Hi all! It’s been inspiring and comforting reading everyone’s experiences in this community.
I’m 32M with -5.5 vision in both eyes. Mom had multiple retinal detachments in the last decade and after 5 procedures, she lost her vision in her left eye.
I’ve been on pressure drops since for about 8 years (well maintained and around 20 at every appointment) and have always been cognizant in staying up on my vision tests and exams. Last month, I went for my regular check up with my eye doctor and she noticed a demarcation line in my left eye. She thought it was probably nothing but still sent me to a retinal specialist for exam.
I went into the appointment with a positive mindset hoping that nothing was wrong but that wasn’t the case.
The doctor found a small hole in my right retina (hadn’t noticed any issues or floaters in that eye) and he said that the demarcation line that was seen was actually where my retina had detached and healed. I believe he called it a chronic detachment. I’ve had floaters in that eye for years now but nothing has ever been flagged by my regular eye doctor.
He had me do a DNA test where he was going to look for the genes that are prevalent in people with retinal detachments and said we’d evaluate our options from there (still waiting on results). He noted that we’d either monitor or look into a scleral buckle depending on the results but the way his tone was, I think he’s going to push for the buckle. I have an appointment for an in-office laser procedure next week for my right eye to try and seal off the hole in that eye.
Has anyone been through a similar situation with the chronic detachment? I’ve very scared of surgery and was really hoping I’d be older before having to deal with this.
I’d leave to hear about your experiences and suggestions.
Wishing you all the best!