Dead man walking - and he's staring at me from the BR mirror.

[JacksinPA]

Some years ago I was getting ready for a 14-hour flight to Tokyo on business. Sitting on the couch, the retina in my left eye detached. I could have called an eye doctor & get it fixed but the usual procedure involves holding the retina in place with a big gas bubble. The big drawback: you can't fly for a month or more until that gas has dissapated. So I flew to Japan with that condition, hoping for the best when I returned.

Three days into touring chemical plants in Honshu I was in my room in a traditional Japanese hotel & I went blind in that eye. The retina had finally retired. So I didn't mind my boss's invitation to join him in the hotel's warm spring - both nude.

The trip home involved an additional stay over in Chicago. Finally back in NJ, the sight (right eye only) I was greeted by a blizzard. The best eye doctor to fix my retina had closed his office. So I found another who went through the gas bubble bit. Operation #2. Later I had another operation where an artificial lens was surgically installed. Operation #3.

Some years later, as I was leaving my dentist's office, the lens detached & I lost vision in that eye. This was going to need another operation (#4). Problem: they put in the wrong replacement lens.

Recently I went to my regular eye doctor because I thought I had something in that eye because it was irritating me. After a few visits he told me that the lens had detached in the eye & was irritating the cornea (eye wall). He told me that if I didn't get it fixed there would be a bad chance of an infection in that eye. He referred me to a cornea transplant specialist near the Trenton, NJ, airport.

This doctor (I will IM his name & info to only those who are in desperate need for this procedure). This doc is in the office by himself with a staff of young female nurses etc. . He told me that he performs 20 cornea transplants each week in the Capitol Health opthalmic surgery suite & that there are only 6-9 cornea transplant specialists in the world & that he gets patients from all over the U.S. & worldwide.

The interesting parts of the operation was that had 2 parts: removing the loose old lens & replacing it with a new one of a better design. As an intraocular lens is not medicine, Medicare won't pay for it. It cost me cash $750. The second part involved removing the damaged cornea & replacing it with one donated by a deceased person. So I am now a dead man (or woman) walking. And so far I have regained the near total vision I had lost for years. (Operation #5).

The really neat finale to this was him playing the close-up video he made of the operation. All by himself. Incredible stuff. He said he would make a copy for me if I brought in a USB drive as the file is 5GB. Not for the squeamish.

 

[Helix]

I'm glad that your vision has improved. I doubt that I would watch a video of myself being operated on, but I am squeamish.

 

[TheParser]

I join other members (and guests) in wishing you a full and complete recovery.

People take their eyesight for granted.

They probably should have yearly checkups with an ophthalmologist or at least an optometrist.

 

[Emily L]

Some years ago I was getting ready for a 14-hour flight to Tokyo on business. Sitting on the couch, the retina in my left eye detached. I could have called an eye doctor & get it fixed but the usual procedure involves holding the retina in place with a big gas bubble. The big drawback: you can't fly for a month or more until that gas has dissapated. So I flew to Japan with that condition, hoping for the best when I returned.

Three days into touring chemical plants in Honshu I was in my room in a traditional Japanese hotel & I went blind in that eye. The retina had finally retired. So I didn't mind my boss's invitation to join him in the hotel's warm spring - both nude.

The trip home involved an additional stay over in Chicago. Finally back in NJ, the sight (right eye only) I was greeted by a blizzard. The best eye doctor to fix my retina had closed his office. So I found another who went through the gas bubble bit. Operation #2. Later I had another operation where an artificial lens was surgically installed. Operation #3.

Some years later, as I was leaving my dentist's office, the lens detached & I lost vision in that eye. This was going to need another operation (#4). Problem: they put in the wrong replacement lens.

Recently I went to my regular eye doctor because I thought I had something in that eye because it was irritating me. After a few visits he told me that the lens had detached in the eye & was irritating the cornea (eye wall). He told me that if I didn't get it fixed there would be a bad chance of an infection in that eye. He referred me to a cornea transplant specialist near the Trenton, NJ, airport.

