If I could use one word to sum up my eye health journey, it would be long.  Not hard, excruciating or annoying—long. The reason? It lasted over a year and a half and resulted in four surgeries to fix two separate issues: retinal detachment and double vision. And yes, I’m aware of how ridiculous that sounds. To be honest, if I hadn’t lived through it, I would have thought it all sounds a touch dramatic. But having lived through it, I can assure you it was far more complicated than I ever expected. Now, I’m ready to share what happened, the symptoms of retinal detachment every woman needs to know, treatment options that can help and the far-reaching effects of my experience.

The first symptoms of retinal detachment 

My eye health journey began in August 2024 when I started to notice flashes of light and floaters in my right eye. They lasted for about a day and were annoying, but I didn’t think it was anything serious at first. That is, until I woke up the following day and realized my peripheral vision was gone. And by gone I mean anything to the right or left of me was black. I could only see something if it was right in front of me. Fearing the worst (potential permanent vision loss), I visited my eye doctor, who said I was showing symptoms of a retinal detachment and referred me to Columbia Ophthalmology. 

Upon my arrival, my doctor, Erin Flynn, MD, ran a series of eye tests before ultimately declaring that my right retina was fully ripped. We still don’t know how it happened. After all, I didn’t have any of the common risk factors for a retinal tear or detachment (a history of cataract or glaucoma surgery, severe eye trauma, a family history of detached retinas or having a degenerative eye condition). But Dr. Flynn believed my severe nearsightedness—or myopia—played a part in the issue.

“I was shocked by how extensive the detachment was. The detachment involves your macula, where your central vision is. Usually people [with retinal detachment] become symptomatic before that and alert their eye doctor about their symptoms,” Dr. Flynn says. “But I see some people who just don’t notice their detachments even when they’re that extensive.” 

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My first surgery wasn’t without side effects 

Dr. Flynn recommended a surgery called a scleral buckle, which involves placing a small piece of silicone sponge, rubber or plastic around the sclera—the white part of the eye. This helps the eye wall move slowly inward, allowing the retina to reattach. It was a painful procedure, and afterward, I was sensitive to light for a week.

I also began experiencing double vision—also known as diplopia—and inversion of my right eye (the one she had just operated on). The cause? A weak muscle in that eye. 

“Scleral buckle is generally the one we do in younger patients. We suture a silicone belt to the outside of the eye. It runs under the muscles of the eye. We push the wall of the eye into the retina, and this helps the fluid under the retina go away on its own,” explains Dr. Flynn. “The scleral buckle can cause double vision because we are putting a belt under the eye muscles. And it can be a tougher healing journey than [a type of surgery known as] vitrectomy. It can be an uncomfortable surgery too.” 

So, what did that mean for me? Not one, but two more surgeries. 

Next up, surgeries two and three 

My first double vision surgery, or as Steven E. Rosenberg, MD, likes to call it, my first strabismus (meaning the eyes are misaligned or “cross eyed”) surgery, happened in February 2025. Trust me when I say that this one was far more painful and made me look horrible. It also didn’t fully work. Sure, the inversion was fixed, but I was still experiencing double vision.

“You have a condition where the ‘pulleys’ that hold your muscles in place and the ring that holds the pulleys in place were stretched out from your nearsightedness,” Dr. Rosenberg explained to me after the procedure. “The back of the eye was getting stuck between your muscles, which caused the double vision.”

Frustrated by lingering double vision, I agreed with Dr. Rosenberg to wait it out a little longer to see if it cleared. But 10 months later, we agreed I needed another surgery in November 2025. This time, because my right eye was so damaged from the first two procedures, Dr. Rosenberg decided to operate on my left eye instead. 

Confused, I asked how that could possibly help, since my left eye had been fine all along. His plan was to lower my left eye muscle to match the right eye. If it worked, the double vision would disappear and I’d finally be in the clear.

Thankfully, Dr.Rosenberg was right, and a week later my double vision was gone. I wasn’t technically cleared yet and wouldn’t be until March 2026,  but I was happy and excited to get on with my life. And I did. But just 30 days after I got cleared, the flashes of light and floaters returned. This time they were in my left eye, not my right. 

Scared, I went back to the eye doctor, who confirmed that I had another retinal detachment and needed surgery. Talk about bad luck. 

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Fourth time’s a charm? 

At the end of April 2026, I had another scleral buckle surgery—this time in my left eye—by Aliaa Hamed Abdelhakim, MD, PhD, and Irmak Karaca, MD. I’m going to be completely honest: It was the scariest, hardest, most anxiety-inducing thing I had ever experienced. To make matters worse, every doctor I talked to couldn’t believe I had to have another retina surgery so close to my first one. After all, only 1 in every 10,000 people have a retinal detachment, and I happened to be one of the unlucky ones who had it twice. I mean, come on. 

Thankfully, the surgery itself went well. But just two weeks later, my stitches popped out of my eye and I had to go to the emergency room to get them removed. It was one of the most awful nights of my entire life, but I’m happy to report that I’m finally on the mend. 

My double vision has lingered

Unfortunately, my double vision has returned, which is especially frustrating since this post-op issue only affects 5 to 25 percent of patients—and I happen to have had it twice. Even so, Dr. Rosenberg is hopeful it will resolve on its own. I am trying to be hopeful as well, but after this whole journey, it’s a little hard. Even so, I am doing my best, because I know that having a good attitude is one of the keys to healing both your body and your mind.   

“I’d say the most surprising thing about your case was your young age. Retinal detachment usually occurs at much older ages as the vitreous [the jelly-like area] in the eye changes. This is not to say that retinal detachments at a young age are unheard of, but usually signify a stronger genetic predisposition to detachment,” Dr. Hamed Abdelhakim explains. “You had some weak areas in the retina called ‘lattice degeneration,’ and under the right conditions, these can cause breaks in the retina like a hole in wallpaper stuck to a wall. Fluid from the eye can then go into that break and peel the retina off its support.” 

The retinal detachment symptoms you should never ignore 

Throughout this journey, I spent a lot of time learning about eye health. And while I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, I am hopeful that by sharing my experience and what I’ve learned, I can draw some much-needed attention to retinal detachment symptoms, double vision and more.

One my important takeaways: You should never ignore the following retinal detachment symptoms: 

• Flashes of light

• Floaters, which can look like specks floating across your vision

• Peripheral vision loss 

• Blurred vision 

How you can protect your eyes today

I also learned that despite being such a small part of our body, there’s a lot happening in our eyes, and we need to take care of them. Some ways to do that include:

• Getting dilated eye exams at least once a year (or more often if your doctor recommends)

• Eating plenty of healthy-eye foods like spinach, kale, salmon and tuna (which are packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that support healthy visions) 

• Wearing sunglasses and protective eyewear 

And yes, I am aware these things can’t fix every eye issue. But I also know they won’t harm anything. They will only help and hopefully heal, and at the end of the day, that’s all any of us can ask for.

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This content is not a substitute for professional medical advice or diagnosis. Always consult your physician before pursuing any treatment plan.