I noticed some large floaters in my right eye over the weekend. As with most ailments I figured they would just go away if I ignored them. They didn’t go away, so I called an eye doctor to get an appointment later in the week. After describing my symptoms they told me I had to come to the office immediately. That kind of freaked me out a little, but I drove the 45 minutes from work to their office.
After they took a bunch of pictures, the doctor called me over to his screen and showed me a large tear in my retina, with a lot of fluid surrounding it. He seemed worried, so I got worried. His retinal surgeon was going to be in the office today, but he thought it was too dangerous to wait, so he sent me to the office in Langhorne, 45 minutes away to have emergency laser surgery.
Nothing like driving on the PA Turnpike with dilated eyes on a bright sunny day. Then I sat in a waiting room for two hours with the most sickly motley crew of obese, masked, eighty year olds you have ever witnessed. The doctor looked at the pictures and concurred with his colleague. He said if we waited much longer it could be a disaster – whatever that means. The laser surgery lasted about ten minutes and was extremely uncomfortable. But five minutes later I was able to drive home.
I hope it worked, but I still have a pretty big floater in my eye this morning, so we’ll see. I guess I could run a website with one eye. At least the laser was calibrated.
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Get well soon, and dim the brightness on your electronic devices.
Better yet — maybe stay away from electronic devices (and the blue LED lighting that’s an integral part of them) for a couple of days.
Like the old slogan said: ‘You deserve a break today … ‘
Be well, Admin …
Get well soon &thanks for your work.
The floater will persist; it’s a congealed part of the Corpus vitreous and can’t vanish. Best outcome is that your brain will adapt to this phenomenon and/or the floater will sink to the outer rim of your field of vision.
Hopefully there is not to much water around the retinal-tear, then there is chance of a good sealing of the tear near 100%.
Danger of a retinal tear is the complete loosening of the whole retina (it’s only kind of sucked to the underlying tissue & if fluid gets in this space…not good). Even then surgery is possible with an arsenal of shining weapons but healing chances are much lower)
Greetings from an ophthalmogist, donation comes.
(And here I would be punishable to let someone drive a car with dilated pupil…)
ahhh- and make at least three days pause with screen time. The micro movements of the eye are stress for the teared region. Sorry for that …
So dors…what’s the prognosis of doing nothing with Admins prior malady?
What used to be the best treatment in olden times?
Sorry if there is a misunderstanding- the lasersurgery is the correct first line treatment if- and that is the part with the “hopefully there is not much water around the tear”- the laserspots can induce a proper sealing. If there is too much water, the laser energy dissipates and no scarring (and so sealing) is induced.
It’s not like a welding process in which -immediately after welding the parts are connected. The resulting active inflammation process which ends with a scar guarantees the sealing of the tear, which needs time.
See my post below. I have always had bouts of bad floaters, but the last time scared the pants off me, so I did some research and found some supplements that cleared it up. As in admins case, if there are underlying problems with the retina, a doctor needs to laser it. An explosion tore my retina and they cauterized it with a green laser that seemed to go straight into my brain. It was very weird and unpleasant.
Unpleasant is putting it mildly… I’ve had several laser surgeries on my retina followed by a massive blinding headache.
It really is not describable.
Jeez Admin, good luck in the days ahead.
You did the right thing! I waited and my retina started detaching. Fortunately the surgery to reattach was successful, but I should have gone in immediately, as you did.
Please mighty God, heal this poor sinner.
And a dope slap for driving with dilated pupils.
This is where our medical system shines – emergency care for essentially a mechanical problem (retinal detachment, broken femur, aortic dissection).
Good for you for actually seeking care. I might be so disillusioned with the whole medical establishment that I would have just stayed home and hoped that it would have resolved on its own with some camomille tea bags placed on the eye.
Get well soon and take a break from screens for a week. It will give your eye, your brain and your soul a rest. Go for walks in nature or take long naps instead. And use up some of those sick days at work!
And have the computer read out loud to you, instead of reading.
My optometrist always wants to dilate my eyes. I go every 6 months since I have glaucoma. I make her wait for a year to pass as it sometimes gives me a 24 hr headache. And my eye doc is 45 minutes away, so I can relate to driving with dilated eyes.
How does one tear a retina? How does it become detached? Maybe the eye doc who commented will respond.
Unless there is brutal force direct to the eye bulb (fist punch or so) the retina doesn’t tear because of extern behaviour (conditions apply ,some congenital diseases). Most retinal detachments are caused by retinal tears. Risk is 1:9000 in general, old age (from 40-50 on 🙂 ) and myopia are at higher risk.The second cause is inflammation, tumor or metabolical (i.e. Diabetes 1 and 2) but that is a different way of detachment.
If there is a tear in the retina fluid can sip under the retina and break the connection with the underlying tissue, it’s some sort of chain reaction. Think of a wet handkerchief which stays through adhesion flat on the smooth surface of a wall but if you inject water under the tissue, it falls off completely.
Interesting, thanks Doc.
((from 40-50 on 🙂 )
Old age?😳 A lot of us here are downright fossils!