This doctor (I will IM his name & info to only those who are in desperate need for this procedure). This doc is in the office by himself with a staff of young female nurses etc. . He told me that he performs 20 cornea transplants each week in the Capitol Health opthalmic surgery suite & that there are only 6-9 cornea transplant specialists in the world & that he gets patients from all over the U.S. & worldwide.

The interesting parts of the operation was that had 2 parts: removing the loose old lens & replacing it with a new one of a better design. As an intraocular lens is not medicine, Medicare won't pay for it. It cost me cash $750. The second part involved removing the damaged cornea & replacing it with one donated by a deceased person. So I am now a dead man (or woman) walking. And so far I have regained the near total vision I had lost for years. (Operation #5).

The really neat finale to this was him playing the close-up video he made of the operation. All by himself. Incredible stuff. He said he would make a copy for me if I brought in a USB drive as the file is 5GB. Not for the squeamish.

Wow, Jacksin! I'm glad it all worked out!

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

Some years ago I was getting ready for a 14-hour flight to Tokyo on business. Sitting on the couch, the retina in my left eye detached. I could have called an eye doctor & get it fixed but the usual procedure involves holding the retina in place with a big gas bubble. The big drawback: you can't fly for a month or more until that gas has dissapated. So I flew to Japan with that condition, hoping for the best when I returned.

Three days into touring chemical plants in Honshu I was in my room in a traditional Japanese hotel & I went blind in that eye. The retina had finally retired. So I didn't mind my boss's invitation to join him in the hotel's warm spring - both nude.

The trip home involved an additional stay over in Chicago. Finally back in NJ, the sight (right eye only) I was greeted by a blizzard. The best eye doctor to fix my retina had closed his office. So I found another who went through the gas bubble bit. Operation #2. Later I had another operation where an artificial lens was surgically installed. Operation #3.

Some years later, as I was leaving my dentist's office, the lens detached & I lost vision in that eye. This was going to need another operation (#4). Problem: they put in the wrong replacement lens.

Recently I went to my regular eye doctor because I thought I had something in that eye because it was irritating me. After a few visits he told me that the lens had detached in the eye & was irritating the cornea (eye wall). He told me that if I didn't get it fixed there would be a bad chance of an infection in that eye. He referred me to a cornea transplant specialist near the Trenton, NJ, airport.

This doctor (I will IM his name & info to only those who are in desperate need for this procedure). This doc is in the office by himself with a staff of young female nurses etc. . He told me that he performs 20 cornea transplants each week in the Capitol Health opthalmic surgery suite & that there are only 6-9 cornea transplant specialists in the world & that he gets patients from all over the U.S. & worldwide.

The interesting parts of the operation was that had 2 parts: removing the loose old lens & replacing it with a new one of a better design. As an intraocular lens is not medicine, Medicare won't pay for it. It cost me cash $750. The second part involved removing the damaged cornea & replacing it with one donated by a deceased person. So I am now a dead man (or woman) walking. And so far I have regained the near total vision I had lost for years. (Operation #5).

The really neat finale to this was him playing the close-up video he made of the operation. All by himself. Incredible stuff. He said he would make a copy for me if I brought in a USB drive as the file is 5GB. Not for the squeamish.

Wow. Lot of issues and surgeries! Glad you've had a good outcome. Lucky you did after the wait.

I feel for the vision issues.. Myself, shot with BB as a teen, cataract, lense replacement, now glaucoma in it.
Vision's toast in it. Had tube shunt and laser coagulation plus on drops. Want to do another tube soon to get pressure down the last bit save what's there. Awake through it with twilight while they're chopping your eye up!
No "you won't feel a thing!" there.. At times felt like he was pushing through the back of my skull.
No fixing what's done, so have to stay on top of the good one I got.
Hope all stays well with yours!

 

[Lethargic Aptitude]

Well damn, I did not see that coming.

