Macular Pucker (Epiretinal Membrane) surgery, anyone have it?

Jayne

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Getting old, went to get glasses and apparently I'm not just old, I'm also broken. Doc #1 says I may have this:

http://www.ncretina.com/macular-pucker.php

and is referring me to Doc #2 to see about options. Anyone have the surgery to correct this? Seems scary as all get out, but I'm pretty much afraid of everything so perhaps I'm over-reacting and all this magic surgery stuff is common place these days.
 
My mom had it done in one eye last year. Also had cataract surgery on the same eye, but two different surgeries a couple months apart. Vision got worse after the mp surgery instead of better. To the point she refuses to let them touch the other eye.
 
My dad had it done about 4 years ago. The surgeon said it was the equivalent of taking a wet piece of 2 ply toilet paper and separating it.
 
Here in Greenville, there is a doctor, Dr Peter Van Houten at East Carolina Retina Consultants. I know him personally (via ham radio/RC planes) and he truly enjoys his job. On top of owning several patents in ophthalmology, he has stuff that the big schools can only dream of. He also saved my father's vision (after we knew him for years) after near retinal detachments and other issues related to surgery etc that another dr did.

Peter told me (while he was scanning my eyes with his leading edge tech equipment for fun and a future baseline. Just showing off and I found it pretty dang cool) "If you're referred to me, I'm your last hope to save your vision". He's not a "get your prescription glasses updated dr" he doesn't do that. He handles the worst case scenarios. Awesome guy and will talk the ears off a billy goat. If you are truly concerned and want a sound 2nd opinion give his office a shout. I wouldn't think twice about letting him handle my eyesight.
 
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My wife has that and is going to the place that comes up in your link for it. They are currently monitoring her condition but surgery is not off the table yet. We are in a wait and see phase.
 
My wife has that and is going to the place that comes up in your link for it. They are currently monitoring her condition but surgery is not off the table yet. We are in a wait and see phase.
Not to make fun of her condition, because I know it's serious, but I had to chuckle.:D

Yeah, all very serious and scary stuff. I had a patient that had retinal separation and was required to maintain her head in a somewhat fixed position and no quick movements.
 
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I have a degenerative eye condition that effects my corneas. The possibility of me needing a cornea transplant in the future is medium to medium high.
I don't trust with just any body. I started with the UNC eye center and ended up at DUKE. I'm not a big fan of these independent clinics. Do the home work on the Dr's before you let them cut.
 
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Getting old, went to get glasses and apparently I'm not just old, I'm also broken. Doc #1 says I may have this:

http://www.ncretina.com/macular-pucker.php

and is referring me to Doc #2 to see about options. Anyone have the surgery to correct this? Seems scary as all get out, but I'm pretty much afraid of everything so perhaps I'm over-reacting and all this magic surgery stuff is common place these days.
That link is from NC Retina and one of their surgeons has done some retina repair on both of my eyes. Different surgeries than yours, but retina repair nonetheless. I've been real pleased with his work. His name ain't from around here but he is. They have a Cary office near Cary Parkway and Tryon Rd.

http://www.ncretina.com/ophthalmologist-sachin-mudvari.php
 
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My Father in law is having surgery for Macular Pucker in about 2 weeks. He is at the point where he can't really see much at all out of his dominant eye because of it.
 
His name ain't from around here but he is.

Same guy I'm going to see. The wife was really impressed with his schooling and said that being head resident is a big deal.

So what's the recovery like for these sorts of things? It says 1-2 weeks, but what does that mean? Are you trapped in the dark unable to move for 1-2 weeks or do you just have to 'take it easy'?
 
My wife has that and is going to the place that comes up in your link for it. They are currently monitoring her condition but surgery is not off the table yet. We are in a wait and see phase.

What's the 'wait and see' part? Is her vision still good enough they don't want to go in unnecessarily, or is there something they think would complicate the surgery?
 
My mom had it done in one eye last year. Also had cataract surgery on the same eye, but two different surgeries a couple months apart. Vision got worse after the mp surgery instead of better. To the point she refuses to let them touch the other eye.

I'm hoping to only have 1 thing done... but they're not done with the diagnostic yet.
 
Same guy I'm going to see. The wife was really impressed with his schooling and said that being head resident is a big deal.

So what's the recovery like for these sorts of things? It says 1-2 weeks, but what does that mean? Are you trapped in the dark unable to move for 1-2 weeks or do you just have to 'take it easy'?
On my detached retina, they surgically repaired it and then injected a gas bubble that basically held the retina in place while it healed and was like looking through an aquarium for weeks in that eye. Other surgeries on my eyes required much less recovery time, so I don't know since the procedure will be different. He will tell you. He's a good communicator (raised in the US I'm pretty sure), and has an agreeable bedside manner, although he works at 90mph with his hair on fire. Thank the insurance companies I guess.
 
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Thank the insurance companies I guess.

We've got a $6500 deductible on our insurance now (thanks obamacare!), so we'll have to figure out what the wife wants done medically this year... the first doc assured me we would hit our out of pocket max on this one.
 
