Saturday, May 27, 2017

Eyes




I have glaucoma. For the past four years it has been controlled with expensive eye drops, then suddenly the eyedrops weren't working anymore. Glaucoma is a condition where the pressure inside the eye is too high, which begins to destroy the optic nerve, leading, eventually, to blindness. My pressure was too high, despite the drops.

So, here's the thing about glaucoma—you don't know there is anything wrong for a long time, or until your eye doctor checks your pressure and discovers the condition. My vision was not affected in any way I was aware of, but, according to my doctor, I was in something of a crisis. She sent me to a glaucoma specialist. He recommended we try a laser procedure—one eye first—to see if that would lower the pressure. It did—but not enough. So this last Tuesday I had an eye surgery called a trabeculectomy, again on one eye. I was nervous, knowing that this was a serious modification to my very eyeball and held higher risks than the previous treatment I'd had. The surgery itself was OK—good drugs get one through it with minimum trauma! Now I am healing, which will take awhile. Only later will I know if this will be the solution to keeping my eye pressure at a safe level. If it does, we will do it again, to the other eye.

I have had a lot of time to think, and I have a tendency to think too much. Maybe what I mean is that I worry. The day after the surgery the Doctor said it looked good. My vision in the operated on eye was pretty bad, but he assured me that was normal and it would get better. The next day it was worse and I panicked. A very bad day. I was cursing the idea of disfiguring what had seemed a perfectly good eye and rendering it useless! The next day it began to clear and today, even more. My anxiety has lifted considerably. I have many restrictions as I heal—don't bend over, don't lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk, don't sleep on the affected side, wear a shield over the eye at night, eye drops every two hours... Healing my eye is my job for the next few weeks. And I hope for the best. And I try not to worry. The "best" is stopping glaucoma's progress. The damage that has been done cannot be undone, and unlike my friends who are having cataract surgeries, my eyesight will not be better after surgery than it was before.

Glaucoma is hereditary. My father had it. But you may have it regardless of heredity. It is also more common than you might imagine. I know at least four people who also have it. Have your eyes checked every year. Just do it. Don't think "they seem fine." Mine seemed fine too.

So I celebrate the gift of sight and am enjoying a beautiful day here and all the beauty my eyes can see. Send me a good thought for a good outcome and take care of yourselves...












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

22 comments:

  1. Sending hugs - from another worrier, hoping all will be well!

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  2. Oh Terry, I hope things continue to go well with this eye and that the treatments can proceed for the other eye.
    Look after yourself for the healing. But for the emotional health during it, too. Find some podcasts or audio books to listen to and lessen the thinking time.
    Hugs,
    Sandy in the UK

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  3. Sending light and love your way. Vision is so precious.

    I have I have low-tension glaucoma, a degenerative condition in which optic nerve damage and vision loss have occurred despite a normal pressure inside the eye. I had no inkling of this - even now my vision seems quite normal to me (myopia aside). I routinely passed the puffer test, my condition was only detected when the optometrist took some retina photos. I am on the eye drop routine to further lower the intra-ocular pressure. So far, so good but Trabeculectomy surgery is likely in my future.

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  4. Eyes like yours, that see so much beauty, cannot be spared. Sending good and healing thoughts.

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  5. Very- it won't be very comforting to you but I had glaucoma diagnosed about 4 years back and have been using the drops since then. They have had moderate effect on the pressure, and has actually brought it down a bit and so far I'm not facing surgery. Yet! My 'baby cataracts', as he cals them are also messing me up but not ready for surgery so here I am with very little of my eyesight working! Constant blurry and not being able to focus means no reading, short computer sessions, and a mad woman. Topographically I could;dn't be further away from you here in FL, but we are going through parallel lives! Sandy

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  6. Wishing you well as you heal. I to have had some eye problems and had to go through surgeries and restrictions. And isn't it a pain to have to remember all those drops?

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  7. Sending lots of healing thoughts your way. I didn't imagine eye surgery would require you to not lift anything heavy. My mother had eye surgery last year and she too had a bout of panic when things were worse and she thought she might go blind because of the surgery. She is much better now. I hope your recovery is smooth and clear.

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  8. Good food for thought. Thank you. Hope you're feeling/seeing better each day.

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  9. Best wishes for the outcome

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  10. Normally I hate all those "this happened to me/my mother/my friend" kind of thing, but my mother actually had a good outcome with this. Sounds like you are in the hands of a good medical team and I'm wishing you all the best thoughts for a good outcome for your eyes.

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  11. Thank you for sharing your experience with glaucoma surgery. My sister-in-law had the same surgery a few years back and it was successful. Hoping yours will be also. Sight is a precious gift and one we should never take it for granted.

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  12. Sending good thoughts your way for a successful recovery.

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  13. Yes, warm thoughts and prayers for continued improvement and healing, Terry. When you and I were both teens, my grandmother had glaucoma and used drops. What a blessing that they since have found a way to preserve sight when the drops lose effectiveness. Thank you for sharing this important personal journey...and the beautiful things you make and see.

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  14. my son in law is an extremely talented artist and suffers from the same issues. He had the laser treatment done in both eyes to reduce the pressure and so far so good. At 45 it is quite daunting the thought of loosing ones eyesight. Actually at any age - I cannot imagine. Stay positive - you have a lot of art to share with us!

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  15. Terry, wishing you the very best outcome possible. It is sad to begin to lose ones physical abilities but a blessing to have lived to enjoy the wonders around us for this long. Continue to heal and be good to yourself.

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  16. Good thoughts to you and a speedy recovery.

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  17. How scary! You are in my thoughts.

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  18. Oh Terry~I'm sending you all kinds of healing thoughts! You have created so much beauty in this world, and I thank you for it~

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  19. Terry-I had a customer at work who is now going through a second surgical round. Her doctors are "positive" about the results. she has worried that she isn't doing enough, too much etc. But Johns Hopkins said "everything is good" so now she has scheduled a second surgery on her left eye and is thinking positive thoughts. Eyes. To an artist like you--it's everything. I feel your anxiety. Positive energy from all of your Readers and friends will do good things. Take care, listen to books and the birds. Rest.

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  20. It is brave of you to share this experience and I hope very much that you get the best possible results from your treatment.

    Christine

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  21. Thank you for posting about your eye condition. I can never get the glaucoma test. My eye will not remain open no matter what they do. I hope the procedure did what it was supposed to. I said a prayer and will keep you in my thoughts...a thought is a prayer.
    xx, Carol

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  22. I was diagnosed with glaucoma last year. So far the drops are working. I don't know anyone else who has it so it's interesting and helpful to read what you are experiencing. It certainly makes you appreciate what you can see now. I hope you heal quickly and that the surgery was successful.

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