My daughter has malignant (not related to cancer) myopia and is chronically at high risk for retinal detachment any time (due to eyeball shape putting stress on the retina as I understand it). She needed thick glasses for nearsightedness at age five and currently is legally blind without correction. She has never complained about floaters, though.
Jim I hope you heal up quickly. Please take everyone’s advice to rest and get off the devices. The past few days I have too busy to be online, and it has been kind of refreshing to tell you the truth.
The purpose of the laser surgery was to prevent a retinal detachment. It was not an emergency. You could have waited a few extra hours for the retinal surgeon without the risky eyes dilated Turnpike driving. The general ophthalmologist may not have had sufficient experience with retinal tears to realize this. The laser does not treat the floater. Most of the time the floater will gradually become less noticeable. Good luck.
Prayers for a complete recovery. Being an old guy with frequent floaters, I can certainly sympathize. Luckily mine are usually small and go away in time. Take care and rest until your eye is healed.
Feel better soon
Mr. Admin Quinn, you may consider trying two items from Mercola’s chemo-arsenal: Astaxanthin and his own Eye Support formula:
https://www.mercolamarket.com/product/2767/1/eye-support-90-per-bottle-90-day-supply
https://www.mercolamarket.com/product/2923/1/organic-astaxanthin-4-mg-90-per-bottle-90-day-supply
Several other things help, too, but you’re likely dialing back on reading for now. Lew Rockwell has some eye exercise articles, including from Mercola, and Lew had serious eye surgery many years ago, is nearly 80, and obviously reads like a madman.
Good luck!
Wow! Close call. Glad you are doing better. Did the docs have any idea how it happened? A torn retina is something I would like to avoid. Driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike is always an E-ticket ride.
Probably genetics. My mother had detached retinas in both eyes. Father had glaucoma. Brother had major eye issues requiring multiple laser surgeries.
There are articles out there, somewhere, on how genetic propensity is not genetic certainty. There is much one may do to increase one’s odds in any situation, both biochemically and through physical activity, and, to hear some tell it, maybe metaphysical activity, as well.
You may just be tired of looking at the Thirty Longitudes and Latitudes of Squalor. When you work your balls off in good faith for decades, and nothing changes, it can wear you down. It makes you wonder, when you see a guy like Sowell fighting still at nearly 94, or Dr. Paul at nearly 89.
May your eyes have it, Mr. Quinn, for another sixty years. May ye live as long as ye want, and never want as long as ye shall live.
};^D
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Happy you were able to address the issue so quickly. Prayers that you heal quickly, Admin.
Been there done that. They saved your vision. If it had completely detached it is possible that you could not see even if it were repaired. All that crap in your eye will eventually go away. I had a two hour laser surgery 10-11 years ago. Mine started to detach while I was pounding in a large metal stake with a sledge hammer, so even jumping up and down or similar probably would have done the same or worse.
We know an idiot public school teacher (Union President no less) who was told her retina was detaching but said she’d get it looked at after coming back from a vacation. Any wonder why I sent my kids to parochial school?
” If it had completely detached it is possible that you could not see even if it were repaired”,does that not imply it was not repaired?Asking for a friend.
Hope the floater disappears and your vision becomes crystal clear(or,the best we can hope given we are getting older!).
You underestimate a surgeons pride: The correct term for blindness after retinal redetachment repair is: “Anatomically successful detachment surgery”
Like the German who bought the nuke plant on “The Simpsons” perhaps my use of language was “inelegant.” I was told that as long as there is still connection it can be repaired and vision maintained. If it separates completely there is a good likelihood vision cannot be restored even when lasered back together. I guess it could called unrepaired in the sense that it could be unrepairable and that would be borne out by an unsuccessful surgery? My only real problem is looking through a scope, the crosshairs are slightly distorted.
Red dot for shorter range/perhaps a horseshoe(love the green one meself!)for longer distance.
The world of reticles has grown,must be one easier on the eye,we as a country are going to need ya’s to do your part!
I have been trying them all. Don’t have a prism yet. I need to mess with one and see. Red Dots are good. The 65 moa circle with 1 moa dot EoTech reticle is OK but smaller circles with dots not great. Surprisingly, I see iron sights of all kinds better. Who can figure?
I had the same experience with floaters, went to the ophthalmologist, was told that I had a tear in my retina and had the laser surgery done here in Cuenca, Ecuador last year. It cost $300. I was able to walk to the the doctor and took a taxi home.
To reduce or get rid of floaters take these 3 supplements together: Lutein, luteolin, manganese. Thank me later.
Lutein is one of Mercola’s recommendations (and supplements).
It’s not even pirate AAAARHGGH day.
It’s Eyepatch McCain!! The WEF SEAL SOB.
The floaters in my eyes are tiny and come and go. I am so used to them I hardly notice.
I got suckered in to implanted lenses when they removed my cataracts. A BIG mistake.
The promise of “20/20” vision for the first time in my life was too good to be true. I had been near-sighted most of my life. What they neglected to explain was that even though I would have 20/20 vision for distances, I would STILL NEED glasses to read!
