Detached Retina

shoppygirl

Hello lovely ladies  

I am wondering if anyone has had a detached retina after chemo? 

I had some floaters checked out in May that went away and then two weeks ago right after I had my tissue expanders placed, I had emergency surgery to repair 6 holes in my retina!  

They said my retina was very thin and also because I have myopia , that contributed to the detachment.  I am wondering if the chemo had something to do with it too?  

Thoughts?

Melrosemelrose

I am one of those very near sighted people and have always known ( even before I was diagnosed) of the increased possbility of having a retina tear.  About a year or two before I was diagnosed, I had a PVD aka posterior vitrious detachment in my left eye.  It started with my seeing flashes of light in that eye then followed by a shower of floaters.  Fortunately, I did not have any retina tears in that eye. I did  see my opthamoligist and a retina specialist as soon as I started having those flashes of light.   In 2013, about a year after I finished chemo, I had a PVD in my right eye.  Again, it started with flashes of light and then floaters.  Thank goodness I knew that I had to get myself to the retina specialist asap as I did with the first PVD since I had to have my right eye lasered to repair the retina tear.   As for the chemo causing the retina tear, I believe that in my case, my severe myopia is probably the reason I had the PVD event occur in each eye and most likely not the chemo.  From what I have read, these PVD's occur more often at a younger age when one has severe myopia.  PVD's occur only once in each eye; however the possibility of retina tears will continue to exist for me.  

shoppygirl

melrose

Good information  

I too have quite bad myopia and had a Pvd in May.  

Did you have to have a vitrectomy with the gas bubble? 

How is your vision now? 

Thanks 

Kicks

Both of my retinas have detached (about 11 months apart). This was roughly 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 yrs after chemo.  

I was told there are many 'things' that can contribute to detaching.  Age, being nearsighted, having had cataract surgery, light colored eyes can predispose you, to some degree, for detaching.

I am old (was 66 and 67 at the times), nearsighted, had cataract surgery about a yr after chemo, have very light green eyes.  With first detachment, a Sat afternoon I went with Hubby on a tow (he's a tow truck driver) and on the way I started having a lot of 'black floaters'. The hundreds of them turned into thousands and then went away.  Sunday no issues.  Monday morning there was what 'looked' like an oil drop in corner of eye so called Dr.  I was given an appt for days away but was told if got worse to get into UC and they would get me into a Specialist.  Well, it got worse and I was sent to local eye institute the next day.  That was not good.  Finally, I did get sent to a Specialist in private practice - THANKFULLY.    Long story shorter - the gas bubble seemed to work but 28 days later it redetached -so surgery.  Last summer, 12 days after I saw Dr H. for a check up, signs of other retina detaching so called and was told to get in as fast as I could safely get there.  I did and yes it was detaching and gas procedure done which worked great this time.

I'll never know for sure rather or not chemo had anything to do.   If it did - then I'd rather be still alive and dealing with 'whatever' than to have not done chemo.  There is no way I'd still be alive and loving LIFE. That's what matters to me.

shoppygirl

kicks

Yes, I totally agree, I would never regret doing chemo!  

The day I had my emergency surgery, my 11 year old son attended the funeral for the mom of one of his friends. She choose to do only hollistic treatments and passed away from medastic Breast cancer a year and a half later.  So sad  

How is your vision now?

dancingdiva

hi, I just started taxol 3wks ago and last week, I got this floater, pixelated thing happening in the left eye peripheral vision out of the blue. Started to freak out, don't want to lose my vision. It didn't happen again but MO told me to go to ER if it does. I'm getting an appt with a ophthalmologist anyhow. 

When u got the floaters...was it constant or did they come and go?

shoppygirl

dancingdiva

It was there all the time but went away the first time. The second time it got worse to the point where I could not see anything.  I also had vision issues that went away in the other eye during treatment but that eye is fine now.  

Good luck with your treatment!! 

