Update, sorry for the long wait between posts

I know, I know, nothing for almost 90 days. For this I apoligize.  But busy with many projects, the holidays, meetings and the magazine.
Quick up dates    on the eyes,  last visit was January 19th, vision is still improving, bad eye tested out at at 20-25 with corrective lenses.  Eye pressure was 20, on the prior Deember visit it was 35 and Dr. Lim put me on Timolol to keep the pressure in check.  The other good news is that because of the success of the actions of the two drugs injected back in September, and the state of the eye, no cists, scars or blood vessel problems, I have not needed any more injections. The doctor is delighted and so am I.
I did a short srory on my eyes for the December issue of the Lions View, and received some responses from Lions that have the same condition WMD, wet eye macular degeneration, all curious if the treatment that I am receiving will work for them.
This is the first stage of the trial, years to go before it may be fully approved and accepted, the trial test is called 2089, and as I indicated I was the first in the world to participate. I understand there are 3 more  that have been added since September. I hope thay are as successfull as I am.
Now the other news, busy with house projects, Doug, Colleen and I installed a new hardwood floor, ripped out the wall to wall, Amy and Tim painted the room and my wife picked out new window treatments so we had to match the paint on one wall to the color of the blinds.
Also, having new windows installed a little different than the originals but after 30 years it was time.
Christmas was great, the club agin got together and donated tons of toys and clothing for the kids at the Albany Park Community Center, we had our ninth Salute to American Heroes in November and a fashion show in October.
Plus meetings, meetings and more.
Again sorry for the long dry spell, promise to write a t least once a week, it is on my calandar.

Sunday, October 17

In ten days I have another appointment and probably another inoculation into the eye.  The reason I have not added anything lately, is little or no change in the vision in my eye.  Looking at the chart with quarter inch squares, they still are blurred and not straight line. I notice a gray, darker area to the center and yet my glasses do make a bit of a difference, yet are worse for the ten foot chart I also have posted. If I were to guess I am about 20-50 right now, maybe 20-40 if I push it.

Following the docs orders I am washing my eyelashes twice a day to get rid of my “Eyelash dandruff” and it seems to be working, less grit when I wake up.   Don’t watch much TV, it is more for background noise, and have the radio or CD player on instead. Reading is a bit better, but need the magnifying glass for some of the smaller print.  If you ever read a government contract or bid, you understand.

Life goes on, and we will cope.  

TEN DAYS

TEN DAYS FROM THE SECOND INJECTION

Today is ten days from the date of the second or normally prescribed drug injection.  Perhaps I was expecting too much, considering the rapid progress after the insertion of the trial dosage. My wife tells me my eye is still showing signs of the hemorrhage and is red in the lower right hand side.  Yesterday I woke up to see the black blob, the trial drug; which has remained hidden, appear and float around the right side of the eye, discerning to say the least. But a few blinks and it stays hidden which is good.  My vision is much better in bright lights or sunlit areas.  The straight lines now only have one hic-cup, but the acuity is still fuzzy.  If I were to read an eye chart I would probably fail, yet the overall peripheral vision seems better.  Today I noticed an anomaly, I was looking out our front window through the screen and for some reason the vision was sharper with the screen in the way. Maybe the screen was bending the light rays?  Vision is still blurry when I try to read something unless I am very close, at ten feet it is all fuzzy with no sharp edges, if I were to guess it is between 20-50 and 20-70 or more today as I write this. 

As a right eyed photographer , it is frustrating to pick up a camera and see the gray area in the center, have to use the left eye for focus and find I am stpping back a bit to make sure everything is in the image I want to capture.   We will beat this, I trust the doctors and that attitude is half the battle.

Wait and See Atitude.

It is now five days since my second inoculation which was the normally prescribed drug for my condition.  I still have redness in the lower quadrant of the eye, and while the vision is better than the day of the shot, it is far worse than it was, in my opinion before the shot. The vertical or horizontal lines now have two hiccups instead of the one previously, and the vision overall is still blurry, like an acute case of stigmatism.  Last night I tried an on line eye chart just for grins, and I was about 20-20 in my left eye and 20-100 in the right eye.  Just used an on line test and am almost correct in my thinking. Using the test with lines and the center dot, left is ok, right has a lot of wavy lines.

I will reach out or the doctor tomorrow and tell her of what I am experiencing.  Perhaps I was hoping for the change to be more rapid than it has been, pardon the pun, but I’ll just wait and see. Or, am I using it too much, with driving, work and using the computer?

