Scripps ophthalmologists repaired Jing Wang’s detached retina, restoring clear vision and helping him return to the golf course with confidence.

Two years ago, Jing Wang was teeing up his next shot on a North County golf course when the vision in his right eye suddenly went dark. “It was almost like a bug floated into my eye. I couldn’t see with my right eye at all,” he recalls.  

Like the avid golfer that he is, Wang continued his game. He was due for cataract surgery in a few months, so he assumed it was progression of the lens-clouding disorder. Yet the darkness in his eye was surprisingly opaque. Just in case, Jing called his cataract surgeon, Jose Ivan Quiceno, MD, an ophthalmologist at Scripps Clinic Torrey Pines and Scripps Clinic Mission Valley. 

“My doctor couldn’t believe I continued to play golf and said, ‘This isn’t cataracts. You need medical attention immediately — you have a retinal detachment,” Jing says.  

In retinal detachment, the retina pulls away from the tissue at the back of the eye. It can cause vision loss, if not treated quickly.  

Jing was scheduled for surgery early the next morning with Richard Lin, MD, PhD, an ophthalmologist and retina specialist at Scripps Clinic Torrey Pines and Scripps Clinic Rancho Bernardo. 

Dr. Lin performed a vitrectomy, removing some of the jelly-like fluid inside the eye and replacing it with a gas bubble that pushed the retina back into place.  

“These kinds of repairs use thin ports inserted into the eyeball through small incisions to provide a light source and to facilitate the use of specialized medical instruments,” Dr. Lin says. “It’s precise, meticulous work.  

“Many eye surgeries — a vitrectomy, retina surgeries, cataract surgeries and glaucoma surgeries — are microsurgeries done under a microscope on a millimeter scale,” he explains.  

The retina repair on Jing’s right eye was successful, so Dr. Quiceno proceeded with cataract surgery for both eyes as scheduled.  

“Afterward, my vision was very good,” Jing says. “I had the best vision in my golf club, and everybody was jealous. They all asked for my doctors’ names after hearing my story.” 

Roughly nine months after his first surgery, Jing was at the links when the vision in his right eye began to wane again. Fearing another retinal detachment, he rushed to see Dr. Lin.  

But this time, he was diagnosed with a new problem: a macular hole, a small break in the part of the retina — the macula — that allows us to see finer details and colors, such as those needed for reading, driving and recognizing faces.  

Jing still had excellent vision in his left eye, and his ophthalmologist was confident his right eye could be repaired again to match. He knew he was in good hands.  

“I said, ‘OK, I trust you, you are a great doctor. Let’s do it,’” he says.  

Repairing a macular hole is similar to fixing a retinal detachment. In September 2024, Dr. Lin performed another vitrectomy on Jing’s eye, this time peeling back a bit of the retina’s internal limiting membrane before inserting the gas bubble to help close the macular hole. 

While vitrectomies are relatively quick procedures, recovery can take several weeks. Patients typically wear an eye shield and lie face down as much as possible to keep the gas bubble in the correct position while the retina heals.  

“There can be a little uncertainty after surgery,” Dr. Lin says. “You don’t really know if it worked or not because the vision is blurry from the bubble. You have to take it on faith that it’s working.”  

Dr. Lin saw Jing again the next day, a week later, a month later and then a couple of months after that. At his last ophthalmology checkup in February 2025, Jing’s vision in his right eye was calibrated at 20/25. His left eye is still 20/20.  

“His vision is very good—not quite full 20/20, but for having had a macular hole and a retinal detachment, it’s an excellent outcome,” says Dr. Lin.  

Dr. Lin says several factors contributed to Jing’s successful results. Vitrectomy techniques and tools have improved in recent years, and smaller-gauge instruments allow for tiny, and often sutureless, incisions.  

Jing also sought immediate medical attention after noticing a change in his vision and followed medical advice on postoperative positioning. Additionally, Scripps’ expert ophthalmologists have the specialized training to perform complex retina surgeries.  

Each evening after dinner, Jing takes a long walk, looking from Torrey Pines State Beach toward Point Loma to see if he can spot the Point Loma Lighthouse, closing one eye and then the other to see how sharp his focus is.  

“I’m very happy, and very grateful,” he says. “I play golf much better because I can see from a long distance. Most people can’t see the flag and the green. I not only see the flag, but I can see which way the wind is blowing the flag.”  

At age 63, Jing says he’s in the best health of his life. He grew up in a village in China without access to health care and suffered fatigue from kidney failure in his 50s until receiving a full kidney transplant at Scripps Clinic in 2022.  

These days, he golfs three times a week, hikes and works out in the gym. Last May, he won the senior club championship tournament at the par-72 Fairmont Grand Del Mar golf course, shooting an 84 with a 17 handicap.  

“My physical health and my lab data suggest I’m much younger than I actually am,” he says. “I have never felt so healthy, thanks to the great doctors at Scripps and the outstanding medical care I received.”