Melrosemelrose

shoppygirl- my vision is ok now.  I just had an appt with the retina specialist.  He told me things look good and no recent retina tears.  However, he did tell me as he always does..... if something changes.... a new floater..... or I can't see as well as I think I should, I need to call and get an emergency appt to see him  asap.  In not so many words, the sooner I get in, the better.  As for floaters, yes, I do have some residual floaters which are not small.  Overtime, they have improved but they will not go away permanently.  I was lucky that the only procedure I've had is the laser treatment in one eye to help prevent the retina detachment and there has been no detachment of either retina.

shoppygirl

thanks Melrose 

I am glad that you are doing well ! 

SandyLovesLucy

Hi everyone, thanks for all you have shared here.  This is the only thread where I have seen floaters mentioned. I have completed 10 of 12 weekly TH infusions.  Several days ago I thought there was a black fly darting in front of my face and started waving my hands around to get rid of it.  I still saw it so went to a mirror to see it better and realized, nope, no fly, just me waving my hands around my head like a crazy lady!  So it is this annoying floater that keeps darting in my vision.   Am going to report it when I go to chemo today but wasn't sure how much urgency there is to call my eye doctor. I've had floaters before so don't want to alarm myself unnecessarily, but do want to stay on top of anything that could be a more serious problem.

Sandy

shoppygirl

sandy

Just to let you know that a Dr can't look into your eye and see if there is a detachment. Your eyes have to be dialaited and then they have to use the machine at the ophthalmologist to see what is going on. Floaters are very common but when there is a dark bubble in your eye that is limiting your vision, it is serious. 

Good luck with everything  

SandyLovesLucy

shoppygirl, thanks so much.  I thought as much but wanted to get a sense of how often this is related to chemo and how soon I should call the eye doc. Hoping that it is just (another!) thing caused by ageing.  

shoppygirl

sandy 

I am sure it is. I think that we forget (I know I do) that we still get age related issues as well!  It hard not to think that everything is related to cancer.  

Melrosemelrose

Sandy- Yes, I've had floaters for years but the floaters that showed up from the PVD was quite different.  Some were dark and larger in size than the other floaters.  Some were weblike.  If you start to see a some darkness on the edge of your peripheral vision, you may want to call your eye doctor asap so you can have it checked out.  I guess bunge jumping is out for me as a new sport.... lol.

SandyLovesLucy

Melrose, thanks for the information.  So sorry that you have to check bunge jumping off your list!   Actually, all of this BC experience can be a convenient excuse for getting out of unappealing activities!

Kicks

According to my Eye Dr, black floaters are not something to worry about unless there are a lot or changes in the usual.  As he explained it, basically everyone has them to some degree and the older we get the more likely we are to have/notice them.  That basically they are 'junk' that has collected over years.  They often/usually stay out of the vision area so we don't realize they are there most of the time.  He used some fancier medical terms first but then basically said what I just wrote.

Please - if you think you are having a retina detach - get competent care with a Specialist ASAP!  Time is very important!  Even if the Dr is supposed to be a Specialist -DO NOT LET THEM GET BY WITH PUTTING YOU OFF FOR DAYS BEFORE TREATMENT!

In my first case, hundreds of black floaters appeared rapidly and then 'exploded' into thousands of pin point dots.  Then disappeared as fast as they had come.  I don't remember the time frame exactly but was probably between 1 - 2 hrs from start to finish.  That was Sat. afternoon.  Sun everything normal.  Mon morn I woke up with 'looked' to me like a drop of oil in the inner corner of right eye.  Called my eye clinic and was told they had no opening for several days but sounded like retina might be detaching so if anything got worse get to UC and they would get me an appt with a specialist.  It got worse so had Hubby take me there (35 miles away and I did not want to drive that far not knowing what was going on).   They got me an appt with the local large eye facility.  I won't go into all that was not done in appropriate time there - in other words nothing was done on Tues and told wait til Fri for surgery.  Got rapidly worse but would do nothing.  I had to get VERY nasty with them but I did get them to send me to a specialist in private practice.  Dr. H was/is fantastic.  It was decided to do the gas treatment first as it is less invasive.  It seemed to be working for 28 days but then re-detached so it off to surgery which had good results, though not perfect.  