 

[JacksinPA]

I'm glad that your vision has improved. I doubt that I would watch a video of myself being operated on, but I am squeamish.

I'll send you a USB drive with the video. It's my eye so you should only get mildly ill.

 

[JacksinPA]

I'll send you a USB drive with the video. It's my eye so you should only get mildly ill.

That's not 20 cornea transplants per week for my new eye doc. He does surgery 2 days/week & does 20 of these ops per day.

 

[Helix]

I'll send you a USB drive with the video. It's my eye so you should only get mildly ill.

Thanks, but no.

 

[Frank Apisa]

Glad things worked out, Jack.

A year ago I had cataract surgery.

Greatest thing ever.

I went from having terrible vision...to crystal clear 20/20 right now. I see colors I never though existed. I can drive at night with no problem. My golfing partners all had to follow my every hit...even short pitch shots, because I could not follow the ball. Now, I am the chief spotter for the foursome.

Anyone visiting this thread with cataracts...do the surgery. It is magic.

 

[JacksinPA]

Wow. Lot of issues and surgeries! Glad you've had a good outcome. Lucky you did after the wait.

I feel for the vision issues.. Myself, shot with BB as a teen, cataract, lense replacement, now glaucoma in it.
Vision's toast in it. Had tube shunt and laser coagulation plus on drops. Want to do another tube soon to get pressure down the last bit save what's there. Awake through it with twilight while they're chopping your eye up!
No "you won't feel a thing!" there.. At times felt like he was pushing through the back of my skull.
No fixing what's done, so have to stay on top of the good one I got.
Hope all stays well with yours!
View attachment 67460811

A lot? There have been so many I forgot to include the 2 lens operations (#6-7) to fix fogging of the lenses with age (cataracts).

 

[JacksinPA]

A lot? There have been so many I forgot to include the 2 lens operations (#6-7) to fix fogging of the lenses with age (cataracts).

Since the transplant yesterday was from a stranger, I had to ask if there was any likliehood of an immune reaction. Borrowing a quote from the late Teddy Kennedy, he stated something like 'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

 

[JacksinPA]

Since the transplant yesterday was from a stranger, I had to ask if there was any likliehood of an immune reaction. Borrowing a quote from the late Teddy Kennedy, he stated something like 'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

To hopefully conclude this thread, I asked the Dr. what he drank. I was familiar with this excellent single malt scotch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagavulin_distillery. We see him for a follow-up on Friday so I'll pick up a bottle to give him.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

A lot? There have been so many I forgot to include the 2 lens operations (#6-7) to fix fogging of the lenses with age (cataracts).

Wow... hope all stays well and controlled. You're well past me by now on when people cringe on "oooo eyeball!" It's, yep....... eyeball...

Since the transplant yesterday was from a stranger, I had to ask if there was any likliehood of an immune reaction. Borrowing a quote from the late Teddy Kennedy, he stated something like 'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

No guarantees for sure. Had donor tissue to cover my 'device'.
Step‐dad was a viable cornea donor when he past right on 2 years ago.
Hope his "parts" gave someone new life.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

That's not 20 cornea transplants per week for my new eye doc. He does surgery 2 days/week & does 20 of these ops per day.

It's like doing an oil change to some. Amazing the skill attained, and we trust them to?.................

 

[trixare4kids]

Some years ago I was getting ready for a 14-hour flight to Tokyo on business. Sitting on the couch, the retina in my left eye detached. I could have called an eye doctor & get it fixed but the usual procedure involves holding the retina in place with a big gas bubble. The big drawback: you can't fly for a month or more until that gas has dissapated. So I flew to Japan with that condition, hoping for the best when I returned.

Three days into touring chemical plants in Honshu I was in my room in a traditional Japanese hotel & I went blind in that eye. The retina had finally retired. So I didn't mind my boss's invitation to join him in the hotel's warm spring - both nude.

