I need a vitrectomy

June 5th, 2009 at 22:35 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Medical · 3 Comments 

This morning I checked in to the clinic and the doctor who replaced my doctor told me that there was a large tear and the water (vitreous fluid) had sipped into the tear. Retina detachment was forming and was progressive. He insisted me to seek expert advice from a VR (Vitreo Retina) specialist in Kuala Lumpur.

Upon hearing his comment, what I feared most had stricken down my spine. It was inevitable finally. What has to come, has come. I had to accept the reality. My mood swung 180 degrees.

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Clearer vision

June 3rd, 2009 at 17:44 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Medical · Comment 

Today, my left vision has become very much clearer comparing to couple of days ago. This morning, I went to the clinic for a follow up and the doctor’s feedback was encouraging and calming. Everything is stabilizing and nothing to worry about but still more bed rest until I see his retina associate on next Monday after his holiday.

We went home happily and had a good relieve. LA and I had been in and out of the clinic for almost three weeks since I had PVD (Posterior Vitreous Detachment) and retina tear on May 18. I guessed, at least for this moment, nothing to worry about.

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Scleral buckle and vitrectomy for retina detachment

May 25th, 2009 at 18:11 · Filed Under Medical · 1 Comment 

I found a video on YouTube showing how a scleral buckle and vitrectomy is done to repair detached retina. It was yucky the first time I watched it and felt like puking. After watching several time, it became more interesting and I knew what had happened to my right eye almost three years ago. I prayed it would not happen to my left eye.

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Laser Surgery

March 21st, 2008 at 23:59 · Filed Under Blogging, Days in My Life, Education, Medical · 2 Comments 

I had a laser surgery for my right eye this afternoon. It is an outpatient procedure. It took me about 5 minutes or less but I had to wait from 10AM till 1:30PM. That was a long wait.

I had my cataract surgery on June 19, 2007. Read here. I also posted a video of a cataract surgery here. The surgery removed my natural lens which had been clouded by the penta-fluoro carbon (C3F8) gas in the retina repair surgery. A new artificial lens was inserted to replace my natural lens. The only consolation reward I could think of was that my short-sightedness was reduced by half, as my doctor told me.

Posterior capsular opacification on retroilluminationDuring the phacoemulsification procedure, the lens is removed but not the posterior lens capsule. It has to be left there to hold the new artificial lens. Not all lens cells can be completely removed. Some are left behind. Sometimes, the lens cells grow across the new lens. It is more likely to grow back if you are younger. Sometimes this happens in a few months after the cataract surgery, sometimes years. This is not a re-growth of cataract. It is the thickening of the back of the lens capsule. It is called the posterior lens capsular opacification. The picture shows the posterior capsular opacification on retroillumination.

Frequency-doubled Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet; Nd:Y3Al5O12) laser with a wave length of 532nm is used to make a “hole” in part of the capsule to allow light to pass through the lens directly. This procedure is called YAG laser capsulotomy. The doctor aims the laser exactly onto the posterior lens capsule and fires very short pulses of laser to blast off the part of the capsule and make a small circle shaped area. This leaves some of the capsule intact to hold the lens. The very small part of the lens capsule which is cut away falls harmlessly inside the eye.

The laser capsulotomy is very quick and not painful at all. I only heard some clicking noise as the laser was working. My vision on my right eye became clear again immediately after the procedure. The only discomfort I had was when my doctor attached a contact lens onto my eye.

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6 days after my eye surgery

September 29th, 2006 at 11:01 · Filed Under At Home, Days in My Life, Family, Medical · Comment 

It has been 6 days after my surgery. My doctor told me on Monday that I had to lay down or sleep on my left side for the next 10 days. I can only get up for 10-15 minutes for some activities after every two hours of laying down in the day time. It is really suffering to be able to lay only on my left side. Every night, I will have to find new posture for sleeping. It seems like every posture is only good for once only.

The reason to lay on my left is to allow the air bubble in my right eye ball to push my retinal onto the wall of upper right corner of my eye ball.

