One of the common side effects of the gas bubble used to hold the retina in place after vitrectomy and retina repair is damage to the lens. The surgeon said it was due to the lens not getting enough nutrients as the gas expanded and touched it. I’ve also read that the gas itself may damage the lens. Either way, my lens had some damage and was not as clear as it should be and was getting worse, so I needed cataract surgery in that eye.
The surgery went very well, and was quick and effective. The picture below shows me right after the surgery.
In the surgery, the doctor broke up and sucked out my old lens and inserted a new corrective artificial lens in the eye. Recovery has been good so far. I had to wear the shield until the follow-up appointment the next day as well as every night for a week or so. I’m on three expensive drops to fight inflammation and the possibility of infection. I’m back at work and no problems have appeared.
Because of the corrective lens in the eye, I can, to some extent, see well out of that eye. It isn’t corrected completely, and due to the retina problems and macular hole, I will not be able to get the fine detail vision back most likely, but overall, I can see surprisingly well with that eye. The lens in my glasses was totally inappropriate for the eye now, so I took it out and can see okay without it. Because glasses lenses make everything a little smaller, without that lens, everything looks a little larger (well, normal, but the other eye still has the glasses lens to make things look smaller).
So hopefully this will end the saga of my eye. I will make another post sometime with some hints and ideas for others having to deal with retina detachment and its aftermath.
