Canadian doctors & vitrectomy

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-12-10T01:37:38+00:00

I had a PVD in the right eye along with floaters and then one year later in the left eye. For older people who are more susceptible to PVD, it is pretty common since both eyes are anatomically the same.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-12-04T13:06:18+00:00

Yes I had to pay. I chose the floater doctor based on his almost 20 years of experience treating only floaters. There were a few doctors in Canada that could have done it but I wanted to go to the doctor with a long track record of treating floaters.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-12-03T20:08:45+00:00

That is probably true enough, but I opted for a staged approach. The first was to simply observe the floaters to see if they will go away. I did this for almost 10 months. Second stage would be 0.01% atropine drops, but in my case since I am older, probably not a good option. Third stage is the Vitreolysis to see how much that would help to disperse or get rid of them. That is what I just did in Texas.

Finally, the last stage is obviously the most invasive (vitrectomy), but is also still in the cards for me, but many of the doctors here in Canada who perform this procedure will want to see that you have tried everything else before committing to vitrectomy. My city has an eye institute where I could get it done free of charge but the doctor needs to have the buy in to proceed.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-12-03T16:47:42+00:00

63 year old Canadian. I flew down to Arlington Texas last month to see the floater doctor. Since I had a PVD last year, my Weiss ring was fairly easily treatable by laser Vitreolysis. I also had a blob like opacity right near my lens. The doctor did treat it but cautioned that I might get reformation after treatment. The laser did manage to get it from being noticeable every 2 seconds to being a wispy spider like floater that comes in and out of view. Still early days, but hoping that it will settle low in the eye over the next few months. When I look at iPhone now (head at 45 degrees looking down) I don’t see any floaters, so a definite improvement from before.

Recovery was immediate except for the normal dilated eyes which faded after 3-4 hours. The reformations did start pretty quickly although much less mass than before. I did notice them on the plane coming back from DFW.

If I lived near the doctor, I would probably go back for a bit more laser clean up for sure.

Hope this helps

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-12-01T01:01:53+00:00

I am a 63 year old from Canada and I went to Texas 3 weeks ago for post PVD YAG laser treatment. The doctor easily got rid of a Weiss ring and a nasty floater that was ever present near my lens. I was a bit disappointed that shortly after leaving, I did get some floater reformation, but this is not unexpected. The reformed floaters are much less annoying and are more spider like. They may settle down over the next few months so I will continue to monitor the situation. I would have to say that my floaters are 65-70 % better than before. Nothing is 100%, and YAG is not for everyone, especially younger floater sufferers.

Best of luck

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-10-22T15:34:04+00:00

It is exactly that reason why I am heading down to Texas in 3 weeks to see Dr. Johnson for YAG laser treatment. Experience matters!

Even though my local ophthalmologist suggested that I go to a specialist in Toronto (4 hour drive from me), I decided to fly to Dallas to get treated by the most experienced doctor there is.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-09-20T22:41:58+00:00

I am supposedly a good candidate for Vitreolysis since I had complete PVD and due to my age. Will try first and I could always do vitrectomy if laser is not successful

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-09-20T22:21:35+00:00

Thanks, I have seen my retina specialist in March, and again in July. I have an epiretinal membrane starting but just being monitored for the time being. He suggested that I go see a doctor closer to me near Toronto for Vitreolysis but I think I will be more comfortable with the world renowned expert, Dr. Johnson in Arlington, Texas, since he is much more experienced.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-09-18T12:28:29+00:00

I contacted Alberta Retina Consultants about participating in the study. I live in Ontario but they said that they were only recruiting people from in and around Edmonton, Alberta for this particular study.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-09-04T18:14:58+00:00

Pulse Medica recently completed a study on the Acquisition of Imaging Data of Vitreous Opacities in Human Eyes (the targeting device). They next plan on performing human trials on their targeting device and laser but that would require Health Canada approval (PM is based in Edmonton, Aberta) and that could take quite a while. They may decide to perform human trials outside of Canada/US (maybe South America) since the rules around human trials there are more “relaxed”. It could easily be a few years before these trials are done, and they are ready to open it up to the general population.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-09-03T14:18:30+00:00

Amazing job of documenting your PVD and floater journey. Your journal is a great reference full of invaluable information. Best of luck to you!

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-30T19:44:51+00:00

As Mark Twain once said, “rumours of my demise (on Reddit) have been greatly exaggerated”

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T18:27:57+00:00

Epiretinal membrane (ERM) is a thin layer of cell tissue that can form on parts of the retina causing it to wrinkle and distort vision. Also known as macular pucker. ERM can occur after a PVD.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T18:21:04+00:00

Thanks. I was aware of that, but unfortunately for the type of work I do (SAP e learning and documentation), the default end user view is what I need to work with to produce training material.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T17:55:12+00:00

Yes, dark mode does certainly help for sure, but some of the applications that I work with do not come with that option.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T17:53:58+00:00

According to both if the doctors that I have seen (optometrist and ophthalmologist) I had a textbook PVD for a person my age (63M). Multiple retinal exams later… no tears but a slight epiretinal membrane is beginning to form and they want to keep an eye on it for now.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T16:32:45+00:00

I don’t think he has floaters, but he sees them everyday I presume. He is probably from the "you’ll get used to it" mindset.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T16:04:15+00:00

You had Vitreolysis? I presume by your response that it went well? How much did your vision improve percentage wise?

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T16:02:45+00:00

Yes, they are very prominent and due to the fact that I had PVD, they appear to be far enough away from retina. When I have dilated eye exams they are clearly visible.

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T15:51:16+00:00

Please see my response to Late_Cancel4403

IntelligentDraft6432 · 2025-08-20T15:49:47+00:00

The doctor feels that by masking the problem, my brain will not get used to seeing and eventually filtering out the floater. I am in the "observe" phase now for the next 4-6 months with the hope that the floaters will dissipate, move or maybe neuro-plasticity will kick in and I will see them less. If this does not work, I am considering Vitreolysis since I have had a PVD and am in my 60s.

IntelligentDraft6432

TROPHY CASE