preemie-l laser and cryo
Gary & Tammy Bangs (gtbangs@worldnet.att.net)
Sun, 02 Jun 1996 16:58:16 -0700
Hi everyone!
First a hardy welcome to all the new members!!!
I wanted to give a slightly different perspective to the laser and cryo
discussion. Taylor did not need it, but I did. About six years ago, I
had both laser and cryo treatments for a detached retina. I had laser
in the left eye and laser and cryo in the right eye. I just wanted to
try and explain how it felt and the amount of pain involved. And how
much my vision changed.
I was given a valium to relax me, and then drops to numb and dilated my
eyes. That is the only medication I received. I really don't know what
meds are given to babies. A small cup like thing was placed on my eye
to keep it open. Then my head was strapped into a machine that
resembles the machine used to check for glaucoma. I could see a white
light. The only pain I felt was during the actual 'blasts', which
lasted only a few seconds for each blast. The pain was very much like
what you feel when you eat ice cream to fast- the ice cream headache.
For the cryo. a tube was inserted between my eyeball and the socket. I
could feel a little pressure, but no pain. My procedure took about a
half hour per eye, and I had quite a lot of damage to repair.
My parents were in the room with me and watched the whole thing. (this
had all been discovered during a visit with them while my hubby was
overseas).
After the procedure, I wore a patch for about 24 hrs. I took tylenol
for a slight headache. I went shopping the next day, there really
wasn't any lingering pain. My eyes were bloodshot for about a week.
Initially, my vision was blurry, it gradually improved over about a
month. As far as the change in my vision. It was only minimal, my left
eye really had no change, and my right only slightly. I must tell you
that I have had very bad vision since birth (about 350/20 in my left and
400/20 in my right)and have been wearing glasses since I was 3. My
vision is fully corrected to 20/20 with glasses. I wear contacts and
was able to resume wearing them after about a month.
As far as vision loss, every place that the laser touches will leave a
scar and a blind spot. This usually is only in the perifial vision. In
my left eye I did not notice any loss of my field of vision, and in my
right, I do have a blind spot at the top of my vision field. I really
only notice it in dark situations when my pupil is very dilated.
To sum things up, my personal experience with these procedures was very
positive. I did not have any lingering pain, and no significant change
in my vision and field of vision.
If Taylor would have needed it. I would have done it. I think the
benefits of saving the vision are worth it. Remember that even if the
vision is changed, it probably can be corrected with glasses, which is
really a small price to pay for sight!!
Tammy (who is blind as a bat without her glasses, but quite used to it)
Mom to Taylor (28 wks-now 3), angel Alex, and Travis (18 mo who wears
glasses for strabismus)
wife to Gary (going out to sea next week)