Implant follow-up appointment

[saralynn143]

Dashed to St. Louis yesterday afternoon (after picking up my kids from their first half-day of school) to see Dr. Custer for a follow-up. I managed to get there a little early, but ended up waiting in the exam room for a really, really long time. Apparently an elderly gentleman has a mass of some sort in one of his eyes and he and his family had lots of questions. Those paper-thin exam room walls don't have much respect for HIPAA, I'm afraid. The office manager did drop in a couple of times to apologize, and asked if they had done my surgery just last week. I said yes, and she said I looked great. A few other people popped in to look as well. Apparently not too many implant patients get away without a black eye.

Once Dr. Custer finally did get to me, he said I am healing very nicely. The stitches have almost completely dissolved. My lid shuts at most halfway during a blink, but almost completely when I close my eyes. He thinks it may still improve as I heal, but the only option he sees at this point would be to remove the weight and put in two smaller ones, because I have the largest platinum one (1.8 grams). Or he can stitch the corners of my eye to bring the top lid down. He is not keen on doing more surgery on me as long as we are hopeful that I will be regaining movement. I am not keen on additional surgery either, especially the double-weight idea.

We also talked about acuity. My visiion fluctuates a lot during the day, depending on how dry my eye is. Since I am using the antibiotic ointment, it is blurry most of the time. Dr. Custer said that last week my right eye measured 20/25 and my left 20/30. Yesterday my right eye was still at 20/25 but my left measured 20/200. That improved to 20/50 through the little pinhole viewer. He could see the layer of ointment on my eye and said it was like trying to focus a camera lens with vaseline on it. He would like for me to keep using ointment as long as I am able to tolerate it, because he thinks it is best for my cornea.

I need to keep using the antibiotic ointment for the next few days, then return to Refresh PM. I will see Dr. Custer again in about a month.

Then I made a quick stop at Trader Joe's -- love that store -- and dashed back home noshing on little licorice scotties.

Sara

[nancyann]

Hi Sara:  It's wonderful that you can blink & close your eye as much as you do.   I have a 1.6 Gm platinum weight,  didn't know 1.8 Gm is the heaviest !, thanks for the info.

How is your lower lid ?      I still need some 'tweaking' to raise the lower lid.   
I also use Refresh PM about every 1-3 hours, & use the NitEye bubble comforter every night to keep the dryness away.
I can see so much better with the pinhole viewer also....

Always good thoughts,   Nancy

[saralynn143]

Actually, Nancy, I looked up the site for the implants. 1.8 is the largest standard size, there are heavier weights available by special order, but only in the standard thickness, not thin profile.

Don't you have a platinum chain? They are available up to 1.8 grams.

Sara

[CROOKEDSMILE]

Sara,
I would love to see pictures of your eye to see one done "correctly' as mine was too heavy and slipped and had to be removed! I may have to get another one.

[saralynn143]

Angie, I will try to get some taken this weekend.

Have a good one.

Sara

[mimoore]

That is great Sara, not that you had to wait so long but that you are an amazing healer and had little bruising. It is also great that you are getting a bit mor blink with the weight. I got my 1.6 Blinkeze today and I am FRUSTRATED. Okay so my lid closes more but it slides down and hangs on my skin. Maybe it won't work for me... and I was so hoping it would(does great for Debbi) it is such a great idea. Oh well tomorrow is a new day and I se my eye doctor in October, maybe I will get more blink back.
Hey enough about me ... so glad you are doing well Sara.
Michelle 

[Debbi]

Sara- so glad to read your update on the eye implant, and to hear that it seems to be working for you.

Michelle - try experimenting with attaching your weight at different places on your lid.  If mine is too high on my lid, it drags my lid down - kind of flops it over.  And, if I put it too close to my lashes, it just hangs over into my eye - attractive.  I seem to have managed to find "the sweet spot" on my own lid, but it does take some time.  Don't give up!

Debbi

[mimoore]

Thanks Debbi, I got two hundred extra strips so I could keep trying, I will let you know how it goes.
Mcihelle 

[Debbi]

Hey Michelle - yep, it is good to have LOTS of extra strips.  I usually burn through 2 or 3 to get it on right.  At the moment, I am giving my lid a rest because it got swollen and rashy again over the weekend.  So, I am sensa Blinkeze - sigh.

Debbi, strips galore...

[saralynn143]

This picture was taken 16 days after the implant. As you can see, no black eye!

[Kaybo]

Sara~
I just saw this thread.  I am about to get my weight redone.  I had a platinum chain put in when I had the T3 at the end of March.  I knew that it wasn't positioned right, but with all of the other trouble I had, that was the least of my worries!!  LOL!!  I went to my regular opthomologist yesterday in hopes of scheduling that, but he doesn't feel comfortable doing it this time - it would be the 5th eyelid surgery!  There is a new guy in town that is a eye doctor/plastic surgeon and so he is sending me to him.  I am waiting for them to call with that appointment - I guess I will give them until tomorrow and then I will call them.

Glad you are doing so well!  I didn't bruise ONE out of the 4 times I have had it so far!! 

K

[lori67]

Sara - and look!  Your eyes are closed!  Well, I guess you couldn't look if your eyes were closed, but you know what I mean.

Kay, I don't know much about the platinum chain, but my eye doctor said they use orthodontic wire, which may be the same thing as the platinum chain, just a different name.  I was just curious if there was any difference and figured you've got more eye surgery experience than any of us!  Lucky you!

Lori

[nancyann]

Sara:   The eye closure looks great !   Are you able to 'capture' your tears ?  Do you still need to use drops/lubricants as often ?

My tears still run down my face,  I have an appt. next week to see what other 'tweaking' can be done b/c I still have to use lubricant about every 2 hours & the eye bubble at night for extra moisture to the cornea.

K:  I went to an oculoplastic surgeon &  the 1.6 gram platinum weight is in perfect position ( Dr. Byrne DID put in a 0.8 gram chain - too light;   the doc you're going to should do a better job b/c this is the oculo-docs' specialty,  I'm still so happy with the T3 also !)

Always good thoughts,  Nancy

[saralynn143]

Nancy, some days I think I could bottle my own brand of tears. Other days are more or less normal. Oddly enough, my eye feels its best in the late evening.

My tears do pool inside my lower lid. I can just tilt my head and let them run out the corner toward my nose.

I always use an ointment at night, right now I am still using the antibiotic ointment left over from surgery, otherwise Refresh PM. When I wake up, I just leave it there and it wears off during the course of the morning. I usually have to put in drops a few times in the afternoon and evening, then more ointment before bedtime. I am still wearing a patch at night, but I think I am going to try to sleep without and see how it goes. I feel like the patch leaves bruises under my skin.

I see Dr. Custer again on September 16 for a follow-up.

K, is your platinum chain still in, just in the wrong position? I asked Dr. Custer about platinum chains, and he said he would get one, but he did not think it was worth the extra expense, plus he thought it would be harder to remove because tissue would grow up in between the links. So I have a thin profile platinum weight. It's 1.8 grams, the largest thin profile there is.

Lori, I have never heard of orthodontic wire as an ocular implant. Can you ask about that more next time you see him?

Sara

[nancyann]

Thanks for the reply Sara.    I had a platinum chain in for 7 1/2 months, then had the platinum weight put in.
My surgeon didn't mention anything about tissue buildup, maybe your doc was thinking if it was in longer ?  (just a thought).     

Always good thoughts,   Nancy