Confused

Also with my Avastin injections, it looks like liquid goes into my eye, but it’s clear, with sometimes a tiny blood spot, usually not. Sometimes I end up with what looks like a tiny bubble floating around my vision for the next day so, which is also normal and goes away. Within about 20-30 min, I can pretty much see fine, but my eye is sensitive/sore for the next 5-6 hours I’d say. I usually get mine as late in the day as possible, so it interferes with my work/day less, and then when I wake up the next day, I feel fine.

As I write this, I’m sitting at the ophthalmologist office awaiting a sharp poke in each eye (Eyelea). Never fun. Uncomfortable rather than painful. And always as late in the day as possible so I can work.
The vitreous hemorrhage two weeks ago was very concerning although I self diagnosed and avoided full on panic. But the blurry vision persists and I’ll be happy when it resolves.
Ten years ago I had the lasers in the eyes which cleared things until just recently so I should be grateful. Interesting to me, I didn’t have a hemorrhage until after my second set of injections(!?) which made me suspicious that the needle caused the bleeding.
But my reading does not confirm this fear.
Im doing my best with the limited resources granted to me. :grinning:

So laser works by essentially killing sections of your retina, so then the proliferated blood vessels stop growing/shrink because they stop needing to feed it so much. Luckily, you can do that a fair bit before it causes major vision problems, but it will add up eventually if you keep doing it. It also depends where on the retina they are lasering re the effects. As I said above, I had to have a fair bit of laser initially, and as a result, my peripheral (side) vision is not as good as it used to be, and that’s where the rods* are located, which is what you use to see in low light. So I mostly only notice the vision loss when driving at night, which is not as comfortable for me as it used to be, especially in bad weather or if I am unfamiliar with where I’m going.

Overall though, laser is a clear better option than having the retinopathy continue to get worse! And I do not believe injections alone would have been an adequate option at the beginning for me. But at this point my doctor has said I can either continue with occasional injections or try more laser, and I’d rather do injections up to a few times a year than lose further vision.

*black and white vision detecting cells, vs cones which detect color and are concentrated in the center of the retina.

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Can I ask how long ago you had this lasering done? The part of me that you’ve terrified is really hoping that was a long time ago and that’s an outdated explanation. But maybe it’s just a dark side that wasn’t explained well, or more likely, I didn’t process because I was swayed by his exuberance. He’s a technophile, like me, so I got wrapped up in the excitement of what the new "toys"can do.

My doctor explained that the lasering was a fine-detailed procedure to cauterize specific blood vessels, which is why he needs to be able to see them clearly. Nothing about killing sections of the retina. That sounds more like a broad approach with a different type of laser. (My professional career was with medical device photonics, so I’m intimately familiar with the advances of light therapies and how they can be applied.). At least that’s what I’m hoping for!

I have never experienced permanent vision loss from retinopathy. My vision has been very consistent and unchanging. I only get the temporary bleed obstructions, which eventually go away and my vision is golden again. So the idea of the treatment actually causing more damage than I’ve ever had is scary!

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Robyn, I received the same explanation that you did. I was also told that it can be done numerous times without harming my vision. Except for the bit of blood that hasn’t yet been absorbed my vision is fine. I had laser work done and a week later I had the area cauterized. It was a fairly easy process with no patch required. My eye was irritated after the cauterization, so I used over the counter eye drops and a wet washcloth since my eyes were tearing. The eye felt fine the next day.

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Mine was done in 2016 and 2017. Again, it takes a lot before you have very noticeable vision loss, and I only notice mine really re reduced peripheral/night vision. My vision is otherwise not noticeably affected, but given that I started to see slight changes and feel less comfortable driving at night, I don’t want any more. I believe it is the same as current procedures.