Vitrectomy with SF6 gas - The First Week
I'm at day 5 post vitrectomy due to multiple bleeds during PVD and found reading other recovery examples comforting for my own so I thought I would share my experience to date:
Surgery was done in Sydney, Australia.
Surgery Day: In the morning, saw the Dr to see if anything might have changed to have to avoid the surgery. Dr was happy to wait-and-see but the risk was that I would bleed again and then end up having the vitrectomy anyway. So as much as I didn't want the surgery, I knew that I needed to do it in order to get back to living life again after a month of bleeds and uncertainty.
Operation was in the afternoon so arrived at the eye hospital. Given local anaesthetic with sedation so was awake but couldn't feel anything. I distinctly remember them putting in the gas bubble and counting. Probably a 30 minute procedure overall. Given a muffin and apple juice afterwards and discharged. Eye was bandaged up and removed by the surgeon the next day. Fortunately no face down recovery required and was told to stay upright and sleep on my right side.
Day 1: saw surgeon in the morning who removed the bandage and warned me that I wouldn't be able to see anything. Did some tests and gave me an additional script for eye drops to lower eye pressure. Surgeon said that the vitrectomy was the right decision as he found that the vitreous was stuck and I had other blood vessels so was confident I would have kept bleeding if I took the wait and see approach. Eye felt a little comfortable but nothing too painful so had some panadol. Told I could sleep whichever way I wanted.
Day 2: Same as day 1 and just in the routine of doing a few different eye drops every few hours. Going for some walks and trying to stop my brain from worrying about things I had no control over. Just telling myself that once I get to day 4 or 5 then things will improve. I wear glasses I created by taking out the lens and covering the operated eye which makes it easier for me to do things.
Day 3: still no vision. I get a water line in 90% zone but everything seems blurry above it. I thought anything above the water line should be clear so I get a little worried that something went wrong with my operation. I read other stories on reddit and am comforted that everyone is different and many others have blurry vision for longer. Otherwise, the key is trying to keep busy with one eye and not internalising the situation too much.
Day 4: I breathe a sigh of relief as the water line drops to 80% and in my peripheral vision I can make out that things are clearer above this line. It gives me confidence that this trend will continue and my mood improves. Eye looks less swollen but still a little red but improving day by day.
Day 5: The water line continues to drop and I'm at the 60% mark and can definitely see more clarity above the line (but still using my peripheral vision). I'm even thinking I might be able to drive in a couple of days so it definitely lifts the spirits.
I'm confident the improvement will continue and fortunate I had a skilled surgeon working on my eye. The past month really tested me and it brought out a lot of anxiety, insomnia and negativity. But through it all, it helped me refocus and reset my priorities to what is most important to me including God, family and relationships so I tell myself it was all worth it. I also learnt a lot about how my mind works (neuroplasticity) and not to listen to a lot of the lies that my brain was telling me.
Hope this helps some of you.