Thursday, January 10, 2008

Somethings In My Eye

I think I have mentioned before that I do not have normal medical conditions occur to my body. For some reason the jokers who control the medical issues always seem to find humor in giving me rare and unusual things that cause Dr.'s to throw their hands up and say...."hmmmm this girl is weird." We already knew that.

At my normally scheduled vision check last month all I wanted was a new pair of contacts and a prescription for some new glasses. But, oh no. It can't be that simple. Now, I had to have a new diagnosis to add to my already bulging file. So, the newest is this. I have acute narrow angle glaucoma. Here is the low down on it.

Acute narrow-angle glaucoma occurs suddenly, when the colored portion of your eye (iris) is pushed or pulled forward. This causes blockage of the filtration angle of the eye, where the trabecular meshwork allows outflow of fluids. When internal eye structures are blocked in this way, your eye's internal pressure (intraocular pressure) may spike and possibly damage the optic nerve that transmits images from the eye to the brain.

How dangerous is an acute attack of NAG? An attack of this type of glaucoma is an emergency. Untreated, it may cause blindness in a day or two. And I said, "WHAT?????"

How is an acute attack of NAG treated? Narrow Angle Glaucoma is treated with a laser. In this office procedure a small drain hole is created in the iris, the colored part of the eye. The hole is of microscopic size. The operation is painless. Laser and non laser glaucoma surgery may be required to reduce the internal optic pressure. In an iridotomy, a laser is used to create a hole in the iris to enhance the drainage passages blocked by a portion of the iris. In addition to laser treatment, eyedrops are administered to lower the pressure.

The goal of treatment is to reduce intraocular pressure as soon as possible.

SO. With that being said let me say this. They make it sound painless. They make it sound quick. They can say all these things because it is not THEIR EYE. Of all the the procedures I have had I dread this one the most. I really don't dread it for the pain, there is no pain. It is just the idea of someone poking around in my eye. It better be painless. I am having my left eye procedure on Monday and then will schedule my right eye the following week if all goes ok with the first. They won't do them both the same day for reasons that are scary. 'Nuff said. Take care of your eyes, I tell you. Get regular eye check ups too. I might never have known this. Hopefully, I'll be as good as ever. And that wasn't too good. And hopefully, my eyes will still be brown!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your medical history must be a very interesting read!

Anonymous said...

I have had Lasik surgery and enhancements on both eyes. Laser eye surgery is not as bad as the dread....I am sure it is nothing compared to open heart....

Anonymous said...

You will be in my prayers!!! You take care of yourself. I know some Sabs who NEED you!

Unknown said...

I will keep you in my prayers tonight and tomorrow that all goes well:). xo