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**Joey** · 25-Jul-2006, 14:45

Well yesterday I went to go see Dr. Tseng for my pre-op visit. Honestly, I was kind of disappointed. He is usually very patient and willing to answer questions. However, I felt as if I was almost annoying him with my questions about the surgery. He kept on saying that by having the surgery, he hopes that it will help my dry eyes and redness, but there are no guarantees. I respect his honesty, but I guess I thought he would be a bit more positive about the surgery. He did say the risks are low, and the benefits by far outweigh the risks. So that's good news. And he kept on saying that he is not pressuring the surgery on me. I just need to determine if the way my eyes are now, if I can live with that. I was able to get my insurance to cover it, so it looks like I am going to go along with it.

So that is the latest from me.

Take care,
Joey

**np1981** · 26-Jul-2006, 00:00

When are you likely to have the surgery Joey?

**sazy123** · 26-Jul-2006, 09:47

NP or joey:

When you have a fold inm the white of your eye which means you may need this surgery. What does it actually look like? i have noticed when i rub my eye down i get a fold appear then it will go back again. It is only there when i do this. Is this what you have or do you have a fold thats vissible all the time?

**np1981** · 27-Jul-2006, 00:46

Originally posted by sazy123

i have noticed when i rub my eye down i get a fold appear then it will go back again. It is only there when i do this. Is this what you have or do you have a fold thats vissible all the time?

Sazy, in your case it may be normal, I find it difficult to explain because I don't really have a frame of reference. In my case the folds are above the eyes, under my upper eyelids. There is some in the corners of the eyes but less so. If you look in the mirror, you may notice "wrinkling" the corners of the eyes when you look from side to side. However I guess it will depend on how much excess there is. Dr Tseng told me that mine was not as obvious as that seen in others. The inspection was done using a slit-lamp microscope and they take very large pictures of the eyes, and it showed up on there.

I will say that in my case, I am unsure how significant chalsis is as far as my symptoms are. It seems most other docs say this is normal, or others (like Prof Dua) say they see nothing at all. At this moment in time I am willing to wait and consider my options. I have aqueous defiency and posterior blepharitis and am concentrating on these at the moment. Any further surgery would have to be an absolute last resort (if at all).

I guess if you are wondering if you have chalsis, I reckon it will depend on who you see. From what i've read on these and other boards, it seems only Dr ****** and Dr Tseng talk about this. Other docs seem quite passive about it.

**sazy123** · 27-Jul-2006, 06:40

Hiya

yea i dont appear to have a fold by looking right to left just when i do that rub thing.

What are you doing now for your eyes, are you using restasis?

I know some people have had dramatic results from this surgery, adam on here seems to have got better. But if your not sure then i can understand you dont want to jump in to anything, its prob better to have it as a last resort.

This is wierd but im trying to set my sinuses off again by eating dairy not using my spray etc, so my eyes get better. coz my eyes have been great for about 4 months due to a sinus infection i had. But i cant believe what an idiot ive been again to take a morning after pill. i can feel my sinuses abit at the mo but it hasnt made my eyes feel better. I Feel like my eyes were given a second chance and now ive F***ed it up again!

xx

**np1981** · 27-Jul-2006, 07:28

Originally posted by sazy123

What are you doing now for your eyes, are you using restasis?

I've got 4 plugs in, and they keep my eyes fairly moist. But with posterior blepharitis I do a warm compress twice a day and I'm on 100mg Doxycycline as well as the usual Omega3 blah blah blah supplements. So far only two things have helped me for sure - the plugs and a Tranquileyes mask at night.

But the recent hot weather here in the UK is really screwing up my eyes at the moment, especially in the past 2 weeks.

**SusieD** · 27-Jul-2006, 10:26

But the recent hot weather here in the UK is really screwing up my eyes at the moment, especially in the past 2 weeks.[/QUOTE]

I have to agree with this! My Doc was convinced that my symptoms were bad earlier in the year because of the cold weather, saying 'they should ease up now were coming into summer' I remember thinking 'yeah righto' Cos this is all down to the weather! If only it were that simple!

Mine have been burning more lately because of the heat. Can't seem to win.

**DESTINY** · 27-Jul-2006, 17:02

Amniotic Membrane Surgery

Joey,

I just got back from Florida to see Dr. Tseng last week. I did go through with the surgery. it has been 1 week exactly and my eyes look really wierd. One eye is better than the other. Dr. Tseng said that this is normal. So I guess that I have to believe him. He said thatmy eyes would look 95% better than they didfrom having the surgery. I had Ptergyum's in both eyes and folding in my conjunctiva, because of all of that my eyes were always red and irritated. Dr. Tseng told me that I had the mites 1 1/2 months ago and I have been working on that. When I saw him last Wed. he told me that my count went down from 7 to 1 so I guess the horrible painful tea tree scrubs are working. Now ot stinks because my eyes hurt so I can't do the scrubs because I don't want to ruin the membrane. This surgery was my last resort so I am scared and hope that it is the cure. I have also been on Restasis for about 4 months and have noticed that my eyes aren't as dry. My bottom tear ducts are also cauterized. If you have nay questions or stories of other people that you know have had the surgery please write and let me know. Thanks, Destiny

**np1981** · 28-Jul-2006, 00:36

Originally posted by SusieD

My Doc was convinced that my symptoms were bad earlier in the year because of the cold weather, saying 'they should ease up now were coming into summer' I remember thinking 'yeah righto' Cos this is all down to the weather!

I'm suprised he didn't blame El Ni�o...