The trip home involved an additional stay over in Chicago. Finally back in NJ, the sight (right eye only) I was greeted by a blizzard. The best eye doctor to fix my retina had closed his office. So I found another who went through the gas bubble bit. Operation #2. Later I had another operation where an artificial lens was surgically installed. Operation #3.

Some years later, as I was leaving my dentist's office, the lens detached & I lost vision in that eye. This was going to need another operation (#4). Problem: they put in the wrong replacement lens.

Recently I went to my regular eye doctor because I thought I had something in that eye because it was irritating me. After a few visits he told me that the lens had detached in the eye & was irritating the cornea (eye wall). He told me that if I didn't get it fixed there would be a bad chance of an infection in that eye. He referred me to a cornea transplant specialist near the Trenton, NJ, airport.

This doctor (I will IM his name & info to only those who are in desperate need for this procedure). This doc is in the office by himself with a staff of young female nurses etc. . He told me that he performs 20 cornea transplants each week in the Capitol Health opthalmic surgery suite & that there are only 6-9 cornea transplant specialists in the world & that he gets patients from all over the U.S. & worldwide.

The interesting parts of the operation was that had 2 parts: removing the loose old lens & replacing it with a new one of a better design. As an intraocular lens is not medicine, Medicare won't pay for it. It cost me cash $750. The second part involved removing the damaged cornea & replacing it with one donated by a deceased person. So I am now a dead man (or woman) walking. And so far I have regained the near total vision I had lost for years. (Operation #5).

The really neat finale to this was him playing the close-up video he made of the operation. All by himself. Incredible stuff. He said he would make a copy for me if I brought in a USB drive as the file is 5GB. Not for the squeamish.

My son had a detached retina from playing sports while in college. Nothing to fool around with. The injury needs immediate attention. Sorry that you had this much difficulty.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

My main guy.. seems well qualified.

Board Certified Ophthalmologist Ohio | Glaucoma Specialist | Fred Chu, MD

Board Certified Ophthalmologist, Fred Chu, MD, is the Director of the Glaucoma Service at Cincinnati Eye Institute. Learn more.

www.cincinnatieye.com

 

[JacksinPA]

I join other members (and guests) in wishing you a full and complete recovery.

People take their eyesight for granted.

They probably should have yearly checkups with an ophthalmologist or at least an optometrist.

When you start seeing eye doctors to chase eye problems, you get into the routine of visits every 6 months to follow up.

 

[JacksinPA]

Wow... hope all stays well and controlled. You're well past me by now on when people cringe on "oooo eyeball!" It's, yep....... eyeball...

No guarantees for sure. Had donor tissue to cover my 'device'.
Step‐dad was a viable cornea donor when he past right on 2 years ago.
Hope his "parts" gave someone new life.

My wife & I did our final directives when we redid our wills after moving to PA. Our bodies go to med schools. There is a shortage I've heard. I'd like to put my remains to a practical use rather than just letting it become grass food.

 

[nota bene]

Since the transplant yesterday was from a stranger, I had to ask if there was any likliehood of an immune reaction. Borrowing a quote from the late Teddy Kennedy, he stated something like 'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

That's right--don't borrow trouble. So happy this is behind you!

Modern ophthalmology is amazing. Long before other med students were learning by doing virtual surgeries (hundreds!), ophthalmology residents and doctors were, and I felt such relief knowing this when I had my first cataract surgery done.

I won't say that any medical procedure is "fun," but eye surgery comes pretty close. I recently had laser surgery, and it was quick and very cool. Psychedelic, actually. Then I had cataract surgery done in June, and it really is easy-peasy.

Not that I'd want to see what was done. Who remembers the old "...stick a needle in your eye" thing from childhood? Eeeeeeek!

 

[Old 'N Chill]

@JacksinPA, my heart goes out to you, you have really had some serious eye problems and surgeries. Sounds like things are better for you now, and I hope it stays that way. Thanks for sharing your story.

I had cataract surgery in both eyes several months ago, vision was slightly brighter but not much improvement. Also have late stage dry macular degeneration/Geographic Atrophy, so the vision will continue to deteriorate.

