Macular hole repair surgery - advice please!

I've no experience but if you contact The Macular Society I'm sure they will be able to put you in touch with someone who has

I have Macular Degeneration in one eye and Geographic Atrophy in the other but sorry I have no experience with your impending surgery.

Rather than cancel it I think you need to have another consultation with one of the Ophthalmic team to try to put your mind at rest. Good luck.

Please don’t decline surgery. Phone the Macular Society as advised. A friend of mine in her fifties had this done it’s changed her life. We are fortunate to live in a country which will do this and enable us to keep our sight. I hate the idea of of having my eyes touched too, but if it’s a mater of keeping my sight I would.

Hello Willjac I've just noticed that no one has responded to your post so far. So I thought I would bump this up in the hope of your post getting noticed. Sorry I have no experience of the condition you describe. I wish you successful surgery.

Well, by the time I had finished typing, several responses. That's good.

I have a macular hole Willjack I ve just had a cataract off that eye in the hopes it will help
Don’t refuse the op it’s done under general anesthetic and although the two weeks after are difficult (you have to stay face down for two weeks) but two weeks isn’t very long in the grand scheme of things Could you stay with family or they stay with you to help out the reason you have to stay face down (sleeping etc) is because they have to put a gas bubble in the eye and it mustn’t move
If the cataract removal doesn’t help my macular hole heal I will have the next op offered I would definitely advise you not to refuse it

I have a small macular hole, Willjac123. It’s being closely monitored at the moment - my consultant said that he’ll operate just as soon as the risk/benefit ratio tips to a point where he needs to act. I’ve to ring the clinic if I have a sudden deterioration in my vision or any flashes, etc, and they’ll fit me straight in. I’ll be taking his advice on this and not refusing the surgery when it’s offered, even though the weeks after it will be difficult. Please discuss your fears with your medical team and don’t decline the surgery - our sight is so very precious.

Thank you all for your kind responses. I was due to have the surgery yesterday then it was cancelled at the last minute so, although I'm not normally superstitious, I keep thinking it's a sign to not do it! Silly, really.
But I have no real problem with my vision- my good right eye compensates so well to mask the slight distortion in my left eye.
I guess I need to put my big girls pants on!
Bluebelle, I hate the thought of the constant facedown afterwards
Aldom, thank you for being so thoughtful

Hi I had macular hole surgery 4 years ago. Originally my optician thought the changes in my vision was due to a cataract . The hospital appt verified it was a macular hole and a cataract on top.

I had an operation really quickly ( you shouldn’t delay or it gets worse and can risk your sight in that eye) . The surgeon did the cataract first which was really quickly done. He then repaired the whole by pumping gas into the eye. This means as the gas dissipates over time ( on average 10-12weeks) it repairs the hole and improves your vision. Your vision will never be quite as perfect as before but still fine. Be aware you have no sideways vision for some time which is difficult and I had some dizziness and my spatial awareness was off for a while.

You use eye drops for 4 weeks and you shouldn’t bend over to pick things up. You wear an eye patch for 24 hours. It would be good to be with someone who can look after you for about 2 weeks whilst you adjust. The op took an hour and doesn’t hurt you have anaesthetic injection into the side of your eye and anaesthetic drops and surgical paper over your face. You must lie still but the staff talk to you all the time . Don’t be scared . I couldn’t drive for 3 months and you can’t fly for the same amount of time and need to tell the hospital if you need another anaesthetic in that time. Hope that helps please definitely have it done

By the way I did not do the face down. Many surgeons don’t now. Find one who says you don’t need to

TwiceAsNice, thank you for all that useful information. My surgery will be under general anaesthetic.
If I'm honest, I think it's the facedown that's bothering me most.
My eye surgeon has said a week facedown but I can sleep on my side-as far as I'm aware, that's standard within my NHS Hospital Trust.
Could I ask you, were you able to see well/ read etc with your good eye after surgery?

My brother had a hole in his retina repaired over 15 years ago. He seems to have been fine since. He developed cataracts and had them operated on a year or so ago. He is 80.

I have had macular holes in both eyes. Go for it. No problem at all. Dont worry any injection is not IN the eye but near the eyebrow. No pain.

A weeks recovery just looking down and taking it easy.
Bit of a crick in the neck but no problem.

Don't fret about the sleeping face down thing ---- I had to sleep flat on my back for 4 weeks after a spinal op. Very flat. I was given firm foam shapes to keep me rigid when I got home, in the hospital I was in a plaster cast.
I thought I'd never sleep, but you do.
You'll be fine, two weeks of poor sleep isn't a lot to pay for saving your sight.

I have had multiple eye surgeries involving retinal detachment repair. In my case the macula was completely off but I would imagine some of my experience will be similar to a macula hole repair. My surgery was done while conscious and in my case lasted 1 - 2 hours. It is important that you are very still so you may be offered a sedative. An anaesthetic injection in and around the eye and drops ensure that you will not feel anything and your face and other eye will be covered so you can't see anything. I see however that you will have a GA (not offered to me) so you won't have to worry about any of that. I mention it in case your surgeon decides to do the operation under LA. You will have a vitrectomy and the eye cavity will be filled with gas which slowly disperses over a period of up to ten weeks. Don't book an overseas holiday as you can't fly with the gas in your eye. After the operation there is a bit of discomfort but not real pain. You may need to 'posture' that is keep your face down and parallel to the ground most of the day and lie face down when in bed for about two weeks after your operation. The hospital lent me a pillow with a hole in the middle so I could breath ?. Because my retina has detached multiple times it is pretty damaged and I have limited sight in my 'bad' eye so my outcome is not great but better than if I hadn't had the operations. Even so I am able to see, read, watch tv etc with my 'good' eye. The success rate for retinal surgery is very high (I was just unlucky) so you have every reason to go through with the op. The minor inconvenience of uncomfortable sleeping for two weeks or less is worth the improvement of your sight. I apologise for this extremely lengthy post but I feel quite strongly about eye health and wanted to reassure you that there is nothing to fear from this type of surgery. My very best wishes and I hope we will be hearing of your successful recovery in a few months. X

Hi I was able to read and watch television after the surgery although sometimes I only wanted to do both for short times as my eye sometimes ached. General sight was good enough and improved every week but peripheral vision was bad for a while so had to keep turning my head in some situations and when walking would jump if someone came up to the side of me.

I'm so glad that I posted for advice on Gransnet as you've all been so informative and reassuring.
Thank you all