Yesterday I spent some time with my eye doctor, Dr. Herbert Cantrill.� I live with a congenital condition called juvenile retino-schesis.� Among many things, this means I visit Dr. Cantrill annually.� To be honest, it had been three years.� My condition is pretty static, so I’ve been lazy.� My laziness was rewarded with a demotion to “new patient status.”� It wasn’t until the good doctor directed a screaming white light through my pupil to peer at the retina slouched against the back wall that I noticed recognition return to his voice.� “Ahh, yes…”� He never forgets a retina.
Back in 1966, Dr. William Knobloch, the only retina specialist in the midwest at the time, performed surgery on my eyes.� My retinas were detatched, and a “buckle” was buckled.� I always envisioned a shiney belt buckle�glinting in the back of my eye, proping up the slouching retina.� I’ve been imagining this for 40 years.�
Dr. Cantrill and I got to discussing my condition, and I brought up Dr. Knobloch and the buckle.� He said Dr. Knobloch died this past summer.� He’s something of a giant in the world of retinal medicine, and was a big part of my youth.� My whole family made annual six-hour trips from Thief River Falls to the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital.� There, Dr. Knoblock and his lackeys would wrestle me down to a table and�stab the piercing light into my�frantic eyes.� My older brother Karl,�who has the same condition, would get them warmed up first, so they were always ready for me.� Even today,it’s truly the thing I dread most.� Homeland Security operatives, when they�detain me, will surely have better success with this than with water boarding.� Anyway, thanks to Dr. Knobloch, my condition has never really changed over the years.� God Speed, Dr. William H. Knobloch.
It’s the buckle, however, that got my attention.� Dr. Canrill said, “The buckle is really high.”
“What does that mean, the buckle is ‘high?'” I asked.� I was thinking about a brassy buckle scampering up to the roof of my eyeball.
“Do you want to see a picture?” he replied.� I did.�
It turns out that the scleral buckle is really a silicone belt wrapped around my eyeball, like a belt.� Actually it reminds me of those little rubber hands that kids with braces used to play with on their desks at school.� Since the buckle’s application, my eye has grown, “giving your eyeball an hour glass shape,” continued Dr. Cantrill.
Who knew?� Clearly after 41 years it was time to find out.� Turns out it as only one google search away.� Check it all out if you want to know more @ http://www.eyemdlink.com/EyeProcedure.asp?EyeProcedureID=52
And to think this procedure really hasn’t changed in 40 years!� More later.
I’ve always been interested in your eye condition…I think you wrote about this before…read it somewhere on the internet…about driving, and bicycling…good stuff.
I bookmarked ya…
I’m glad to have found your blog by searching for Dr. Herbert Cantrill. I am going to have the buckle surgery tommorow morning and Dr. Cantrill will be doing the honors. I am a 47 year old male and have been nearsighted the past 40 years. I have a partial retinal detachment in my right eye and some signs of “weakness” in my left eye. First the buckle on the right eye and then laser spotting on the left eye to prevent a similar detachment. Around 27 years ago I suffered a direct hit on my right eye during racquetball. I have a cataract in that eye as a result. My age, extreme nearsightedness and the previous injury are contributing factors I guess. I’ll try to let you know how it turns out.