A Run for My Money: Five Surgeries and Still Pushing Through

By Emilee Schultz

A close-up selfie of Emilee smiling warmly at the camera.

I was born 12 weeks premature. I was less than 2.5 pounds when I was born, and I quickly went down to under 2 pounds. The providers told my parents to begin making funeral arrangements because I was not going to live. As a newborn, I had emergency PDA heart repair surgery and inguinal hernia surgery, and I had several chest tubes.

In 1984, ROP was not really a “household” name the way it is becoming now for some preemie patients. The eye provider walked in and told my parents I was blind, that I would never see. My mom refused to believe him. She said I would look around, and she didn’t believe it.

I actually just learned the terminology for what I have, ROP, this year. Back then, I am not even sure what tests they could do for it.

When My Eyes Caught Up With Me

My life was normal and active growing up. Then, when I was 15, my eyes caught up with me.

It was a random fluke find when I went to see my eye doctor to get new glasses. The retina in my left eye had detached, and I needed surgery within three days. I had a seven-hour scleral buckle surgery, and they had to repair more than 30 holes in my retina, like lattice work. I also have astigmatism and am very nearsighted.

After that first retinal detachment surgery, I had double vision too, which required specialized glasses with prisms and bifocals. I recovered from all of that just fine. But the doctors told me that “someday” my right eye was going to do it too.

“Someday” Arrives

Fast forward to December 2025. My husband and I had just returned from a transatlantic cruise at the beginning of the month. During the last week of the cruise, I noticed some strange floaters and flashes in my right eye, but it seemed to settle down, so I went back to work the following week.

The next Monday, I saw my retinal specialist, and lo and behold, the retina in my right eye was actively detaching. It had been for several weeks. Because it was the week of Christmas, my surgery was scheduled for the following week.

Five Surgeries in One Year

After the holidays, I had a vitrectomy with oil placed in my eye. It did not go well. After that surgery, I was blind from the midline up in my right eye, and that vision never really came back. From the midline down I had vision, but not good vision.

Then came a high-pressure event in my right eye, followed by an anaphylactic reaction to the medication meant to bring that pressure down. I ended up needing cataract surgery, and the next day they went back in to remove the oil from my eye.

At that point, I asked for a referral to the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center in Ann Arbor (I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan). I saw Dr. Yusif and Dr. Zacks, who told me everything looked okay and we would monitor it. A week later, my retina detached again, and I had a scleral buckle with a vitrectomy, this time with a gas bubble.

That was a rough surgery to recover from at 41 instead of 15. I was almost at the end of my recovery when my retina detached again. On May 9th, I had a third vitrectomy in that eye, again with a gas bubble.

Where I Am Today

Today, I am in my recovery period and doing okay. I still have the gas bubble in my eye, and I go back to Ann Arbor in a couple of weeks for a follow-up.

Unfortunately, I will never recover my vision from the midline up in my right eye. I may have some luck with the midline down, but we have never gotten far enough in recovery to even think about glasses, prisms, or whatever else might help correct it, if it can be corrected at all.

Thankfully, my left eye is stable and doing well. The scleral buckle in that eye is now 27 years old and going strong.

Still, having five surgeries on my right eye this year alone, and being left with my weaker left eye, knowing it is already damaged too, is so scary. I try not to dwell on the fact that if anything happens to my left eye, I will be fully blind. That is especially hard for someone who loves to be creative and make art.

Pushing Through

But I wanted to share my story of this year. My eye has given me a run for my money, but I am pushing through and overcoming.

And that’s the important lesson, right?

Are you an adult living with the effects of ROP or another pediatric retinal disease? You are not alone. Explore PRRF’s resources for young adults, connect with a mentor, or share your own story with our community.

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