Vitrectomy Survival Guide: How to manage your body, mind, and life while face-down

“Such a personal and thoughtful read. As a patient who underwent two vitrectomies, I wish there had been a resource such as this when I had my procedures.”—Noella Lacasse, Vitrectomy patient

“A wonderful book! Very thorough and will be very useful to people who undergo the surgery.”—Lucie Lejeune, Vitrectomy patient

“As a past vitrectomy patient, I found this book to be a great reflection of what to expect mentally and physically throughout your recovery. It touches on how important it is to have your family and friends network to get you through your recovery. As well as many simple yet very useful tips to prepare and best manage your recovery such as bendable straws!”—Chase Edmunds, Vitrectomy patient

This book is a must-have for people that will undergo or are currently recovering from a vitrectomy surgery—especially those that had a retinal detachment—and, as a result, are required to maintain a face-down position. It is also recommended for people that are supporting anyone that is recovering from a vitrectomy. And, finally, this book will also help healthcare providers better support those in their care by sharing a detailed account of a patient's experience and perspective.

If you're a patient

You will gain an understanding of the overall experience from start to finish, and an understanding of how to manage your body, your mind, and your life as you go through the recovery process. You will also gain tips and tricks on what works and what might not work so well, and most importantly, you will gain confidence that you, too, can do this.

If you're a support person

You will gain an understanding of what your person is going through. You will be able to anticipate some of the troubles and issues and be more proactive in your care and support for them. You will also be able to understand and support their mental state as they go through the challenging recovery process. Most of all, you will be less surprised as things come up and will have more insight as to what you can do to relieve issues.

If you're a healthcare professional

You probably already have a lot of answers and suggestions for your patients and have lived through this procedure vicariously through them, but, the hope is that there may be something in here that helps you provide different suggestions or advice to your patients so you can support them that much better. Even if you only take away one tip or trick from this book, or have a slight shift in perspective when it comes to the patient's experience, you will be able to share that with so many people, and the impact will be huge.

The book is broken up into four main parts:

1. Starting your journey: In this part, I share my story on how I got to face-down, the impact that trust has on the overall journey, the timeline that you should expect, and what an effective support system could look like for your recovery.
2. Managing your body: Here, we dive into every aspect of your body, from sleep, to nutrition, to hygiene, to safety, and everything in-between to ensure that you know what to expect and how to best manage things as they come up in relation to your body.
3. Managing your mind: This is where we talk about the mind and how to keep it positive so you can have the best recovery possible. We talk about ways of keeping yourself entertained and also about ways to help you reflect on where you are in life so as to accept things so you can take on a more positive perspective each day of your recovery.
4. Managing your life: Because it's not all about you, here we talk about the external things that are outside of managing your physical and mental health. This part covers things like work, family, friends, and other external things that may be impacted by your vitrectomy.

Rabee Alwan is an engineer turned leadership coach with a passion for compassion. His life purpose is creating serenity and his mission is to help people become fully expressed by helping them turn friction into traction. He's a father, a runner, a self-taught guitar player, and he's lucky enough to call Calgary, Alberta his home.