Sam,
Here’s my experience on orbital decompression surgery.
My eyes got real bad about 6 weeks after my RAI treatment – awful “eye aches”, constant tearing, extremely sensitive to the sun and wind. I dreaded waking up each morning because it hurt so much to open my eyes. I hid behind sun glasses most of the time – avoided mirrors, eye contact and especially cameras – at all cost!!! There were some good days, some really bad days – and I couldn’t predict what they’d be like from day to day. Was I having fun, or what!!!
My eye surgeon wouldn’t do anything for me until the eyes stabilized, which took over 1 1/2 years. In the meantime, cold compresses helped a lot – but not too much else.
I finally had decompression surgery last Sept. The difference in how I felt was great – the “eye aches” pretty well went away, but come back when I begin getting hyper – so I guess it’s good that they serve as a barometer for how I’m doing! (No,after two years, I haven’t yet got my act together!) The other symptoms got better, but my appearance didn’t change much. If you want to know about recuperation, etc., let me know.
I’m in the middle of eyelid surgeries now to bring the eyelids back down and get rid of all the swollen stuff. Finally, I’m beginning to look a little better – and the tearing is much better. Only going through a box of Kleenex a month now!!!
Hope this didn’t get too long. I wish I knew doctors in your area, but I’m from the Chicago area.
My only advice is to make sure you don’t have the surgery too early – even though it’s really hard to wait.
Good luck in whatever you decide. If you need to talk more, I’m here or on E-Mail.
