Loosing eye sight

[Sturgeon Tom]

I went to the eye doctor today because the last few days I have had a fuzzy araa in the middle of the sight in my left eye(can't see a thing). I did not get the news I wanted. He told me I have (a real long name). Its where the vein in the center of the back of the eye has problems and then you can't see. He said there are two kinds of this thing. I got the impression neither one is good. Prognosis "GUARDED".
I am to see a specialist to find out what happens now.
He put me on the eye glass chart and could not get my left eye to read the top line. This does not make me feel very good.
Understand this has happened to me after fighting Cluster Migraines for 8 years. Sometimes several a day. Those have been hard enough to deal with and now this. For those of you who want to know why I don't work now you know.
I have also had two sholder operations and one back surgery during this time.
I guess I shouldn't put all this on here but I just needed to, tell, yell, or rant.
I guess I will just go to the specialist and go from there.
Thanks for listining.
Tom

[Cool Texan]

Sorry to hear the news. We'll pray that your eyes hold out and improve. I have glaucoma (age 32), so I am a bit on edge as to what this might mean long term.

Hang in there!

[Sturgeon Tom]

Cool Texan sorry to here about you. You are so young. I'll pray things goes well with you.
I will make a follow up post when I find out more.
Tom

[fish assassin]

Ewww, cluster migraines. Been having them for years, but they are starting
to lighten up *FINALLY*! Started getting them when I was in my late teens/
early 20s and have been taking meds for 'em for something lik 30 years. Used
to have 'em a couple of times a week. Now they have slowed down to one every
couple of months. Doctor says this is typical and that most folks grow out of
the headaches at around 40 years of age. Just took me a few years longer!! :grin: :grin:

As for losing the sight in one eye ... Sorry to hear! However, there IS hope!!
I lost muscle control in my left eye when I was 19 years old (an industrial accident,
big smack on the head kinda thing). I've never recovered control of that eye and
have a terrible time focusing on stuff with it. The good news is that the human
body is a wonderfully complex piece of machinery and it can adapt itself to new
situations!! :grin: :grin:

When you lose sight (or usage) of one eye, you lose depth perception. Makes it
kinda hard to drive, makes it kinda hard to reach out and touch ANYTHING without
either missing it or smacking your finger-tips. However, your body and mind
WILL adjust!

When I drive my head is constantly moving now. My one good eye takes the imput
from two different angles and gives me "depth". Not as good as *real* depth
perception, but good enough.

I truly hope the doctors can help your eye, but if not, please be encouraged
that this is not the end! Since I lost use of my left eye I have managed to
raise four kids and live a productive life (in spite of the kids )

Good luck to you! I hope everything works out for the best!!

-assAssin-

[Jennie@ifish]

I can relate. If you'd like to talk, let me know.

I'm so sorry. :depressed:

Jen

[Charlie]

Tom
I know how you feel, I have macular degeneration
and I sounds like you have the same problem that
I have in my left eye. I can see down and to the
side, but straight ahead I can not see one's face.
My dept perception is off, but one learns to coup
with it.

Don't beat yourself up and a lot worse things can
happen to you, better then the alturnative.

The doctor will probably lazer your bad eye to stop the bleeding, there is no cure for this problem.

You are in my prayers

Charlie

[Wright Angle]

Tom, I'm sorry to hear about your eye problem. I hope that it's something that they can fix...mine wasn't.

I have an eye disease that sounds a little like what you have going on. Mine is called (central serious chorioretinopathy) or (central serious retinopathy) take your pick they call it both... My left eye has some damage but my right eye is the worst. My eyes bleed behind the retina which causes pressure on the retina which in turn causes a blind spot in my central vision. It has bothered me for about 12 years now. It's kind of like Diabetic retinopathy but I'm not Diabetic. Mine gets a little better between recurring episodes but alas after each episode I have a little more permanent damage. When I'm having a bout I can't even read my wristwatch, but then it seems to go away and my vision goes back to almost normal. They don't even know what causes it, the specialist tells me that it might be stress. So I try not to worry about it because that causes stress. LOL.

I've been living with it and I'm getting along just fine, 99% of the time my vision is almost normal....hang in there....Wright Angle

P.S. I'm only 48 years old...

[DanS]

Wright A,

Is yours a condition that can be treated with laser surgery? After 20 years of being diabetic, I experienced some retinopathy.....both leaking blood vessels and proliferative blood vessel growth.

After 4 laser treatments, my vision improved from 20/200 to 20/20 in one eye and 20/40 in the other.

[Wright Angle]

Yes they tell me it can be treated with laser surgery if it ever starts bleeding and does not stop on it own but so far I have not had to have that done. I don't ever notice anything in my left eye but each time I have bleeding in my right eye (2 or 3 times a year) I'm mostly blind in that eye for three or four days but it slowly gets better as my body absorbs the blood and the pressure goes down.


The specialist told me that each time I have laser surgery it would leave a permanent small blind spot so I have been reluctant to have it done. :depressed:

[salmurai]

Sturgeon Tom, Keep an eye on it! No pun intended. Ok, just a little one. I'm on a similiar trip. Retinal vein occlusion. They couldn't predict it. They couldn't stop it once it started. They can't do anything to fix it. They can't figure out why it happened to me. (No health problems up until now) Life goes on. Be happy. Catch a fish once in a while. Get in touch if you have any questions. Good Luck.... sal

[DanS]

Wright A,

It's true.....the back of my eyes look like a minefield......but I can only notice the spots when I look at a piece of paper with a grid on it. Other than that, it's not even perceptable.

Laser surgery isn't without risks, but without it I'd have had great difficulty fishing at all as I couldn't see well enough to tie a knot. I walked in to have it done around lunch time, walked out an hour later, and was reading the
paper that night. Not to mention it was virtually painless.

Good luck.....here's hoping you get well soon.

[Jetsledder]

Hope your eye sight gets better. I will be praying for you that it does.

[ 07-31-2003, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: worldlyme ]

[Wright Angle]

DanS, Sorry it takes me so long to get back to this thread but I've been working grave yard the last two night...

Below was written by Dr. William Trattler

Dr. Trattler is a board-certified ophthalmologist with subspecialties in refractive, corneal and cataract eye surgery. He is a cornea specialist at the Center for Excellence in Eye Care in Miami, Florida.

Stress appears to play a key role in central serous retinopathy (CSR), also referred to central serous chorioretinopathy or central serous choroidopathy. This condition occurs when fluid leaks in the retina and causes retinal swelling. CSR most commonly strikes men who are in their 30s and 40s who are in high-pressure jobs. However, the exact connection between stress and the disorder is not known at this time. Other risk factors include high blood pressure and/or the use corticosteroid medications.

The main symptoms of CSR are blurry vision in the affected eye, as well as distorted vision and/or seeing things smaller than they really are. This condition has a tendency to recur, so patients may report multiple episodes of having blurry vision that last weeks to months.
CSR can be diagnosed by a direct exam of the retina, which allows the eye doctor to see the leakage of fluid. Also, a procedure called a fluorescein angiogram may be performed to reveal the precise spot in the retina where the leak is occurring.

In general, treatment has been unsuccessful for CSR. Laser therapy, which helps in diabetes-related retinal leakage, has not been proven to have any effect on the vision of CSR patients. However, in severe, unremitting cases of CSR, laser surgery may still be tried.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Because laser surgery is not effective on CSR my specialist said he would not consider laser treatment unless my eye starts bleeding and won't stop on its own. :depressed: Wright Angle

[ 08-01-2003, 08:32 AM: Message edited by: Wright Angle ]