vitrectomy

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jj10125

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Hello everyone,

I have a vitrectomy tomorrow, done with local. When I first had laser surgery it really helped me in the build up to post here to get input from others on what to expect, what happens, personal experiences, etc just in a way reading online and videos didn't so ... yeah!

Any personal experiences and should I be as nervous as I am?

Thank you 🙂
 
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Hello @jj10125 I hope your vitrectomy goes well tomorrow, I have been through this so happy to answer any questions for you. In my experience the anxiety I had was actually much worse than the procedure itself. Depending on the complexity it could take anywhere from 30 to 90 mins (at least that was my experience).

In terms of your recovery I would advise you to have someone with you when they explain the eye drops that are needed to make sure you remember the instructions. I was back home about an hour after the procedure and had an appointment the next day to check on things and then 1 and 2 weeks after.

I had a gas bubble placed in the place of the vitreous jelly which took about 10 days (from memory) to go away, so keep in mind if you have gas put in that you can’t really see through it.

And take it easy during your recovery, Allow time to recover and keep blood glucose levels as good as you can.
 
100cas said:
Hello @jj10125 I hope your vitrectomy goes well tomorrow, I have been through this so happy to answer any questions for you. In my experience the anxiety I had was actually much worse than the procedure itself. Depending on the complexity it could take anywhere from 30 to 90 mins (at least that was my experience).

In terms of your recovery I would advise you to have someone with you when they explain the eye drops that are needed to make sure you remember the instructions. I was back home about an hour after the procedure and had an appointment the next day to check on things and then 1 and 2 weeks after.

I had a gas bubble placed in the place of the vitreous jelly which took about 10 days (from memory) to go away, so keep in mind if you have gas put in that you can’t really see through it.

And take it easy during your recovery, Allow time to recover and keep blood glucose levels as good as you can.
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Thank you 100cas 🙂

I'm having it under local, I think I'm more nervous about that than anything else. I had an extreme phobia of needles for years due to some abuse I experienced with sharp objects, which is why I'm so advanced in the condition. I've come a long way, and can now easily sit through bloods for example - though I normally have an approach for this including numbing gel to help me ignore the process - I've been explained by the consultant 'needle' 'local' 'eye' and that's about it aha - mixing that old phobia with the unknown of how that works is really a bad mix for anxiety I guess.

If I can get past that, I'll probably be fine for anything else.

Thanks again for your reply!
 
jj10125 said:
Thank you 100cas 🙂

I'm having it under local, I think I'm more nervous about that than anything else. I had an extreme phobia of needles for years due to some abuse I experienced with sharp objects, which is why I'm so advanced in the condition. I've come a long way, and can now easily sit through bloods for example - though I normally have an approach for this including numbing gel to help me ignore the process - I've been explained by the consultant 'needle' 'local' 'eye' and that's about it aha - mixing that old phobia with the unknown of how that works is really a bad mix for anxiety I guess.

If I can get past that, I'll probably be fine for anything else.

Thanks again for your reply!
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I also had mine under local. The local is obviously the first part and is over with quite fast, from memory I didn’t actually see or look at the needle which helped me. I actually had a lovely nurse who held my hand throughout the whole thing (I think they felt a bit sorry for me).

It isn’t a pleasant experience but it honestly wasn’t as bad as I had built it up to be. It is really good that you have it booked in for tomorrow and I’m sure you will feel such a sense of relief once it is done. Please let us know how you get on
 
Hi @jj10125
I hope all goes well for you tomorrow.

I've had vitrectomies in both eyes under general anaesthetic - not both at same time. It is ok and not as bad as it feels in your head beforehand and is such a relief to see light again and get rid of the trapped blood & debris in the eyeball jelly. One of the main benefits is that should there be any further bleeds and I hope there won't be- they wash away and disperse so much faster in liquid rather than getting trapped in the eyeball jelly. Having to watch and wait for weeks/months for the trapped blood to fade away from my eyes nearly drove me to distraction as there's nowhere else to look.

I also had gas bubbles to keep my retinas in place and had to position - lie face down through a special pillow for a certain number of hours per day. This was to try and keep my retina flat and attached- not everyone needs to do this after a vitrectomy.

My eyes felt gritty and sore for a few weeks but drops are prescribed to put into your eye post surgery. I was so relieved after the surgeries to see a bit more clearly and not be so fearful of bleeds happening again.

I'd advise to get some audiobooks/podcasts/music or something restful through headphones and take it very easy until things start to settle. Wishing you well.
 
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