**sazy123** · 28-Jul-2006, 02:00

Its nothing to do with the weather, enoys me when they blame it on that. 2 months back i went to portugal with hot weather and my eyes were feeling good the weather didnt make a difference. And also several hot days here has been fine for my eyes when they were feeling good. My mum keeps saying the weather probaly isnt helping, but i thought this last summer when the pollen count goes down and it gets cooler my eyes would be better but they never did!

**Joey** · 07-Aug-2006, 12:00

Greetings everyone. Thanks for all the replies. I am scheduled to have one eye done on Thursday, August 17, and the other on Sept 1. So I will be sure to post my experiences. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Destiny, I would like to speak to you more about the procedure. Can you please email me? joeygomez74@hotmail.com. I know that this is not an absolute cure, but this is supposed to make my eyes feel about 85% better, so Dr. Tseng says. I hope he is correct. And he also said that you will feel the full benefits from the surgery in 2-3 months after.

To answer the questions as to what I can do and can't... I am working now. I am 31 years old, and I can function from a day to day basis. My eyes are constantly irritated, from the moment I awake to when I sleep. They are dry in the am, but then they tear. I have all 4 ducts plugged up. But even when my eyes tear, they are still cry. How you ask? Because the wrinkled conjunctiva prevents the tears from lubrication the entire white areas. The tears just drain out. My eyes are getting worse. So I can still see, I can still work, and I can still function. However, not like I used to be able to. I am not saying that I am that worse off. Things could always be worse. But on the flip side, things could be better. So, since I have this window to which my insurance will cover the surgery. I think I should take full advantage of that.

Thanks all for your feedback.

-Joey

**np1981** · 08-Aug-2006, 00:05

Good luck with the surgery Joey, let us know how it goes.

**khasler** · 08-Aug-2006, 21:19

Amniotic membrane transfer surgery. Success??

Hi all -
I just wanted to let everyone know that I had the surgery for the Amniotic membrane transfer procedure at the end of this past June. I was waiting to post until I had some actual results to report on, but my progress in recovering is slow. Let me digress..

After suffering from dry eyes, blepharitis and a constant burning/irritation in both my eyes for the past 6 years (no post-lasik - all natural) I finally reached my breaking point this past summer when my eyes hurt too much to read bedtime stories to my three little ones. I've met with Dr Tseng, have tried homiopathic treatments, teas, acupuncture, eye steriods, drops, restatis, doxy, goggles, prayer - you name it. Nothing has worked for me.

My doctor locally in Chicago, Dr. Robert Mack, has performed this surgery only about twenty times, but I trust him and got a glowing report from Dr. Tseng on his abilities when I met with him back in February.

Before the surgery, Dr. Mack gave me those same guarantees that you have been getting Joey, which is essentially none. To protect themselves and to set proper expectations, they almost have to. The procedure itself was pretty scary. The thought of my eyes going from bad to worse almost made me ill, but I felt I had done everything I could that this was the last resort.
I was out for over 1 hour and 40 minutes and when I woke up, the doctor told me that this case was the worst he has ever seen and his whole demenor changed for a more positive outlook in what I could expect when I recovered. My eye had 7 stitches (I couldn't feel them though) and I have never seen a shade of red like this before - it was almost purple! The swelling was bad to. The bruising around my eyelid and face was not bad at all, though I took an herbal supplement called Arnica (helps with severe trauma and bruising and can be found at any Whole Foods or organic store) which really helped and I highly recommend it. My doctor even commented that he had never seen so little bruising before.

For the first week, all I felt was pain, a stabbing pain shooting in my eye. I was miserable, strung out on Vicadin which was the only thing that helped me deal with the pain. Trust me, giving birth three times was NOTHING compared to this kind of pain. After about two weeks, the minor bruising went away and the swelling went away but my eye was still an incredible shade of red. The pain, though, was not as intense as it was. It felt more like there was a restriction on my eye in how I was able to move it. I felt like it was almost easier to move my head around than move my eye. The burning sensation that I still felt in my "good" eye was not in my operated eye. Even though I looked like a train wreck and my operated eye looked more painful than the other one, it actually felt better!
It's been almost 7 weeks now and my eye is still red, which I am getting a bit frustrated about, though my husband says he doesn't notice it as much as I do. I do notice that in the morning, my operated eye is less dry than my other eye, and I only really need drops in the morning and maybe at night, which is a huge improvement. I'm still on eye steriods and will be going to the doctor tomorrow for a check-up. If you were to ask me if would get the other eye done tomorrow, my answer would be "No", as of now. I would have thought by now that my eye would be healed and I would be reaping more of the benefits that have been presented to me. I am hoping that my answer will change in the next few weeks as my eye continues to heal. I am amazed, however, that the burning sensation that I have experienced daily is completely gone, which is the only thing giving me hope that I will see more improvements soon. I have experienced some new sensations in my eye that were not present before, which I have been told that this is just part of the recovery process. My operated eye now feels "heavy" and it feels like I have a slower reaction time to blinking, though no one can actually see this happening. My doctor is not worried about his though, so I am trying not to either.

Do I have any regrets about getting this done? The answer is surprisingly, no. I'm glad that I went through with it, but I'm more of a pessimist when it comes to my eyes and I want to see a 100% improvement before I go through this sort of nightmare again.
Feel free to call me or email me if you want to talk to me about this further. Good luck!
Kim

**np1981** · 09-Aug-2006, 01:16

Originally posted by khasler

the doctor told me that this case was the worst he has ever seen

Thanks for sharing your experiance. Was it the state of your eyes after the operation that led him to this statement? Or was it the extent of the chalasis? Its also interesting to read that someone other than Tseng or ****** performing this type surgery specifically for this type of problem.

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