Hi Random!
I don't post often here, usually just lurk for info and advice. But I felt I needed to post now, because I've been through retinopathy and the laser treatments myself. I was 34 at the time, so close to your age. If my experience can help you out in any way, I'm glad to share. I know I was confused and worried when the scenario was staring me in the face.
I had the treatment done in both eyes, 3-4 treatments per eye over a course of a few months. The first treatment, he just used a numbing gel on my eye, but I found the procedure quite uncomfortable, and couldn't tolerate the full treatment. Apparently, that's more common in "younger" patients. So, for the remainder of them, I had a needle (retrobulbar) to freeze the eye. It's not IN your eye, it's just below it. There's a slight feeling of pressure, but no real pain. You wait about 20 minutes for it to fully take effect. For me, my eye and surrounding area went completely numb. It makes you lose sight temporarily in that eye, but my treatments were completely painless after that, and I just wore an eye patch for a few hours after the treatment. Once it came off, I was blurry for a little bit, and saw some light flashes (especially at night with my eyes closed when I was trying to sleep), but it cleared up back to normal by the next day. I did have to get someone to drive for me for the next day, though, just to be safe. This was purely precautionary.
I was told that the treatment would affect my night vision, peripheral vision, and color perception. Realistically, though, it's not anything hugely noticible to me. I can say I seem a bit more sensitive to very bright daylight, and I seem to need more light at night to see fine detail and subtle color differences, but nothing that affects my functionality. I still drive and do all the regular things just fine. I can notice some "spots", which my doctor says are the scars. Usually this is when I'm reading black text on a white page, I notice that some areas of the lettering aren't sharp and black, but a bit fuzzy around the border, and grey. Again, though, it's minor and not very limiting. More like an interesting side effect. I still read a LOT! Fatigue does affect it though, and it's more noticible when I'm tired.
I think the key is having a great (in my case FANTASTIC) sprcialist, who will explain things and make you feel comfortable about the procedure. Two years post-treatment, my doc says my eyes are doing great. Vessels receded nicely (though one eye was more stubborn and took longer). No more fluid leaking, no new growth. No signs of retinal detatchment. The scars from the laser are still visible to him, but I really don't notice many floaters or black spots at all.
I hope this helps you get a bit more comfortable with the whole thing, Random. If you'd like any more info, of just to vent some fears, feel free send me a message.
Cheers, and good luck!
