Sharing Experience of Retinal Detachment Surgery Part 4 - Just Menong

Dear friend, How are you today? I hope you are doing well. As I write this, I honestly remember the times when I secretly cried while looking at Zauji sitting on the green carpet wearing his favorite blue shirt. The shirt with a smiley face that had a hole in the neck. I never imagined that one day I would share my experience of retinal ablation surgery.

It was a hard time

Retinal Detachment

Surgery Patient

That's what the Cicendo Hospital doctor told us.
A retinal tear in his right eye caused Zauji to suddenly lose half of his vision. Of course, friends know the retina is a thin layer in the deepest part of the eyeball that functions as a point of vision. Retinal detachment means that the retina in Zauji's right eye detached, causing the retina to lack oxygen, which caused Zauji's vision to disappear.

Retina

We should have immediately gotten medical help when Zauji felt a thread in his right eye after falling off his motorbike a few weeks earlier. And it turned out that the thread that Zauji saw was a severed optic nerve. However, our ignorance about this emergency condition caused us to delay consulting an eye doctor as soon as possible. And as a result, the retina had already detached.

Related: Herbal Shop Bandung

Retinal Detachment Surgery

Surgery is the only way to 'reattach' the retina that has come loose. Retinal detachment can be treated by vitrectomy, which is the removal of the vitreous gel (the clear body of the eye) and replacing it by injecting gas bubbles or silicone oil as a support for the retina so that it remains in position.

If gas is injected, the gas bubbles will disappear over time and be replaced by natural eye fluid, while if silicone is used, it is only allowed for 3-6 months, and then the silicone must be evacuated or removed.

Another method to 'reattach' the retina is to install scleral buckling, which is a silicone tie to the sclera (the outer white of the eye). Silicone will bring the wall of the eyeball closer to the retina so that the retina returns to its original position. If retinal detachment is very severe, silicone will be installed around the eye permanently but will not obstruct vision.

What about the days we used to spend together accompanied by our beloved 'old' motorbike?
How will we get through the days until we are old without being able to look at each other anymore?

Related: What is Gluten-Free Flour?

What about our ambition to see the Kaaba next year?
How?
How?
How?

And a million other hows?

Related: Getting to Know Cystitis and Fatty Liver

I started to imagine Zauji not being able to do anything like he used to. Since long ago, I always protested when Zauji forbade me from removing the gray hair on my head. I didn't want him to see it. I was also embarrassed when he saw the cellulite carvings on my body or the wrinkles that started to appear on my face and my dark circles that couldn't be removed. Now I hope Zauji can see again with his own eyes all the shortcomings on my body that he always praised every time.

OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography)

Without realizing it, the operation lasted seven times. From installing silicone with the lightest viscosity (1300 cST), installing scleral buckling, and injecting CF6 gas to HD silicone (a silicone mixture that has a viscosity > silicone 5000 cSt). No less than four retinal subspecialists, two glaucoma subspecialists, and one cataract subspecialist have accompanied Zauji for almost 3 years. The waiting room of the Cicendo Hospital clinic is our friend. Timol and glaupen are friends who keep Zauji's eye pressure stable at <24.

Eye Drops to Reduce Eye Pressure: Thymol

We realize that healing belongs to Allah alone. God's will is our goal. No matter how hard we try, if God doesn't want it, it certainly won't happen. There is no power except the power of Allah that will restore healing to Zauji.

Make maximum effort and be grateful in every situation. Alhamdulillah ala kulli thing.

Related: How Much Does Physiotherapy Cost in Bandung?

Approaching 2 years since the last surgery, the silicone in Zauji's right eye has not been evacuated. Like a dilemma, silicone evacuation is clearly impossible because the results of the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) examination showed that the retina was not fully attached. While delaying the evacuation will cause the optic nerve to 'die' due to the presence of silicone. This will affect the condition of the papilla, which will continue to decline.

OCT Results

Although medically, Zauji's right eye is now 'difficult to save,' Zauji's condition is not as bad as we imagined. Zauji can still do his activities as usual even though he can no longer ride a motorbike at night. Nothing has changed except the gratitude that we always express every time.

What Zauji always says is, why should we always focus on the blessing of the right eye that is gone when there are still many other blessings that Allah has given us? the blessing of the left eye, the blessing of breathing, the blessing of gathering with family, and especially the blessing of faith.

Retinal Detachment Surgery Results

Maybe the results of the retinal ablation surgery were not as good as we had hoped. However, Zauji is still by my side. What other pleasures would I deny? We can still do many things together and enjoy time and everything like before.

Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal. All praise is due to Allah in every situation.
Sadness is sometimes there. And I hope none of my friends feel it too.

This letter to a friend I dedicate to you. I know; there are still many of my friends who are currently struggling and sharing their experiences of retinal ablation surgery. And maybe we have never met. But my prayers, God willing, will always be there for you.