Cathy's first experience with eye surgery

I had vitrectomy surgery for macular hole done July 17, 2014.
Due to medical issues. I could not do face down positioning. I found a retinal specialist who said I could still have the surgery without face down positioning and instead of face down I could lay down on my side at night and sit up during the day looking down as much as I could handle. 

The surgery went well, but even laying down on my side gave me some pain in my hip on the side as I tried sleeping in one position. So I still wake at night with hip pain and some knee pain. Having had total knee replacement a few years ago.  I was used to sleeping on my back and sides at night moving due to neck pain from cervical dystonia.

when I first found out I had macular hole I searched the Internet as the retina specialist I was sent to said I must maintain face down position. This would cause undue strain and pain on my cervical dystonia problem. I finally came across two articles from doctors who wrote about  non-facedown surgery for macular hole. Neither were close by to where I live but one had the name of a doctor that was only two hours away so I went for a second opinion. I was pleased with his assessment and though he preferred face down positioning he understood my problem and gave me time to give some thought as to how I wanted to proceed. Within six weeks I called for a checkup. As my vision was declining. I made my decision and set the date for surgery: vitrectomy.

My doctor being two hours away  we had to stay the night at a motel and I purchased a body pillow to keep me from rolling over on my back.(laying on my back was not an option). I was scheduled for outpatient surgery and all went well. A patch was placed over my eye and we went back to the motel to return the next day to my doctor's office where the eye patch was removed .

 I was surprised that through the bubble I could see so much light, and actually make out the shape of my hand looking down. like looking through water. weird! From the office my husband drove me home.

I was instructed to use dilating drops two times a day and Pred G, which is a gentamicin antibiotic with a prednisone mixture drop four times a day. I was allowed to tilt my head back to have the eye drops put in. I was also told to use the eye patch from surgery at night for two weeks. The first few days I slept a lot and and had some pain. After a day I was able to close one eye and get on Facebook on my phone as this helped to pass the time and keep my head in a downward position to some extent.
My husband and son put large television on the floor (not flat) so I was looking downward at the TV. This was also helpful to pass the time.
I had some aching in my eye and took medicine for that. I had some crusting on the eyelid and was instructed to use a warm wet washcloth to carefully remove that.
Eight days later I had to see the doctor. They said everything looked pretty good and to come back in about three weeks as he would not know if the surgery was successful until the bubble was low enough to see the surgical area. It was a little difficult getting used to the lack of clear vision and my depth of field also took adjusting. I had some swelling around my eye and some redness but not too bad, no bruising , but my eyelid I could only keep half open. I am thankful that my husband being retired has been able to help me around the house and putting the eye drops in for me.

At 14 days I noticed the bubble is beginning to shrink and my eyelid is able to open more but this brings more light into the eye, making it reflect even more into the my good eye..This throws me off balance a little and is very distracting. So I close that eyelid to see better when I need to. I think that is the most frustrating for me.
My appointment to see my retina specialist is not until a week from now and I am hoping by that time, enough of the bubble is gone so they can see if the hole is closed properly.
I have only gone to the store once with my husband as I didn't like the off-balance feeling and the blind sided problem that made me feel like I might bump into someone. I have not tried a black patch as it would have to go over my glasses that I need to see out of my good. eye.

 To type this I am using a speech to text program on my computer This is very helpful. I will post on this site again after my eye appointment next week to let you know my progress and experience without the strict face down positioning that most doctors require. I hope this helps others who put off the surgery because of the face down positioning requirement and feel they can't handle that.
As I said my Retinal Specialist was one I found from an article online about doing this type of surgery without face down positioning. He told me he used three types of gas bubbles one being a long acting one to give me the best chance of a good outcome since I could not do the strict face down positioning. So that is where things stand right now...I will keep you posted.

  Cathy