What a week I've had... Ended up with an emergency visit to the ophthalmologist on Saturday after the symptoms I'd been having on and off since April (a hazy film coming over my eyes, rainbow halos around lights, sensitivity to light, contacts slipping off my eyes easily, nausea, and headaches) got more persistent and worse.
Turns out those symptoms are not good. The pressure in my eyes was incredibly high (48-50, normal being between 10-20) and I was diagnosed with glaucoma. No, not good at all.
The doctor prescribed two different drops to get the pressure down and I spent a sad, stressful weekend at home with my glasses on reading horrible things online about glaucoma.
Monday morning, I headed back to the doctor to check my pressure again and take a battery of tests. That appointment ended up being the best-case scenario, really. I do have some damage to my optic nerve in my right eye, but the left is okay and now that we've caught it and are treating it, there hopefully won't be any more. My pressure was way down (11 in the right and 27 in the left), so I'm continuing the drops and it doesn't look like I'll have to have surgery for now.
Thankfully, the doctor said my chances of going suddenly blind are very, very slight (definitely my worst case scenario) and I found out I can't do anything physically to make glaucoma worse, so photography, working on the computer, knitting and reading are all okay. Thank God.
I go back to see him again on Monday. And I have an appointment to see my dermatologist to try to get off the topical steroid meds I'm on for my psoriasis, which could have brought on the glaucoma in the first place. Unfortunately, he could "fit me in" until the end of August. What gives with the dermatologists? I've had this problem before; I need to get in, but he's booked for months, and they can "squeeze" me in a month from now... Gee, thanks for fitting me in your schedule... I don't get it.
But, anyway, I wasn't even sure I was going to write about this here, but I started a post about Maine and couldn't NOT write about this first. This is definitely forefront in my mind. Even though the news I heard yesterday was all pretty good and I know it's all going to be okay, it's still scary and depressing and exhausting to think about. I really like seeing...
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5 comments:
Yipes! Very scary! I'm so glad you had a 'best case' outcome. Take care of yourself!!
I hate the derm. too...you can NEVER get in with them!
Oh, Karyn, how scary! I'm glad things turned out to be "best case," but I'm sure even that feels overwhelming.
Thank goodness all the hobbies you love are still allowed.
I hope things continue to get better.
As for reading horrible thing on the internet about diseases? Oh my gosh, have I ever been there. The internet can be so wonderful and also so awful, can't it? Too much knowledge can be a bad, bad thing.
I'm so glad you've shared this - thanks for posting so we know what is going on - and thanks for all of the info about it! And the internet can be so helpful and yet it can overload you too. I'm glad there was some immediate solution! I hope to hear more soon - Mik
Gee whiz! I am so glad to hear that everything is OK!!!!!!!
We will talk soon. Crazy here as we start Kindergarten (yikes) on Monday and have family here.
Love you!
Jara
Ugh....I am sorry to hear this news. I hope everything turns out okay.
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