With the other eye, I had had a follow up appt 2 weeks before for right eye with Dr H. - everything looked good then.  2 weeks later coming home from town, I started to 'see' and oil dot in left eye.  Got home and called his office and talked to one of his RNs who quickly came back and told me Dr said get in as fast as I safely could.  Had gas procedure immediately.  Still doing great.

Vision -  with the right (the one not treated initially), during the time after Dr H did the gas, colors were VERY off and there was vertical and horizontal 'squiggles'.  A year+ after surgery, some colors are still weird (some blue is green, some green is blue, some yellows are pink, some yellows are grey and some other more subtle changes) and vivid colors are more subdued.  Everything appears a bit farther off than with other eye.  No 'squiggly' lines.  Center of vision has a small circle where everything sort of blurrs into a fuzzy spot but rest is shape and clear.  All in all - better than was expected with the delayed care and then re-detaching.  Left eye doing great but I got immediate, competent care.  For years, I've had a little opaque 'worm' like shape that would occasionally float across vision field .  Well, after gas was put in and the cryo, it either got bigger or changed shape because it became more of a fog or cloud that would float across but blinking gets it to move on.  As time goes on, it seems to be going back to being a 'worm' shape.  (No it is not really a worm - just the shape.)  If it doesn't get better or progresses, then in a year it will be surgery to remove but it is nothing to worry about - just an annoyance at times.

My thoughts - ANY change in vision - SEEK COMPETENT CARE IMMEDIATELY!!  Vision is so delicate and so important (to me at least). There are many potential issues that I might take a while to seek care for but not vision.  Also educate oneself as unfortunately not all Drs (even Specialist) are competent.

Sorry for rambling on so long but sight is so important and is not something to be ignored when there is a possible issue.

(Dr H. is truly, in today's world, what a Dr should be.  Twice he has come into his office on Sat to see me and only me.  The Sat before Labor Day in 2013, the day after surgery, he had me come in to be checked.  With the last time, he had me come in the next day after putting gas in, again on a Sat and only for me.  He decided that day to do cryo to be a bit more positive.  One of his RNs also showed up to assist him.  She said he seldom asks them to come in but they try to be sure an RN is there as it makes easier on to do what he needs to do with help but he will do what he needs to do.  That's a Dr in the truest sense of the word to me.)

shoppygirl

kicks  

Thank you for your very informative post!  I totally agree that time is of the essence when it comes to a issue with your eye.

I personally think that I could of gone in sooner but if I am completely honest, I would say that I was a little in denial about there being an issue. I had just had my tissue expanders placed and that was such a painful surgery, the mom of one of my sons friends had just passed away and I think I was kind of in shock from everything. I am sure if I had gone in a day or two sooner, I would not of had 6 holes in my retina. Anyway it seems to be healing well now and the Dr is pleased with my recovery. I know better now. 

Kicks, I wanted to ask, when it redetached 28 days after the first time had you had a vitrectomy yet? Also did you have to do the face down posturing?

Thanks again for all your help!! 

Kicks

The first treatment, once I got to Dr H., ecompassed removing some vitrious gel that was replaced with gas to hold the retina in place and done in office.  When it re-detached, it was a somewhat complicated vitrectomy done at a same day surgery hospital in OR.  He does not like to do 'buckles' as what he told me was they are 'old school' with newer better procedures that work better in most situtation.  Also more chance of developing double vision after a 'buckle'.  I

I had to lay on my left side with both eyes to keep the bubble in the right position.  The position to keep the gas where it needs to be, is different depending on exactly where the tear or complete detachment is. At least that was what I was told.

shoppygirl

thanks Kicks

I had a victrectomy and a gas bubble.  I had to lay face down for 16 hours a day for 13 hours a day. Not fun but necessary!! 

Thanks for all your great information! 

Kicks

I was told to stay laying on my left side basically 24/7 initally with all 3 times.  (Which I did)  Only to get up to go to the bathroom.  With each follow up appt., I got a litle more time I could be up -percentage wise.  I slept those time on the couch because to roll off my left side I had to actively wake up to actually turn over.  Not fun to do but had to be done - so did it.  I didn't realize at the time but Hubby spent quite a few nights sleeping in his reclinner.