WTF??!!
So, now I can see an ant from across the street and am always connected to a pair of cheap “readers” for everything else.
If I ‘shoulda, ‘coulda, just left it alone and stuck to the cataract removal.
If it ain’t broke—————-
I think cataract removal without artificial lens implantation is possible but rarely done because it renders the eye permanently defocused at all distances. I doubt that you would have had a superior vision result compared to what you have now.
Weren’t you offered multifocal lenses? Cataract removal without artificial lenses is a no-go, unless you want to wear super thick glasses (+12 to+15 diopters). That’s what the human lens is for: refractive power to focus the ray of light.
Thanks, doc. Anon certainly better served with eye advice from an ophthalmologist than a pathologist. 😉
I had a blunt force accident to my eye last year and I was instantly blinded with an open globe injury. They rushed me to surgery but couldn’t help me. They wanted to remove it but I wouldn’t let them.
I lost a lot of vitreous and the eye has shrunk. But it’s my eye and I aimed to keep it. It still aches sometimes but gives me lots of cool hallucinations at no cost. Also, the craziest thing is it can still see a tiny bit in the dark, but only shapes like doorframes and windows and such. There is a wicked looking cataract now and my son said it looks dead, which I also think is a cool asset.
Anyway, I am here to attest — life goes on with monocular vision. Do you know the first thing that crossed my mind was I would never be able use a ViewMaster fully again? The worst thing is waking up in the morning after dreaming in 3d all night and remembering the status quo back here in reality which was kind of fun already in the 2020s wasn’t it.
Depth perception sucks, too, in particular driving, and double worse when trying to back a trailer of any length into a tight spot.
My father had sudden vision loss in one eye due to a complete occlusion of the artery that supplies the eye with blood. Kind of like a stroke to the eye. Emergency attempts to reopen the artery did not help and he is now permanently blind on that eye. It was difficult to adjust at first, but the brain gets used to it after a while and he does not even notice it any more. So, yes, life goes on with monocular vision. I pray to God that he will never experience it to the other eye, too, which would be more debilitating by an order of magnitude.
Lol..never notice it until you step off a curb or a bottom step thinking it 7 inches to the ground, but it’s actually 2 feet…teeth jarring is the least of it…pulling up to drive’thrus or ATMs are another thing that takes a good bit of practice.
Retinal tear from nowhere, preceded by floaters…happened to a friend of mine over 20 years ago. It was deemed an emergency and he went in for surgery…not sure if it was laser or not, but he sees fine today, better’n in fact, which ain’t saying a lot, since I am blind in one eye and barely see out of the other.
Take care of yourself Jim!
We need you in the fight, not on the bench!!
Your voice is a beacon of sanity
Hope things return to normal soon Jim. FWIW I had artificial lenses put in both eyes about 3 years ago because of cataracts. For a day or so after surgery I was really freaked out because my vision was so messed up but after I healed the results were simply amazing. I have better eyesight now at 65 than I had when I was in my teens and 20s (I’ve never worn glasses and had really good vision back then). Medical technology like that is pretty impressive these days.
I fully support your recovery.
Be well Admin. Buy some blueblockers and stay clear of screens for at least several days.
Hope your recovery goes well…if there’s one body part I’d hate to do without, it’s the eyes.
I did a long drive with dilated eyes – not fun at all, and almost freaked me out.
I also second the recommendations on the supplements, especially astaxanthin
I have had 2 detachments…You don’t screw with those..The last one he said you have 2 choices..this afternoon or first thing tomorrow
Get well…
At age 68 I was in a remote area on a hike when “lightning” flashes started appearing at the right side of my right eye with every step I took. Never had anything like that before and guessed it might have been a retinal tear or something like that. Got back to town and immediately visited the eye guy at my clinic. After some tests the diagnosis was PVD-posterior vitreous delamination (no, not caused by an STD). Oddly, there was no treatment suggested. May have been somehow related to an auto accident 50 years before when my car hydroplaned sideways into a light pole at the beginning of a rain when going about 45 mph in a fog and the right side of my head and chest were banged up. Ever since the PVD diagnosis I have taken a Vitamin A supplement and after a couple of months the flashes went away. Once in a long while I may get a couple of flashes-don’t know if it is from fatigue, stress, or some combination of things. Every time I see the doc he tells me not to worry about it.
If interested:
https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/vitreous-detachment
The USAF so dilated my pupils once during a flight physical that later driving to a girl friends house I had to climb street signs to read the letters. At about age 50, I saw lightning flashes and black spheres in one eye and called my eye doctor; she said report to Dr Steinmetz immediately , who immediately spot welded that retina in several places , and explained that ligaments inside my eyeball had shrunk and pulled the retina from the eyeball; the black dots were floating retinal cells, and if that continued untreated, I’d go blind in that eye.
Auntie gets an occasional PVD that looks like a disco flying saucer is about to land on the shoulder.
I’m not a doctor but I believe you need to get that checked and fixed ASAP; it’s cheap, easy, no pain, and we don’t want Auntie going blind in an eye!