This was Tuesday and by Thursday, during class I saw a strange kind of floater. Instead of being hairlike, these were just black spots and only a couple of them. In fact at first I thought they were flies and I actually swiped at the air around me. I immediately realized this was in my eye. I called the doctor's office and because I had already been in on Tuesday and because I was only seeing the black spots the we decided not to come in right away but evaluate it over the weekend. (Friday was a holiday) By Friday, I was seeing flashes and a curious black stripe across the lower left corner of my field of vision. It was like there was a piece of tape over the corner of my eye.
It took until Saturday night before I put it all together. And called the doctor's office to get an "on call" opthamologist (#7?) on the phone. #7 advised that she agreed it was a retinal detachment or tear. She didn't think it was critical that I get to an emergency room that night. However, she did think I should see a retinal specialist the next day (Sunday) She couldn't remember the phone number of the clinic. (????) This is a long side story but it turns out she was the only doctor the message service could get a hold of. The point is this led to opthamologist #8 who had the referral phone number and assured me this was the place to go. (We had been on the web looking for the phone number for retinal vitreous associates and it comes up in Google as "RV clinic". Recreational Vehicles???
I call opthamologist #8 (They're dropping like flies now), who is the "on call"
at the RV clinic. He agrees that I should come in Sunday morning. Little did I know, this was going to be the first day in a series of 8 out of the next 10 days, where I would be getting my eyes dilated and examined. He confirmed a significant, but serious tear in the upper right corner of my retina(remember, the visual system reverses everything)
He also described my 2 treatment options. I could do an immediate in office procedure which would probably have a 60% chance of success. Or I could go for surgery the next day which would have a 90% chance of success. The surgery would also destroy my LASIK correction and possibly my implant lens thus destroying all the work done since the beginning of this story. I opted for the in office procedure which would also preserve all this work. This involved two valiums and some topical and then injected anesthetic. Then using a cryoprobe(freezing) to "weld"(actually cauterize) the retina tear back together. Finally, the insertion of a gas bubble approximately 30% of my internal eye volume which would serve to hold my retina in place as long as my remained in a position such that the gas bubble floated to the back of my eyeball where my tear was. This position was laying on my left side in bed as much as possible or sitting up with my head down. I could go to the bathroom as necessary.
Retinal Detachment Part III
Moderator: Chip