Help! I feel like a Dalek!

My sister in law had this op in the summer of 2019. Happy to say it has been a complete success but wearing a protective eye patch said she felt like a pirate and also found it made her feel unsteady on her feet sometimes

Are you up and about though? She had to lie on her front for something like 45 minutes of each hour for the first week (maybe 2?) gradually decreasing.
Good luck, wishing you a speedy recovery!

I've been referred for that op! Not looking forward to it one little bit.

Is this operation to prevent macular degeneration? Asking because my mother and her three siblings all suffered from it.

I've never had the operation either but suspect it might happen at some point.

However and on a random point, please make sure, if ever you have to have emergency treatment and are offered Entonox as pain relief, you must not have it! It is contraindicated in cases of this particular eye procedure. The clinician/first aider should ask you but might overlook the matter unintentionally!

Thank you everybody! First of all, my surgeon said that lying down on your front is now thought not to make much difference so he told me not to.

Secondly, the op itself really was nothing to worry about I was terrified! You have numbing eye drops and an injection into the skin around the eye (I hardly felt it) but the great thing is that the staff make a sort of tent over your eyes so you can't see any scary instruments. If anything, it was just a bit boring.

No, it is not to prevent macular degeneration. I had a hole which came from nowhere but the rest of my maculars are healthy. If it hadn't been for a routine eye test at Specsavers I would never have known because your stronger eye can take over for you.

Yes, there are restrictions, you can't fly for 3 months or so or go scuba diving, mountain climbing etc - anything that affects the pressure in the eye. You cannot have a general anaesthetic which contain nitrous oxide (Entonox I think) as PollyDolly said, for 3 months and you have to carry a red alert warning card and wear a yellow warning bracelet.

Nobody should worry about having this op. It's inconvenient but worth it. Thank you MawBe for your encouraging message.

I’ve been blind in my left eye since I was a baby. I have a little sight, I can see colours for example, but no realistic sight. I’ve lived a normal life, can drive and do everything. I do have a little trouble with 3D vision, I’m not good at judging spaces and so on.

Baggs sadly no, this is not a cure or treatment for MD - for which there is no cure. This operation will be for the repair of a macular hole. Mr Isabella is awaiting admission this month for a repair of his macular hole