Retina Detachment

Today, after work, I accompanied BBear to the eye clinic. He complained 2 days back that he had difficulty seeing, something like, someone had drawn a black marker at the bottom half of his left eye. The doctor, after proding his eye balls several hours later said that his retina has fallen off!!! This symptom is known as Retinal Detachment. It was the first time that I have heard of anything like this.... imagine losing your retina just like that!!!

After much research, I manage to find out more about this....

"Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blindness. It is a medical emergency. [1]
The retina is a thin disc-shaped layer of light-sensitive tissue on the back wall of the eye. Its job is to translate what we see into neural impulses and send them to the brain via the optic nerve. Occasionally, injury or trauma to the eye or head may cause a small tear in the retina, which allows fluid to seep through, and peel it away like a bubble in wallpaper"

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A few sites offer good detailed explanation of what retinal detachment is all about and the treatment that follows, example is the site below from the National Eye Institute.
http://http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/retinaldetach/index.asp#6

What really shocked me was the operations that followed. Under local anaesthetic, yes local, his eye ball were injected three times to numb the pain that was to follow. Imagine having someone inject your eye whilst you are wide awake.....!!!!! Ewww....