I had cataract surgery last fall about 4 weeks apart as doc was going on a cruise. Very happy with the new clarity. Then in August had a retina detachment and emergency surgery. The doctor said it was the worst he's seen in 10 years. Had to do a sceria buckle ring that stays in your eye forever and a silicone oil bubble until November 29th when they will flush out the oil and may need a gas bubble while that heals. Ok, here's the scary part. I have a extreme hearing loss since I was 7 and am VERY reliant on lip reading for communication. I told the doctor my eyes are my ears and I'm depending on him. I thought I was going to pass out when they told me what was going on. I'm hoping the final result is something glasses can clear up if needed. I think my oil has gotten dirty over the last 4 months!
Detachments can be very scary, and go pear-shaped fast, specially if you don't get into surgery quickly, and it is a serious detachment. The first was worse than the second, simply because I really didnt know what was going on. I was in surgery 3 hours after the second eye started to detach.
I never had buckles or oil put in, but rather a gas bubble, which dissolves in about 2 months. I had to keep my face down (looking down), and try sleeping at night face down, for 2 weeks while the initial healing took place.
She (the surgeon) got the retina back in place, and lasered it to stay. When the vitreous gel in your eye starts pulling on your retina, it tears a hole in it due to the force the vitreous is pulling with. Where the hole due to the tear occurs, you will loose vision in that particular spot. The tears normally happens close to the edge of the retina, and so you loose a little bit of peripheral vision where the tear occurs. You'll never get that back.
So, for you out there that are near-sighted, reatively old, and go in for cateract surgery, BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR FLOATERS, FLASHING LIGHT(vitreous starting to tear at the retina) AND SHADY AREAS (shades usually start in the inner corner of your eye, i.e. on the outside of your retina (opposite your inner corner of the eye). I also suggest you find the best possible ophthalmologist in your area AHEAD of you cateract surgery, preferably a doc that is doing retina detach surgery on a routine basis. If your eye comes apart, that is not the time to hunt for an ophthalmologist that specializes in retina surgery.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but this is just very serious stuff, where time is of the essence. I will say that my vision is back to 20/20 far vision. Glasses required for reading.