Savannah Guthrie undergoes THIRD eye surgery after her son tore her retina

Savannah Guthrie underwent her third eye operation in 17 months in hopes of eventually repairing the damage her son Charley threw at her with a toy train and tearing her retina.

The 49-year-old Today host did not appear in the program on Tuesday morning and later revealed on Instagram that her absence was due to “one last, small eye operation” that took place in the New York Presbyterian.

The latest Savannah-the-mother-two procedure comes more than a year after she suffered a temporary face loss and a torn retina when her youngest child, Charley, now four, threw her ‘train’. She has already undergone retinal detachment surgery and a follow-up cataract surgery, as well as several laser treatments to repair the serious damage caused by the accident.

'Back to business': Savannah Guthrie underwent third eye surgery, 17 months after her son Charley threw a toy train at her and tore her retina

‘Back to business’: Savannah Guthrie underwent third eye surgery, 17 months after her son Charley threw a toy train at her and tore her retina

Oops!  The Today anchor's eye problems began when her now four-year-old son Charley accidentally threw a toy train (photo) that tore her retina at the end of November 2019

Oops! The Today anchor’s eye problems began when her now four-year-old son Charley accidentally threw a toy train (photo) that tore her retina at the end of November 2019

However, Savannah seems to think that this latest procedure is the end of her long medical journey – which has been further delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which her cataract surgery was postponed until July last year.

Savannah shared a black-and-white photo of herself with a clear eye spot following the latest surgery: ‘One last teenage little eye surgery and I’m busy again !!!’

She then paid tribute to her ophthalmologist, dr. Ashley Brissette, to help her recover.

It’s almost a year since Savannah’s last eye surgery, which took place in July 2020, after several postponements amid the pandemic.

At the time, the Today anchor admitted that she had been struggling quietly with her vision, which was left ‘distorted’ and ‘vague’ due to her injuries.

“It’s been a long time, I’m very excited,” Savannah said of the procedure. I feel like it’s Christmas morning, because if they remove this cataract, I’ll really be able to see, and I had a hard time seeing it.

‘[My vision] is a little twisted and then it has a wavy thing, and now I have this cataract, which is a big vague spot. Once they remove that ambiguity, I think it will be much better. ‘

Expectation: In July, Savannah expressed her excitement about the prospect of undergoing surgery to correct her cataracts, a procedure that has been postponed due to the pandemic

Expectation: In July, Savannah expressed her excitement about the prospect of undergoing surgery to correct her cataracts, a procedure that has been postponed due to the pandemic

Hard recovery: Before the cataract procedure, Savannah had to undergo retinal attachment surgery, and several laser treatments

Hard recovery: Before the cataract procedure, Savannah had to undergo retinal attachment surgery, and several laser treatments

The TV host hastily added that her symptoms were incredibly ‘common’ – and that many people undergoing retinal attachment surgery get cataracts.

“It seems very, very common that you get cataracts when you undergo retinal attachment surgery,” she told me, “she explained.

A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that occurs when proteins begin to break down and clot together. Cataracts can make a person’s vision blurry, blurry or less colorful and have difficulty reading or doing everyday activities.

According to the National Eye Institute (NIH), most cataracts are age-related, but they can also develop for other reasons, including an eye injury and eye surgery.

Cataract surgeries are incredibly common – so common that Carson Daly, co-host of Savannah, jokingly asked her if she was going to have the procedure performed on air.

“Um, no, because they cut my eye, so I didn’t think our viewers really wanted to see it,” Savannah said laughing.

Savoda’s co-anchor, Hoda Kotb, said she’s seen her girlfriend struggle to see over the past year.

” A hard time is an understatement. I do not know if you noticed, but Savannah, sometimes she keeps her papers like that, ‘says Hoda, pulling her paper up to her face,’ and she reads with one eye. ‘

Too cute: Before going to surgery, the mother took to Twitter to share a lovely photo of her son Charley playing the game Operation

Too cute: Before going to surgery, the mother took to Twitter to share a lovely photo of her son Charley playing the game Operation

The operation only takes about half an hour, and Savannah hopes to get a short recovery and be back to work within a few days.

“I will not return tomorrow because I will have a mortgage, but maybe later in the week,” she told her co-stars.

Before the mother underwent surgery, she went to Instagram and Twitter to share a lovely photo of her son Charley playing the game Operation.

“On the way to cataract surgery!” she wrote. ‘It was an expected complication after retinal detachment. Very hopeful to see [100 per cent] and back to work this week! ‘

What is cataracts?

A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that occurs when proteins begin to break down and clot together.

Cataracts can make a person’s face blurry, blurry or less colorful and have difficulty reading or doing everyday activities.

Most cataracts are age-related, but they can also develop for other reasons, including an eye injury and eye surgery.

Cataract surgery is safe and corrects vision problems caused by cataracts.

Source: National Eye Institute (NIH)

The Today star’s eye problems began when her son Charley accidentally threw a toy train that tore her retina at the end of November 2019. Although her initial surgery repaired her temporary vision loss, her vision was not as it was.

“My eyesight is not good,” she told People in April. “I have to undergo some follow-up surgery, which is unfortunate, but not unexpected.”

Savannah, whose operations have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, explained that her sight ‘is not where it was’, and she thinks ‘it’s getting worse’.

“Ultimately, I am hopeful that when I can change to normal, I can plan the surgeries and hope that there will be a big improvement,” she said. “I do not think my eye will ever be the same as it used to be, but I think it will be much improved.”

While she had to wait until the summer to plan her follow-up surgeries, she admitted that she was incredibly grateful that she had her first surgery when she did it.

“It saved my eye,” she said. ‘If I could not have undergone the operation, I think I would probably have lost my sight in that eye. So yeah, I’m very, very grateful and that’s just one of those things. This is an inconvenience. It’s a story that goes on. ‘

Doctors initially hoped they could repair her torn retina with several laser sessions, but it was eventually decided that surgery was her best option.

‘The hardest part is sitting still while holding your head. You get a little neck and back pain, ” she said during her long-term recovery from surgery. “I can not say that it was easy … but it is manageable and everything will be fine.”

Not over: Savannah (photo after her eye injury in December) had to postpone her follow-up surgery due to the pandemic

Not over: Savannah (photo after her eye injury in December) had to postpone her follow-up surgery due to the pandemic

Repairing the damage: Savannah's retina is imaged before her surgery

Repairing the damage: Savannah's retina is pictured in her photo after her surgery

Solution to the damage: Savannah’s retina is pictured before (left) and after (right) her surgery

When Savannah returned to work after the new year, the Today program interviewed her Dr. Donald D’Amico of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, to better explain what he did to repair her torn retina.

Her retina was torn. The retina lines the back of the eye like wallpaper, ” he said. ‘If the retina is torn, it starts to fall off the back of the eye and you lose sight.

“Luckily for Savannah, the tear was on the side of her retina and not the middle one, so the prospect for her central vision to return is very good.”

A gas bubble was placed in the back of Savannah’s eye to slowly attach her retina to the back of her eye, so she had to lie face down most of the day.

“You think about how you would put a poster on the wall,” said Dr. D’Amico said. ‘We all put a poster with glue on the wall. You need to hold it for a few minutes or seconds to hold on.

“The bubble holds the retina in the eye again, and when the bubble disappears through the body that absorbs it, the laser treatment and the freezing treatment provide the permanent scar that keeps it stable.”

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