This post will be dedicated to Q&A about torn or dislocated Retinas and Vitrectomy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posteri...ous_detachment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrectomy
There may be no questions because other than myself I don't know anyone else who has had an issue, however everyone I know, knows someone who knows someone.
A very important thing to know is at the first sign of a torn retina you should see an eye doctor. I don't mean "well I got Friday off so I will go then". That could turn an in office laser repair with minor recovery into a rush to Rockyview with months of recovery and terrible vision until recovered.
The best way to explain the first sign is to talk about mine.
One evening I kept thinking there was a piece of dirt on my glasses. So I kept taking them off and blowing and wiping them obsessively all night. The next day at work, I changed glasses to my safety prescription glasses and the spec was still there. That was when I noticed the black spec moved with my eye just a moment behind.
I waited a day to see if it would go away, but the spec doubled in size so I phoned the doctor who sent me to Southern Alberta Eye Center.
I had one small tear that he fixed immediately and almost painlessly. There also was a larger tear that he had to put a gas bubble under and come back in a week to laser that sucker. The bubble had to dissipate on its own so it was like the Dr. said looking through a fish bowl.
They thought I was out of the woods so warned me about something that might look like a black curtain and come back in two months.
Well that black curtain came, and what it is, is the retina falling off. Now I needed the Vitrectomy. They let my wife drive me to the hospital but it was all rushed. Straight in and to a bed and to surgery.
Now my eye has a buckle on it and its filled with oil to keep pressure on the retina. Making vision kinda like you would imagine an eye filled with oil would be.
So not being able to use tools or lift anything over five pounds during recovery leads me to today, bored out of my tree, rambling on.
Oh yeah one more thing. Nobody needs to tell the story about how when they were in school they dislocated someones retina in a fight. I think I heard that story 15 times from 15 people. It's the same story recycled just with different names and I didn't believe the first one I heard.