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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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Dear Susan, I had inquired with Dr. Sebag about my FOV risk assessment in light of the fact I’ve had the retinal surgeries and cataract surgery. His response was positive and encouraging! I am going forward to optometrist and retinal surgeon appointments to find out all I can think of. I’ll keep you updated. Thanks so much!
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1 ReactionAm still dealing with problematic eye floaters and cloudiness that it feels like I can only see from one eye. At times I don't feel safe driving. A couple of weeks ago I insisted on getting an appointment with retinal specialist who said he did not detect retinal detachment but see him again in 2 months. Very frustrating and costly.
Hi, how about seeing another doctor? Note be careful about telling ANY Dr you're worried about driving. Drs can be power mad and often will tell the DMV. Your driver license will be revoked immediately.
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1 ReactionI am so sorry you did not get help. How you describe your issues is exactly what I experienced. Did you discuss the effects of vitreous degeneration on your vision with the specialist? I was grateful that the person I saw understood my problem and knew he could help even though he couldn’t see what I was seeing. Don’t give up.
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1 Reaction@lucky1038 I've seen 3 doctors now along with retinal specialist. I appreciate your response and information.
I recently saw my regular ophthalmologist for a yearly check up. I thanked her over and over for referring me to the retinal surgeon. She was interested and pleased with the outcome of my vitrectomy. She even asked me what kinds of questions she might ask a patient that would help her understand that a deteriorating vitreous might be the cause of the visual complaints. I describe my symptoms as increasing over time, first one eye and then both, visual effects similar to looking at pond water through a microscope, multiple one celled creatures, some in clumps, constantly moving, and yes, sometimes scarily obscuring vision. Or another way of describing—wispy , gauzy bits of moving clouds, between me and what I’m trying to see. Good Luck
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1 Reaction@susan2018 your description is quite good. Mine is like a brown thread in the middle of my eye but constantly moving along with business. I like the pond water description.
Hi, I am scheduled for a Floaters Only Vitrectomy (FOV) and a concurrent Capsulotomy for Posterior Capsular Opacity (PCO) on my left eye on December 3rd. As I understand it, PCOs are very common in post cataract patients and capsulotomy is a simple YAG laser procedure. I was encouraged to go forward with the FOV by Dr. Sebag, on-line articles and my ophthalmologist/vitreo-retinal specialist. The surgery has been described as 99 percent effective and this runs similar to cataract surgery success profile. Also, the fact that I will have capsulotomy FIRST should afford me excellent chance of -0- floaters after the FOV.
Of course, I am very thankful to you for starting and expanding this discussion group. Your reports have been very helpful in my decision. I am very hopeful of a positive surgery result and I will be in touch. Happy Thanksgiving
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1 Reaction@bobbyo, Best Wishes to you!
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1 ReactionHi Susan,
I had my FOV on my left eye 2 weeks ago. As I told you, I was entering that surgery with a PCO (posterior capsular opacity, aka “secondary cataract”), which my retina surgeon said he would take care of during the FOV. So, the procedure was done with a local anesthetic and took him about 10 minutes. They placed a patch on my eye the day of surgery and removed it the next day in his office. At that point, I was, largely, pleased with the result. I was was seeing about 20-20 but told him there were some (maybe, 5-15) “spec-sized” floaters that were obvious to me. His response to my concern was that these would go away in a couple weeks.
I had my followup 2-week appointment yesterday and the doctor was very pleased that he saw no floaters in his exam and my retina was “flat” which is good. He saw no evidence of any eye conditions/diseases. However, I said that the “specs” remain and that is a bit concerning since the expectation he set was that there would be -0- floaters. We talked and he agreed that these specs will be eliminated by their passing through the trabecular meshwork and out of the eye. Additionally, the fact that the new saline fluid infused into the vitreous cavity during surgery is more liquefied than my original vitreous fluid, allows ANY floaters/debris to move more easily OR settle to bottom of the eye. This was VERY encouraging to me going forward. With that, my hope is that I will be floater-free in that eye in the coming weeks or months! I’ll update you and everyone on my progress!