Hi Ferrington. Firstly...a big ((((hug)))) - I know from fairly recent experience how this feels! I'll give you my experience in a minute but firstly I'd just suggest that if you can get help with transport (or afford taxis etc) I would see your GP & demand a second opinion at another hospital. A second opinion is your right under the nhs & there should be no problem getting one, but you will speed the process if you can suggest who you want to be seen by to your gp. You also have the right under 'choose & book' as to where you are treated. I don't know whereabouts you are but I'm in the midlands, had a grim experience at one east midlands hospital & when they didn't seem to have a treatment plan but seemed to just laser without any further checks I paid for a private second opinion by a specialist who also works at the Birmingham Midland Eye Centre (nhs). Further to travel to & it cost ?175 but was so worth it! I could probably have been seen by him under the nhs but it would have taken a lot longer, either way you will need your GP to write you a referral letter. If you are in that area & want details let me know & I'll pm you.
I'm not sure where to start on the rest, but have they told you a)exactly what's wrong - ie is it solely retinopathy or is the blurr in the central vision maculopathy? They are different although both are treatable with laser...and b) what the op is? I;m assuming a vitrectomy... I'll tell you what's happened to me: Had diabetes nearly 30yrs, developed background retinopathy which was picked up on screening. Had a baby, within a year or so (accelerated by the pregnancy) it was proliferative retinopathy & like you I needed laser in both eyes. Had a second baby, which again worsened the retinopathy, needing more laser...and whilst one eye did seem to respond well to laser, the other kept on bleeding. the hospital I was at kept assuming what I was describing as bleeds was just 'old blood' and & despite noting a patch of scar tissue, and commenting on the lack of new vessel growth (ie retinopathy!!!) decided to just keep on lasering including a very heavy session in theatre...until I lost faith, got my GP to refer me for a 2nd opinion & got seen by a consultant who simply took the time to just have a really good look at my eye...spotted that a patch of post laser scarring had snagged a vessel & was straining & tearing it & that no amount of laser would ever have fixed that problem. I got my care transfered to the nhs hospital where he works & long story short had a vitrectomy under general anesthetic earlier this month - already my vision is improved & I am so glad I was seen & treated by this doc/hospital.
I'm not sure how much (doesn't sound like much!) the people 'caring' for you have explained, but I understand retinopathy is were extra, unnecessary blood vessels grow in the eye - they are weak, easily tear & bleed, which is a pain! Over time if untreated, this process of vessel growth, bleeding, scarring etc will cause blindness. As i understand it, the lasering is not so much to directly cauterize the vessels as to switch off the signal the body gets to grow them by kind of deliberately damaging the eye - hence if you do have massive amounts of laser peripheral vision will eventually be affected, but in most cases lasering early will protect most of your vision. 'Massive' really means massive here, laser sessions normally involve thousands of 'burns' so don't worry about the numbers too much I guess! 🙂 The vitrectomy itself can be either under a local (which a friend at work had) or a general. Personally when I had the theatre session of laser at the old hospital I was put off the idea of willingly having another local anesthetic in the eye, so I was quite glad to be knocked out.
One final note - I am totally horrified that they had you cleaning up somene's blood?! Can't imagine how someone would bleed on a normal slit lamp laser table unless they had caught themselves though - so a point to reassure you, the process of lasering should not make you bleed on the kit, but a point to raise with PALS, what the flipping heck are they doing asking patients to clean up other patients' body fluids?!!! 😱 Serious grounds for a formal complaint & transfer of care there alone I should think!
Re the light sensitivity / pain, I too react quite badly to lasering & find vdus / fluourescent lights etc v uncomfortable for some days after, the more laser you have, the more so I'm afraid. Over the counter pain relief will help a bit, plus avoiding those irritants if poss. Also your eyes will be struggling to focus through the blood, which will be tiring them too.
Please do get in touch with PALS, and get a second opinion - I google'd retinopathy / vitrectomy surgeons, then cross ref'd with nhs choices in a get-at-able area. Quite hard work at the time but necessary!!
All the very best, & I am so sorry you've been treated so badly.
(ps - laughing at your fears / questions is simply arrogant & outrageous - what an *******!!!!)
