What was your experience with vitrectomy eye surgery?

Posted by slowmoe @slowmoe, Jan 30 11:32am

Scans revealed I have a retina hole (maybe he said a macular hole) and the doc says I must get a vitrectomy to preserve my future eyesight. I've got a swirly spot in the center of my vision in one eye. I'm pretty scared about getting my eye cut. Would love to hear your experience and tips if you have had this surgery.

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@slowmoe
Welcome to mayo Connect, I have no personal experience, but some other members of group have discussed.

Here is search of discussions on topic:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/?search=vitrectomy+eye+surgery
Is your surgery scheduled?

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@roch

@slowmoe
Welcome to mayo Connect, I have no personal experience, but some other members of group have discussed.

Here is search of discussions on topic:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/?search=vitrectomy+eye+surgery
Is your surgery scheduled?

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Hi Laurie, yes my surgery is in a couple of weeks -Mike

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I had a vitrectomy on Nov 11th and as of right now being 12 weeks after, i still have blurred/double vision in that eye. Was told it could take 6 months to a year for full vision to come back. I had the long lasting gas bubble in my eye from Nov 11th till Jan 9th. Had to be face down to the first 3 weeks and can get up for 10 minutes every hour. Sleep face down till Jan 7th. I got back to the doctor March 7th so if i remember i will check back in to see how you are doing and to update my progress. Hope it all goes really good for you.

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I did not have your condition, but I did need/get a vitrectomy in 2018 because I had a torn retina that filled the vitreous humor with so much blood that I couldn’t see through and the ophthalmologists couldn’t see to stitch it with a laser.

My post-op experience was great. I followed the protocol as outlined above by chippy98. I did not have double vision, and only briefly blurred vision.

My wife and I had some international travel scheduled and I was told I would be OK to fly if the gas bubble were less than 1% of the eye volume. I was able to measure the projection of the bubble in my two-dimensional field of vision, and with a little spherical geometry and Excel, was able to calculate when the bubble was below 1%. My ophthalmologist accepted my analysis, and I flew and was out of the country for two months with no problem. (This was less than six months post-op.)

I was warned at the time of the operation that I would develop cataract in the subject eye within six months. In fact the cataract did not become noticeable until about a year later. The lens was replaced and the eye is fine today.

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Sorry chippy 98, your experience sounds brutal. Good luck in getting this resolved.
For others on this thread, I had a vitrectomy in 2019 and while I didn’t have the very positive experience of capezinfan, I was surprised by the double vision and spatial disorientation, which lasted for several weeks. But I don’t think I fully understood at the time what the surgery entailed. When I found out, it kind of made sense.

I hope you begin to heal soon, chippy98. What a nightmare for you! Everyone on this thread can empathize because we’re all here about eye problems. Our vision is so precious!!

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