My battle for my eyes

I have previously mentioned my on-going battle with glaucoma and the fact I wanted to provide a bit of information on the subject. I felt the best way in which to inform is simply to post what I have encountered, how it is being treated and what I am presently undergoing in an attempt to regain my vision. I cannot stress highly enough the importance of preventive medical care and follow up regarding your eyes.

I am going to post an on-going update of what I am experiencing, the procedures being done and what I experience in the process with the goal of not only informing others, but to share my experience in the hope anyone facing this problem will battle it without fear. I simply wish to share with others the effects of this eye disease. I will be posting other blogs during the process; this will simply be an on-going commentary to accompany them.

How it all began

Approximately one year ago, I awoke to the most intense pain in my eyes I had ever experienced, running to a mirror in an attempt to see if anything had become lodged in my eyes while sleeping, I turned on a light and immediately had to cover my eyes from the additional pain that struck me. Blind and both eyes covered I was driven to the emergency room where a physician informed me I had the most severe case of iritis in both eyes he had ever witnessed. Iritis is the inflammation of the iris, the colored portion of the eye. A common eye problem, iritis usually responds well to treatment. However, the condition may become sight threatening when left untreated.

I was immediately sent to an eye specialist who provided treatment and a week of wearing dark glasses, taking multiple drops coupled with the inability to read or watch television finally cleared the problem up. A few months after being told I was clear of the problem I was at a local store picking a few things up, all at once, I was unable to see anything but large splotches of colors, it was as if someone had taken globs of Vaseline and covered my eyes with it. I was unable to bring anything into focus; I made my way to a chair, sat and called my doctor as well as a friend to transport me to my eye doctor for an emergency visit.

A check of the eyes found the pressure had reached a dangerous level and caused the episode of blindness. Glaucoma was diagnosed, a regime of eye drops prescribed and I was taken home to get well and maintain continuous medical follow up. As time progressed, the effects of the glaucoma disease worsened as the optic nerve became damaged leading to blind spots in my field of vision. Approximately one week ago, my vision had reached an all time bad level of eyesight with the inability to see but only a few feet in front of me. I saw my eye doctor who prescribed new eye medication and called in his associate for a consultation.

After lengthy and highly magnified views into my eyes, they diagnosed me with a form of Angle-closure glaucoma, which results when the drainage angle of the eye narrows or becomes completely blocked. Yesterday, I underwent a relatively painless laser procedure that creates tiny holes in the iris to improve the flow of eye fluid to the drain in an attempt to correct the problem.

I have a follow up scheduled with the eye physician and will post what transpires as it progresses.