I had both procedures called pneumatic retinopexy and scleral buckle.

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The vitreoretinal specialist and night before surgery

September 23rd, 2006 at 23:11 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Family, Medical · 1 Comment 

YC asked me to call Dr. Lim if I could admit to the hospital at 2000. YC said it was not possible that the op will be done right away as it was not life threatening. He was right.

I waited at YC house for LA and the kids to arrive. They arrived around 1900. We had quick dinner and shower and off we went to the Hospital. By that time, the horse shoe shape had covered more than quarter of the lower left corner of my vision.

I was admitted to the Hospital around 2015 and waited until 2100 for Dr. Lim to examine my eye. His presentation had reassured our decision that he was the right doctor despite of good comments from YC’s friends. He took half hour to explain in great details about my condition and my surgery procedures. He advised me to sleep on my right side. This might help to prevent or slow down the retinal from further detachment. The detachment was on the upper right of my right eye. I could have think of that. Our eye sees things in opposite sides. Bottom to the top. Left to the right. I was too worry to think about this basic science I learned from my high school. What an idiot am I?

The nurse wheeled me back to my ward. LA settled down with me and I kissed and said good night to LA, Dmitry and YC. They told me not to worry and rest well and they would be here in the morning.

I felt calm and I guessed I had accepted the faith. I slept on my right through out the whole night.

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Retinal detachment

September 23rd, 2006 at 13:00 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Family, Medical · Comment 

When I woke up in the morning, the horse shoe had became darker and bigger. It had already covered almost quarter of my right vision.

I quickly made a call to my doctor’s clinic and get the earliest appointment at 0930. We rushed down town and arrived at the clinic at 0925 but we waited until 1230 to see the doctor!

The nurse dilated my right eye and after a while the doctor examined my eye. He confirmed I had retinal detachment. He referred me to Dr. Lim, a vitreoretinal specialist in Kuala Lumpur and arranged with him for an urgent surgery.

After paying the doctor, we made our way home and we began to called our relatives and family to inform them about my condition and urgency for an op. We arrived home by 1330. The house stirred into actions. Phones started to ring.

IS (my brother-in-law) was here in Melaka and we asked him to help. He sent me and my mother-in-law together with Dominik to YC’s (another brother-in-law) home in PJ. LA would and the other 2 kids would be in the other car and they pushed off later. LA needed time to pack for the kids.

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Suspecting internal bleeding

September 21st, 2006 at 17:59 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Family, Medical · Comment 

When I woke up this morning, I noticed a veil or curtain vision on my right eye. The image on my right eye is a little darker and yellowish. We were rushing to bring 3 dinos to the clinics for health screening.

On the way out, I suddenly noticed some dark floaters with smeared tailed. I began to worry. This seemed like some kind of hemorrhaging in the eye ball. After my children health examination, I quickly check the Internet and began to worry. I still had no clue what had happened to my eye.

I immediately called up an eye specialist in town and scheduled an urgent appointment. When I was at the clinic at 1430, and waited for almost half hour, the doctor finally examined my eye. He could not see much until he dilated my eyes. Again, it took another half hour to dilate my eye.

The doctor confirmed that I was having retinal tear and the tear was running across one of the blood vessel. He suggested to perform Laser 532 surgery.

Laser 532 is a green doubled frequency YAG laser with 532 nm wavelength. It is used to seal off retinal tear by creating a scar to prevent further progression.

The laser was very bright and I could hardly open both eye (my left eye was closed due to the reflex of the right eye). The doctor had to increased the power of the laser so that it could penetrate the blood clog. When he did that, I felt pain at each pulses of the laser firing. He could not stand the complaining of my pain and he stopped the surgery and scheduled for the next appointment on next coming Monday.

Because my eye was dilated, I could not drive. I called LA to arrange with my cousin BS give her a lift to the clinic. She drove me home.

When reached home, I immediately Googled “retinal tear”. OMG! This was serious. My fear began to set in after reading about retinal tear and retinal detachment and the surgery procedures to repair the retinal.

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