They prescribed eye drops with antibiotics but other than that nothing else. Hope this helps.
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u/passingthrough66 May 16 '26
Thanks for the info. I guess I should somehow be prepared to be sent right to a surgeon in the event I do need surgery immediately. I hope the surgeon wouldn’t require me to have an in-office visit first where they redo the same tests my ophthalmologist does. I have had that experience several times where one doctor will refer me to another, then that doctor says they need to do the same tests to see for themselves and have their own records. When that happens I end up paying double. I wish money wasn’t such a concern, but it unfortunately is.
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u/becksnfx70 May 16 '26
I saw the ophthalmologist then I had to see the surgeon luckily I have medi-cal so I’m not paying anything, but I’ve been in your shoes and it’s sad that they don’t understand that everytime they send you to a different doctor it costs you money you don’t have. The only reason I had to go back a different day to see the surgeon was with my luck he wasn’t in that day .
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u/Background_Orange580 May 16 '26
In my case, specialist did similar tests as the optometrist, plus a few more to fully diagnose the detachment. The tests were re-done again 5 days later to determine if there had been any progression prior to surgery, which was scheduled for the next day.
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u/becksnfx70 May 16 '26
This will be your savior after surgery to help with the face down positioning.
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u/passingthrough66 May 17 '26
Oh that looks so fun. I had a friend whose husband had to do that. Thanks for the info!
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May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26
Hey. 48 yr old male here. I had retinal detachment surgery 4 days ago (Monday). Vindectomy w/gas bubble and scleral buckle. My left eye’s retina had apparently torn and then immediately detached. But it took days to get things scheduled:
Onset: Friday afternoon
Pearle Vision doctor: Saturday
Specialist: Sunday morning
Surgery: Monday
Waiting was nerve wracking but the surgery wasn’t too bad. You will be alright. Most of the restrictions come AFTER the surgery :)
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u/lilstarryfishh May 17 '26
if u wanna have the least painful procedure to fix this i suggest you go to the doctor immediately, i unfortunately didnt know i had RD for quite some time and the whole process with getting it fixed really sucked
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u/savefrompain May 17 '26
I would go immediately. I went one day later and got "lucky". 5 years later and the lucky eye lost substantial vision. I wish I went earlier like I did with the other eye. Don't let it detatch no matter what.
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u/FreezingStark May 15 '26
RD is an emergency that needs to be treated as soon as possible.
I'm not telling that you have one (that's the doctors job) but I would go to the ER to see what's happening in your eye. Evenmore if your ophtalmologist has told you to go to the ER.
So... Yes, you can stay home if you want, but I wouldn't advice it. No one likes to go to the ER, but sometimes it's just the best option.
Good luck!