I hate to admit a lack of knowledge of
anything optical, but after years in the business this was
the first time I'd heard of this procedure, an unusual
surgery called a vitrectomy to repair a macular hole - and
it concerned my wife!
It all started a couple of weeks back
when Eddi complained of a sudden blurriness in her vision.
Our OD, Doctor John Dadah took a look at her on his day off
and said, "Get thee to a retinal specialist!" A
few days later we were at OCB visiting with Doctor Tina
Cleary.
After a thorough exam and imaging, the
hole was judged to be at stage two (operable with a good
chance of success). "We can schedule you
tomorrow!" Whoa!
With all that needed to be done – a
physical, work arrangements, and leasing special recovery
equipment (more on this later) we pushed the surgery up two
weeks.
The surgery went smoothly and the next
day we were home settling in for a one to three week
recovery period – in a face down position. During the
surgery a gas bubble is injected into the eye and acts as a
bandage for the repaired area, but you must remain in a face
down position 24/7!
To help accomplish this, several
companies rent special equipment to aid the patient. We
chose Oakworks Equipment as recommended by OCB. There is a
foam wedge with a head support, a special chair, a table and
travel support, and a double mirror so the patient can view
TV or the scene in front of them while looking straight
down.
After a week of drinking meals through
straws and suffering from neck and backaches, (I even had
sympathetic pains for her) we trekked back to OCB for a
follow-up.
Hooray! The hole was closed and no more
face down positioning was required. It felt like Christmas
– what good news! A further month or so of no heavy
lifting, no bending from the waist, a protective shield over
the eye at night, piece of cake!
Doctor Cleary looked as happy as my wife
at the outcome. What a piece of surgery - and what a lucky
thing that we were able to deal with it promptly, a long
delay in seeking treatment could have resulted in central
vision blindness.
Postscript:
After a week of soup and pureed food through a straw,
stopping at Frank's Steak House in Cambridge for a sirloin
on the way home from OCB was sheer heaven.
