by vannin » Fri Nov 30, 2018 10:11 pm
Here I am! The afternoon of The Eyes, turned right on its head so I have news that is both good and not so good.
I don't know if anyone remembers me mentioning the original eye problem from long ago. Like Laurie described recently. Is not really related to the recent/current complaint which has needed the laser surgery because both of my cataracts (done 2015) started going wrong a year ago. Yesterday I went along fully expecting the second eye to have the same as the first eye, with numbing drops taking away any risk of pain and enabling an instant recovery. It transpired that procedure must be postponed for now. This is why.
I had a tiny nagging doubt a doctor or consultant might tell me the old complaint had progressed to the point it must be dealt with first. Proved correct. The first doctor after taking scans, said he must have second opinion of the consultant who came in and agreed with him. The condition is called Macular Degeneration and has two kinds, wet and dry. Wet MD is more serious, treatable and comes suddenly, with a need to be treated quickly by injection into the eye then continued at monthly intervals. What I have had for 16 years, developing very slowly is Dry MD which is untreatable though research is trying to get a cure for it. It makes the sight have wavy lines and some distortion which must be lived with, helped by guidance from the optometrist twice a year, specs and Lutein supplement capsules. No drug available.
Occasionally a person's Dry MD changes into Wet MD, and that is what has happened in addition to (that right eye) also having the separate thing needing laser (some time). So... followed by the good part of the news that they had spotted this change in its very early stage and could maybe 'nip it in the bud' by giving an immediate injection into the eye, to be followed by injections every month for a while, at Amersham Hosp which is closer to home. It was not pleasant and the numbing drops wore off in the evening but by this morning, OK. It was done by a specialist nurse assisted by a young Filippino male nurse who held my hand during it!! What would the NHS do without the influx of these lovely nurses?
I hope this makes sense. I shall be a regular client of the transport I had yesterday, a hire car with a female driver/escort, who used to be a Carer. The business is called Driving Miss Daisy. I am delighted with it.