Detachment after cataract surgery. Discouraged.
I guess I'm looking for some thoughts from those of you with experience in all this. I'm feeling very discouraged.
I had cataract surgery on my right eye on Monday 8/3. I had plans to fly out of state on 8/6 for a long weekend, and cleared that with the doc ahead of time. She had zero concerns. She mentioned retinal detachment as a risk, said it happens 2% of the time, and really didn't seem concerned. I wasn't familiar with it, so I didn't put much thought into it.
The cataract surgery was fine; I worked all day Wednesday with just some blurry vision, and flew out on Thursday. On Friday, I started noticing an increase in floaters. I thought it was odd, but I had no idea what that meant. I wasn't told to watch for that at all, so I thought it was a normal part of the recovery. By Saturday, they had gotten worse, but I still went about my day.
On Sunday I woke up with a dark half circle at the bottom of my vision and got concerned. Called the doc on call, and she was a little concerned too. Wanted me to come in Monday morning. But my flight home didn't land till 7PM Monday night, so she said come in first thing Tuesday.
I went in Tuesday, they confirmed it's a detachment. Luckily, there's a doc upstairs at the same facility who handles that sort of thing. By 2PM I was getting the procedure done. He gave me two options: the outpatient gas injection, faster recovery but only a 60% chance of success. Or a more invasive surgical option, which has more like a 90% chance but a two-month recovery period.
At his recommendation, I went with the lighter procedure. Got the gas injected. He said to keep upright at all times for the next week. Including while sleeping. So I haven't been horizontal in six days now. I bought a neck brace to help me stay in position, and I sleep on a recliner just barely reclined. I'm exhausted, frankly.
So it's now Sunday after the procedure last Tuesday. I still have a black "bubble" in the bottom of my vision, and blurred vision above it, with floaters. I have my follow-up visit tomorrow morning. He said if things are going well, they'll do a laser treatment. If not, we'll have to talk about a more invasive surgery, where I'm completely knocked out, and recovery is more like 2 months.
I feel like the doctor who did the cataract surgery could have been a little more forthcoming about the risks. At the very least, she should have told me what to watch for in terms of floaters, so I could have sought help sooner. After researching now, I know I had so many of the high-risk factors -- male over 50, long-term severe nearsightedness, had Lasik years ago.
But mostly I just feel discouraged. The lack of improvement, the lack of sleep, the uncertainty of what lies ahead, not knowing what the eventual results are going to be. It's a lot.
Should I be concerned that I'm not seeing any progress since Tuesday?
If you got this far, thanks for reading.