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Wondering if anyone has had an FOV, Floaters Only Vitrectomy
I am wondering if anyone has had an FOV, Floaters Only Vitrectomy, and would be willing to share their experiences. For at least two years I was plagued with the constant irritating presence of gauzy, wispy, moving clumps that would obscure my vision and make reading and driving a tiring challenge. Prior to this I had had cataract surgery and a lens exchange surgery. Many, many follow up appointments and a second opinion did not pinpoint a reason for my continuing complaints. Although I did not complain of dry eyes, I was led to believe that was my issue and was treated with Xiidra and then Restasis and then even both at the same time, with no improvement in my symptoms. Finally a follow up appointment with a new ophthalmologist in the practice and my description of what I was seeing led to a diagnosis of a degenerating vitreous and a referral to a vitreal surgeon. Last week I had a vitrectomy to remove the vitreous. Despite the after effects of the surgery, the next day when the eye patch and bandages came off, I could immediately tell that my vision in that eye had cleared. It has been such a relief! I am hoping my recovery is uneventful and am now anticipating following up with the surgeon to schedule the procedure on my other eye. Has anyone experienced a situation similar to mine? Why would my problem not be recognized and diagnosed sooner? I have wondered if I simply was not able to describe my symptoms well enough or if ophthalmologists tend not to recognize or acknowledge how debilitating the condition can be. I understand that over time and with age the vitreous does degenerate for all people. Do only a few people experience what I did during that process or are there many people experiencing it’s deleterious effects on their vision and are just living with it, or as in my case, are not able to get a diagnosis from their eye care providers? I should add that I am in my early 70s and was extremely nearsighted my entire life. Anyone out there experience what I did?
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I am currently 29 years old.
Agreed, 2nd opinion. Removing my floaters gave me a new lease on life. I was irritated everyday b/c I couldn't see well and its frustrating. Please see another specialist that works with replacing the fluid in your eyes. Relatively easy recovery and I am seeing very well.
Thank you all for the replies...
I booked a second opinion with a retina specialist in Chicago for the end of this month.
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2 Reactions@lacy2 One eye at a time.....protects the other eye from something going wrong—infection, unanticipated reaction to surgery or medical error.
@markymark215 A couple of things that happened in my case that I need to keep track of like diabetes (not yet but runs in my family), eye pressure (high blood pressure), dry eyes. Sometimes I also get a thicker film along with floaters which makes it more difficult to see. Seeing retina specialist regularly. Good luck.
@markymark215 I don’t have any experience with these problems at an early age. As I mentioned I was already 70 when this really hit. Are you by any chance very near sighted? I understand that can exacerbate this condition. A wait and see approach certainly can’t hurt... I think if you had a surgeon who told you that when you and s/he decide the time is right you can have surgery, you would feel a lot better about the situation and would be more comfortable giving yourself time to see if there is any improvement in the meantime.
Lacy, With some of the talk on floaters, it made me think of other things I’ve learned through reading online and through comments my vitreoretinal surgeon has made along the way. And..things I was never told.
- When I contemplated traditional cataract surgery on my left eye (our insurance doesn’t cover laser surgery), my surgeon told me I’d be “very happy” with the outcome. He did not mention that there were ANY risks involved. Since I had considerable floaters in that eye already, I made the request of him that he “please not cause me any more floaters” during the cataract surgery. He said he could not guarantee that. After surgery, within a couple days, the eye showed a new retinal tear that had to be repaired AND I now showed considerably more floaters (the veil, I’ve mentioned many times in posts). SO, these cataract surgery residual problems (maybe, surgeon errors) led me to need cryosurgery to heal the torn retina and the FOV for debilitating floaters.. In the time in between my cataract surgery debacle and FOV, I read “risks of cataract surgery” online and found “retinal tears” and “development of more floaters” as some of the most common adverse effects of the surgery. Additionally, I have the peripheral light streaks.
So, cataract surgery caused me: 1. A retinal tear - that needed immediate surgery 2. New floaters veil - for which I got the FOV and 3. Peripheral light streaks (called positive dysphotopsia) - that I live with
Conclusion: I went in to the cataract surgery thinking “you’ll be very happy with the results.” They told me surgeries are like “100 percent effective”.... I should have studied more. Even when you’re having a surgery that so many people get now, it is NEVER risk-free. They are not likely to tell you. I thought I had the best ophthalmology group, at least nearby me. I should have studied more online and looked into other surgeons.
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1 ReactionWell said, Lacy! I did speak up in my case but the doctors covered for each other. I, also, went to another retinal specialist for a 2nd opinion and he arrogantly said, “how can I comment on the other doctor’s surgery when I wasn’t there!” I think doctors typically do this and protect each other.
Nonetheless, my retelling my story and complaining about doctors and surgical results is just a cautionary tale for the group. No matter how simple or low risk you believe a procedure to be, don’t go forward till you educate yourself as well as possible on the risks. Also, as hard as it can be, hunt down the best doctors and surgeons you can. Even with all my recent problems with this left eye, I DO THINK that the vitreoretinal surgeon did a good job with my FOV and I’m hopeful that the vision will be, at least, pretty good for a few years anyway!
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1 ReactionHi, In searching for information online prior to my FOV, I found considerable information under Dr Jerry Sebag and Dr Randall Wong. At an ophthalmology conference on youtube, Dr. Sebag discusses the idea of debilitating floaters and has a diagnostic process to determine when floaters are bad enough to consider a FOV. Dr. Randall Wong also provides webinars, discussion groups and interviews online. Maybe, you’ve seen these but I didn’t want to assume anything! If you have other references or discussion groups that you’ve found, please, post them. Of course, if anybody in group has good references to material, please post! Thanks
Just an update everyone — still suffering from these eye floaters. Taking about a 2 hour drive up to the Chicagoland area for an appointment with a prominent retinal doctor — Dr. John Pollack with Illinois retinal associates. He performs floater only vitrectomys and from my research is highly regarded!