• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Vitreous bleed

  • Thread starter Thread starter nicolabarnett
  • Start Date Start Date
N

nicolabarnett

Guest
Just a quick quetion asking for advice please.

I have had bleeds in my eyes for years now and the one i have since last summer hasnt cleared, att the eye hospital on friday the durgeon said we will give your eye 4 weeks to clear if it doesn't clear i will refer you to a surgeon and have a vitreous sirgery.

My question is, I am at work today and have had another bleed in my ete. Shall I go sick off from work and rest the eye to hopefully mend or shall I struggle on

If I am signed off from work could i lose my job

Thank you
 
I think you do need to contact your Ophthalmology clinic asap and seek advice, your retinopathy is very active and the Vitrectomy operation will hopefully settle things down as they can laser the eyes whilst doing the operation while you are asleep, the removal of the vitreous gel will clear your vision so that you can see again, the operation has a high success rate and is only done as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted.

Do contact the clinic to get some confirmation on what you should do, good luck.
 
Definitely get advice from your ophthalmology clinic as noblehead suggests. I kept working with retinal bleeds as my job was largely desk based and didn't involve any lifting or physical work. It is devastating when bleeds keep happening as the blood takes weeks/months to disperse and it is so distracting to have large dried blood patches in your vision.

I have had vitrectomies in both eyes and required further wash outs of the vitrectomies before my retinopathy eventually ceased to be so aggressive. Any further bleeds you may have after having a vitrectomy disperse a lot quicker as the jelly is replaced with saline solution so the bleeds do not get trapped in the eyeball jelly and wash away relatively quickly.

I hope your clinic has been able to advise you on the best thing to do and I wish you good luck.
 
Thanks guys, I'm off for a week at the moment and have to go back to hospital next week, it's really scarey isn't it, no body tells you about this complication when you are young and care free.
After your operations were you postured for a few weeks? It sounds quite boring if so, are you still able to work and drive? Nic x
 
nicolabarnett said:
Thanks guys, I'm off for a week at the moment and have to go back to hospital next week, it's really scarey isn't it, no body tells you about this complication when you are young and care free.
After your operations were you postured for a few weeks? It sounds quite boring if so, are you still able to work and drive? Nic x
Click to expand...

Yes it is scary, it's absolutely horrible having eye bleeds and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies.

I had a vitrectomy operation in one eye, following the surgery I had to posture for 10 days whilst the eye absorbed the gas bubble, you were allowed to walk around for 5 mins every hour or you could posture for 2 hours and walk around, wash or eat during the 10 min break.

The advice is when retinopathy is active is not to do anything strenuous, so as Flowerpot says no heavy lifting or exercising where you are exerting yourself.

There's a really good website explaining what diabetic retinopathy is all about and the treatments involved in treating it, it has also has a wealth of other information with regards to maintaining good bg, bp and cholesterol levels, take a look around:

http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/Information_for_patients.html
 
Flowerpot, when you were posturing was it continually for 10 days, night time aswell? I'm wondering how I will be able to do this as I suffer from sleep apnea and have to wear a cpap mask making it impossible to lie on my belly x
 
I had to posture face down for 10 days and nights with my left eye vitrectomy as I also had a retinal tear. I had a gas bubble put in after both vitrectomies but with the right eye I was told I didn't need to posture but obviously treat it with great care and avoid moving my head as much as possible.

Has your surgeon told you that you will have to posture when you have a vitrectomy? It maybe that a gas bubble and being as careful as possible might be sufficient as it was with my right eye. It would be impossible to lie on your stomach with your head in a face cradle with anything else on your face so I am sure they will advise you on what the best method of recovery will be for for a good outcome.

The consequences of proliferative retinopathy are terrifying and I really hope your further treatment and surgery goes well for you.
 
I had a big bleed in October 13 and subsequently a vitrectomy in December 13. I had to posture for 10 days but this was on my back not my front which confused me. I could only get up for 10 mins every hour and sleep on my back too. Books on CD were my life saver.
 
No it hasn't been decided yet, I have 4 weeks for this to clear up but I have had it since summer so I would imagine it will go ahead, I find out more at end of January, going back to work on Monday as scared of losing my job x
 
nicolabarnett said:
No it hasn't been decided yet, I have 4 weeks for this to clear up but I have had it since summer so I would imagine it will go ahead, I find out more at end of January, going back to work on Monday as scared of losing my job x
Click to expand...
You can not be sacked due to illness, Even if you could what would be better job loss or sight loss?
 
That's very true, but after a meeting at work which I wasn't involved in today, i received a phone call saying I need to watch.my back x
 
nicolabarnett said:
That's very true, but after a meeting at work which I wasn't involved in today, i received a phone call saying I need to watch.my back x
Click to expand...
Keep a diary of what is said to you.
Can you still do the job if you are blind?
 
If i lose the sight in one eye then yes. I will keep a diary, great idea thank you x
 
nicolabarnett said:
If i lose the sight in one eye then yes
Click to expand...

Don't think of it that way, yes they are risks involved in the surgery but there are risks with any type of surgery, the Ophthalmology team will explain everything to you before the operation, but the success rate for vitrectomy operations are quite high so you should take some comfort from this.

If its any help I've just had my checked this week at the Ophthalmology clinic and everything was fine, it's been 9 years, soon to be 10 since I last had any problems with retinopathy so there's always hope, just hang in there and stay positive.
 
The last thing your work should be doing when you are dealing with such difficult complications is ringing you to tell you to watch your back. That is not on. My work, after initially calling me in to suggest I was 'swinging the lead'- even though I was blind in one eye - did treat me fairly once they understood the severity of the problem. Do your work understand the physical effects on your sight from having retinal bleeds and do they understand the severity and importance of dealing with retinopathy to protect your sight?

@noblehead is spot on to focus on a positive outcome that will halt any further changes. Don't despair, there is good reason to be optimistic.
 
No work don't understand the effect of having retinal bleeds, I have asked to have my desk moved so the sun or daylight isn't shining on my pc screen etc. I lack confidence and work mostly in a male environment, male line manager and colleagues. I think because I don't look different then they are not interested in my illness
 
Back
Top