I've been given one month..

[peej07]

I am now legally blind in my left eye due to some big bleeds. My doc wants to wait 1 month to see if it clears on it's own and if not I go in for the eye vacuum. I hope it's as much fun as X said it was.:) Oh well I thought I'd update all of you as things go along. Not having good depth perception sucks by the way.

[gettingby]

Sorry to hear this Chris. I hope things turn out well for you.

[shockme]

i'm sorry you're going thru this chris. i don't know much about this stuff-but is it best to wait a month? take care,trish

[xMenace]

I was actually ok driving at night until one night the power went out. I had to phone my wife to come get me.

Before they start hoovering, they give you some pretty potent happy medicine. You can be awake through much of the procedure, but the drugs turn it into a live action movie. It really is cool :cool:

[Jibbi]

Don't fret the "procedure" - I went from what was completely blind in my left eye - not even seeing anything out of that eye - to seeing 20/60. I was very apprehensive about it and waited much longer than I should have. Surgery was 10 weeks ago. Recovery was rough but manageable. I'm sure your doctor has taken this into account, but you don't want any of the blood in the eye to tug on the retina. Then, problems start compounding...

Good luck.

[peej07]

My problem is that the gel is pulling away from my retina which I'm told is not that common for diabetics. Usually what occurs in most diabetics is that rouge blood vessels grow into the gel and then break causing problems.

[Mich]

Chris, that is exactly how is was explained to me as to how the new growth veins break. It was also explained that all eyes, even of non-diabetics pull away as we age, we are just lucky enough to have the veins there (because of lack of oxygen in the circulation of the eye) to break.

I agree with John (our X-man) that it is not nearly as bad as I had imagined it. The sedatives they use now are amazing and the process is painless (unless you have trouble with an IV) and you DON'T EVEN CARE! They can snap you right out of it afterward, too. You could get off the table and go for a walk if you didn't have a big plastic eye guard taped over your eye.

My eye hemmed, then cleared and by some impeccable timing, each time it cleared, it bled again the very next day. Finally I got tired of the whole thing (as my doc knew I would) and opted for the surgery.

One thing I would do differently if I knew, is discuss the fine points of having an Avastin injection beforehand to shrink the veins. It was within one week that my retina detached and it did it twice more in the next month or so. New research might indicate a link between the Avastin and the detachment. Talk to your doc. Google and read.

Mich

[xMenace]

After they unstrapped me from the operating table, and I was barely coherent when they did, they said "get up now" and I did. 30 minutes later I was at Tim Horton's getting a coffee. I asked the assistant doc what that tool was called that they hoovered me with. I explained what I saw. He said it was a vacuum cutter. He said I was the only person he's met who's actually been able to describe it, so who knows what you'll see.

The eye freezing hurt but not that much. It's very much like an ice cream headache, longer but not as painful.

[peej07]

Well since April I've bled and cleared twice this time being the third is being a real bugger. Mich are you saying that the injection may have caused your detachments? I definately want to be fully educated before I go into this. Thanks again for the support.

[Mich]

Chris, This is one of the research articles I found. I paid and downloaded it to read in its entirety.
__________

Tractional Retinal Detachment following Intravitreal Revacizumab (Avastin) in Patients with Severe Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

It was in the British Journal of Opthamology, published online 28 Oct 2007. I found it at BJO Online - British Journal of Ophthalmology (http://bjo.bmj.com)
___________

There were other articles available also, most of which have been published outside the United States. I assumed that this was because of our more recent introduction of the treatment.

Please note: As far as I know, many people have Avastin treatment with no problems whatsovever, including a close friend of mine who has it ivery three months for the treatment of Wet Macular Degeneration.

It's just something I became aware of after the fact. I still trust my doctor completely. He is doing what is in his judgement and mine is the best thing for me. Doctors aren't magic, just very well educated to help us through times like these.

Mich

[deansreef]

are these eye problems that you all have experienced related to high blood sugars over a long period? or did you all have good control and still have these eye problems?

Dean

[xMenace]

are these eye problems that you all have experienced related to high blood sugars over a long period? or did you all have good control and still have these eye problems?

Dean

I haven't been super high, but I've never had tight control. Even now with pumping and a pretty good diet I struggle to reach sub-6 A1Cs. I probably averaged 7-8 for 30 years.

[peej07]

Same here, not perfect but not horrible either.