My Second Shot

Day Twelve, Wednesday.  Here we go again.  Checked in on the red phone and then stopped in at the assistants’ office who got all my paperwork together. She reminded me that today’s injection was normal treatment and my insurance would be billed for the service rendered. A short wait in the Marseilles  Lions room then off for the eye chart tests with different lenses being put before my eyes to get the sharpest vision for me.  Went from 20-100 to 20-50 in one week! Eye pressure was normal and then off for pictures of the eye.  Camera was down so we went upstairs  to use a different camera.  Note the elevator worked fine but the doors closed with a bang.  This camera uses a laser and I could watch the straight red line as it scanned my eyeball and where the imperfection was I could see the wave in the line. Then back downstairs to the Westchester Lions room for the treatment. 

My doctor was very pleased with my improvement and the laser photos showed affected area had reduced by 30 microns which she and the Fellow working with her today were very pleased to see.

Then after looking at the eye, the Fellow remarked the drug installed last week looked like a tiny moon in my eye. To them it is white, to me when I can see it is a black blob. More drops, outer area antiseptic and then the doctor held a swab on the spot she had targeted to numb it even more, then the new drug was injected.  I could see it as it swirled around inside the eye, it reminded me of when I would mix chemicals in my darkroom how the two fluids would mix together to become one.  Just a little sting this time, but I could still feel it.

The outer antiseptic was rinsed off and then I sat up again.  Because of the new drug being installed my vision went back to a total blur, like looking thru a rain washed window.  My pressure was checked, it was 36, much higher than an hour ago.  After a ten minute wait it dropped to around 20 and we finished the paperwork   and then as long as I was there she gave me a drop of the Vigamox with instructions to continue for three days.  Again I felt like I had rocks in the eye as the week before, but hopefully that would subside as last time.

Some differences after this treatment.  My eye began to be very watery, my nose started to run and after waiting a half hour I got the car and drove the few miles to work.  The rocky feeling continued, as did the watery eye and the runny nose.  After 5 hours I went home, sunglasses a big help, but had to take them off to wipe the tears. After dinner I turned on the radio turned off the lights and just relaxed on the couch in the dark with my eyes closed which seemed to help. I noticed a higher level of anxiety or nervousness as I lay there, and this feeling continued thru the night and for most of the next morning.  Don’t know if my blood pressure was up but eventually the eyes stopped watering, the sniffle’s subsided and the rock turned to a grain of sand and was tolerable.

Now, about thirty-six hours after the injection the eye feels almost normal, the vision is starting to clear but still blurry,  and I still have wavy lines. Looking at the chart full of squares the center is still diffused by a gray area, and the outer lines are lacking contrast but coming into focus.

A Good Three Days

Sunday, Day Nine, a quiet day, vision seems better, keeping our fingers crossed.

Day Ten,  Monday , back to work, committee meeting tonight. Driving home at night did experience some  glare problems from oncoming headlights on Harlem Avenue.  Long day and tired.

Day Eleven, Tuesday, work again, got an email to bring my Vigamox to prevent infection with me for the next big test, the injection tomorrow of the other drug being used.  Again some trepidation about getting another shot.

High Contrast Eye

Day Six, Thursday; vision is improved, less distortion and almost able to read with the eye.  Came home from work and my wife and I went to a Lions club meeting of two clubs for the governors visit. Since I was the guiding Lion for one of the clubs, I was asked to say a few words.  My wife told me later that you could see jaws drop as described the events of the last few days. I reminded them that because of the Lions before them, we built LIERI and endowed the chair occupied by my doctor, so thanks to the Lions I was able to receive probably the best treatment available in the world.

Day Seven Friday was bright and sunny and the vision was even better! Double vision almost gone. Not annoyed by the distorted vertical lines, that too almost gone.  Tape off the glasses, can see the computer without depending on one eye, and I could again do the crossword puzzle. Hooray!

Day Eight, Saturday, went to the bank, bookstore and shopping with my wife. Bad rains yet the problems of the double or skewed vision of the headlights coming at me is gone. If I were to guess my vision is about 20-40 today. I write this with both eyes open and it’s almost normal.  My daughter came to the house and she had to hear the whole story and made the remark that the affected eye is brighter and shinier than the other eye. “You have a high contrast eye Dad!”

 She is also responsible for this start of this blog that you are reading, as she said, other Lions, doctors and people that share my problem would be interested.  I will continue writing this, I know it will get one page in a couple of the magazines I am involved with for others to read, and I hope perchance it will be of interest and benefit to you.