We've got a $6500 deductible on our insurance now (thanks obamacare!), so we'll have to figure out what the wife wants done medically this year... the first doc assured me we would hit our out of pocket max on this one.
Having had eye troubles over the past 5-6 years and seen how it inhibits certain activities until they are repaired I am of the opinion that I'll throw as much money at the problems as necessary. I told my wife that if it was 150 years ago, or we lived in some "developing country" she'd be married to a blind old man by now. As it is, I shoot matches with uncorrected vision every weekend and only need readers to run the shot clock, and keep score. And of course to post snarky responses on CFF.
 
What's the 'wait and see' part? Is her vision still good enough they don't want to go in unnecessarily, or is there something they think would complicate the surgery?


They say surgery is a given just not needed right now. When her eye doctor first found the problem he sent her straight to the retina guys. I got a call at work saying she needed immediate surgery. When she got there they said not a pressing thing.
 
Having had eye troubles over the past 5-6 years and seen how it inhibits certain activities until they are repaired I am of the opinion that I'll throw as much money at the problems as necessary.

In the same boat, just really unhappy that our insurance took a turn for the worst. Paying the same, getting a lot less out of it. They'll cover gender reassignment surgery, but won't cover hearing aids. True a lot more people are deaf than decide they want to chop bits off (or add bits on I guess) but still, it's annoying.
 
Chicken Lady had it two years ago.
 
Visit to the surgeon was fine (well, not exactly fine, but that's a story for another time). I'm at 20/70 in that eye, uncorrectable. If I do the surgery, he thinks it will get to 20/40, but there is no chance it will be fully 'normal' ever.

Possible side effects include death, infection, detached retina, yadda yada.. He did say that if I have it done I'm guaranteed to get cataracts in that eye much earlier than the other so I would have that to look forward to.

So with 20/70, does that mean that all my head shots at 10 yards have really been like they're at 30 yards or something? Maybe cutting all distances in half will transform me into a bad ass shooter? Is that how it works???
 
Visit to the surgeon was fine (well, not exactly fine, but that's a story for another time). I'm at 20/70 in that eye, uncorrectable. If I do the surgery, he thinks it will get to 20/40, but there is no chance it will be fully 'normal' ever.

Possible side effects include death, infection, detached retina, yadda yada.. He did say that if I have it done I'm guaranteed to get cataracts in that eye much earlier than the other so I would have that to look forward to.

So with 20/70, does that mean that all my head shots at 10 yards have really been like they're at 30 yards or something? Maybe cutting all distances in half will transform me into a bad ass shooter? Is that how it works???
Cataract surgery is pretty much a walk in the park, and you'll have it eventually anyway if you live past retirement age. I was posting smart ass remarks an hour after I came home after the surgery, with whichever eye I had worked on that day.
 
Cataract surgery is pretty much a walk in the park, and you'll have it eventually anyway if you live past retirement age. I was posting smart ass remarks an hour after I came home after the surgery, with whichever eye I had worked on that day.

Cataract surgery makes you a wise ass? Interesting side effect.
 
Getting old, went to get glasses and apparently I'm not just old, I'm also broken. Doc #1 says I may have this:

http://www.ncretina.com/macular-pucker.php

and is referring me to Doc #2 to see about options. Anyone have the surgery to correct this? Seems scary as all get out, but I'm pretty much afraid of everything so perhaps I'm over-reacting and all this magic surgery stuff is common place these days.
Wife had it done 2 yrs ago
 
Here in Greenville, there is a doctor, Dr Peter Van Houten at East Carolina Retina Consultants. I know him personally (via ham radio/RC planes) and he truly enjoys his job. On top of owning several patents in ophthalmology, he has stuff that the big schools can only dream of. He also saved my father's vision (after we knew him for years) after near retinal detachments and other issues related to surgery etc that another dr did.

Peter told me (while he was scanning my eyes with his leading edge tech equipment for fun and a future baseline. Just showing off and I found it pretty dang cool) "If you're referred to me, I'm your last hope to save your vision". He's not a "get your prescription glasses updated dr" he doesn't do that. He handles the worst case scenarios. Awesome guy and will talk the ears off a billy goat. If you are truly concerned and want a sound 2nd opinion give his office a shout. I wouldn't think twice about letting him handle my eyesight.
Will call him Tuesday for my wife
 
73 year old Father in Law had it done about a week and a half ago. He reports a huge improvement and he was released to drive, etc within a few days.
 
73 year old Father in Law had it done about a week and a half ago. He reports a huge improvement and he was released to drive, etc within a few days.

That's good news. Apparently the success rate is pretty high.

What was his before/after vision rated at?
 
I don't really know. I know it was his dominant eye and shooting, driving, and pretty much everything had become severely impaired.
 
My dad had one eye done ten years ago at 71, then the other three years later. The macular pucker was fixed, and his vision went from 20/70 to 20/30.

As you noted, he did have to have cataract surgery in each eye within 6 to 12 months of the MP surgery.

In retrospect he would have done the second eye sooner, because the improvement in the first eye masked another problem that was developing... High pressures due to glaucoma that started to degrade his optic nerve.

He would not say the MP surgery caused the pressure issue, but this is something you should have on your radar. Most docs say a pressure score of 21 is high normal, but for him it did a lot of damage, so it seems to vary by person.

His vision has degraded so much that he had to give up driving last year, and now he is working with docs just to maintain his ability to read.

I am sorry you are dealing with this now, and wish you success with the surgery.
 
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