They have a new injection Syfovre which was recently approved by the FDA that I am thinking about getting, but the side effects that I know of are not good, that injection can cause detachment of the retina, vision loss and other complications up to blindness.

The cataract surgeon wants to check my lenses to see if there's any clouding since the operation, then I'll need a laser treatment to clear that up. Want to get that out of the way before attempting this new injection, which only slows the progression of the dry AMD from 17-22%, depending if you get them monthly or every two months. Have to weigh the pros and cons, not much known about it yet. Hate to try something that may speed up my path to blindness, that's for sure.

I can't even imagine all you went through with all your surgeries, so happy you had some good results. Take care of yourself, and keep your positive attitude, that means a lot.

 

[Old 'N Chill]

I feel for the vision issues.. Myself, shot with BB as a teen, cataract, lense replacement, now glaucoma in it.
Vision's toast in it. Had tube shunt and laser coagulation plus on drops. Want to do another tube soon to get pressure down the last bit save what's there. Awake through it with twilight while they're chopping your eye up!
No "you won't feel a thing!" there.. At times felt like he was pushing through the back of my skull.
No fixing what's done, so have to stay on top of the good one I got.
Hope all stays well with yours!

Serious stuff there too, I wish you the best in keeping the vision that you have. Good luck, will be thinking of you.

 

[JacksinPA]

That's right--don't borrow trouble. So happy this is behind you!

Modern ophthalmology is amazing. Long before other med students were learning by doing virtual surgeries (hundreds!), ophthalmology residents and doctors were, and I felt such relief knowing this when I had my first cataract surgery done.

I won't say that any medical procedure is "fun," but eye surgery comes pretty close. I recently had laser surgery, and it was quick and very cool. Psychedelic, actually. Then I had cataract surgery done in June, and it really is easy-peasy.

Not that I'd want to see what was done. Who remembers the old "...stick a needle in your eye" thing from childhood? Eeeeeeek!

My surgeon is a cornea specialist. The transplant of the dead cornea tissue was only the closing chapter of the operation, which I watched on video after. First step was removing the bad old lens & replacing it with the custom lens that cost me $750. So it was a 2-stage procedure that took about 90 minutes. I'm glad I opted for general anesthesia as it would have been scary to try to keep my eye fixed with no movement for that long.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

I'm glad I opted for general anesthesia as it would have been scary to try to keep my eye fixed with no movement for that long.

What I wondered about just being under local as well. But they can "paralyze" the eye, or really the muscles that are responsible for moving it in the orbit.
What they did on me, as I guarantee my eyes(or the one in this case) weren't moving at all for 45 minutes.

While topical anaesthesia successfully numbs the eye, it does not stop the eye from moving and it is very important that the eye remains as still as possible throughout the procedure. Sometimes patients need a little bit more help to keep their eye still. In these cases, a sub-Tenon block is used. A sub-Tenon block simply means the administration of anaesthetic under the outer layers of the eye. The Tenons layer is a layer of tissue directly underneath your conjunctiva. After the administration of numbing eye drops, the surgeon (or anaesthetist) uses a blunt cannula (small plastic tube) to place some local anaesthetic under these layers of tissue, in the corner of the eye closest to your nose. This type of anaesthetic not only numbs the eye, but also prevents you from being able to see or move the eye. The anaesthetic takes approximately 8 hours to wear off. You need to wear an eye pad over the operated eye during this period, while the eye recovers movement, so that you do not suffer from double vision.

Anaesthetic Options for Cataract Surgery - Yorkshire Eye Specialists

yes.clinic

 

[JacksinPA]

What I wondered about just being under local as well. But they can "paralyze" the eye, or really the muscles that are responsible for moving it in the orbit.
What they did on me, as I guarantee my eyes(or the one in this case) weren't moving at all for 45 minutes.

Anaesthetic Options for Cataract Surgery - Yorkshire Eye Specialists

yes.clinic

This option was not explained to me.