The story of my left eye – so far: Part I
[NOTE: I’ve decided to write an explanatory piece about my recent eye problems and surgery. It may be long and boring to some, but I think it might be helpful if anyone is going through a similarly confusing time with the medical profession. This is the first of several planned parts.]
I had good vision as a child and young adult, and it persisted through much of my life. I wore distance glasses for only two things: to see subtitles in the movies, and to drive at night. And I didn’t even really need them for either of those tasks, although they helped. I could also usually make do without reading glasses except for small print in low light.
But about twenty years ago I went for my annual visit to the eye doctor and as the technician was looking at my eyes he suddenly said, “Excuse me; I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I had no idea what was going on, but his abrupt departure made me uneasy.
He returned ten or fifteen minutes later with the eye doctor, who peered into my eyes for a while with some instruments, and then told me I would need laser surgery for something called “narrow angles.” My eye structure was such that the drainage system was now potentially compromised, something that happened more commonly in Asian people. I’m not Asian, but I had it anyway, and he told me that meant I could suddenly go blind in a matter of hours after getting the first symptoms, which would be eye pain. It could happen any time, any place, and I had to be near a hospital because I would need emergency surgery in the event of an attack of what’s known as narrow angle glaucoma (not to be confused with the more common sort of glaucoma, which is a different thing with a different cause).
He said that the laser surgery would be very simple, so simple that it really didn’t qualify as “surgery.” It was done in the office and took a minute or two. The procedure was called an iridotomy, with the laser putting a small hole in the patient’s iris so that the fluid would drain if there was an attack and the pressure would never build to damaging proportions. Complications were so rare as to be nonexistent. In one in a million people, the tiny hole in the iris let in light that the retina could perceive as an extra little gleam in the visual field. But that just about never happened.
The whole thing scared me, and I wanted to wait a while and think about it. If I waited, he said, I would have to avoid having my eyes dilated. That could precipitate an attack. I would have to avoid suddenly going into a very dark room – that could precipitate an attack. I would have to avoid taking the following medications – and he proceeded to hand me a very long list.
It was sobering, even though I felt like a wimp for being afraid. My vision was so good that it was hard to accept that I needed eye surgery, even a minor one. But after a year or so and a consultation with another eye doctor who told me I had very narrow angles and really needed the surgery, I decided to do it. The doctor wanted to do both eyes at once, but I insisted on one at a time.
The day came, and the surgery was an odd experience but not such a terrible one. They lasered my left eye first. Afterwards my vision was unclear because they put some sort of sticky substance into the eye, but after a few hours it cleared.
Except for the new light in my eye.
My iridotomy hole was at two o’clock in my vision and the light was at eight o’clock, reflecting the flipping of images by the retina. I was panicked and distressed, and went back to the doctor who had done the iridotomy. He was almost as upset as I was; maybe even more so. He said it was the first time this had ever happened in an iridotomy he’d done. He also said that my iridotomy opening was very large because when he used the laser my iris “split like a broken zipper.” Ugh. He told me, though, that over time the brain adjusts and the extra light becomes much less disturbing.
And that’s what happened. After a few months, I often didn’t even notice it, although at times it became quite annoying again depending on light conditions. But now I faced having the other eye done. This time I went to a fancy eye clinic in Boston, and the doctor used a different technique for the iridotomy on the right eye. Fortunately, no broken zipper and no extra light in that eye.
And that’s the way it remained for many years.
[To be continued….]
[NOTE: Part II can be found here.]
Narrow angle glaucoma is serious. You did the right thing. Now I’m guessing that this complicated the cataract surgery or lens implant.
Hope everything will be ok with your eyes, dear Neo <3 Take care, please
Wow. You have an interesting medic adventure story to share! Thanks for starting…. (I’m in.)
A good many years ago I was driving into town and all of a sudden I starting seeing Red. I immediately drove to my eye doc and they got me in. I had a tear in the retina. He poked around inside my eye, a very weird experience, and he said I had a tear in the retina. He would have to do laser treatment immediately. I told him go for it. Another weird experience. He said he did a good number of “hits” with the laser. About 2 yrs later, same thing.
It is hard but sometimes we need to make snap decisions. Hope all turns out well for you NEO.
This was interesting. Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you got it taken care of.
I read a lot about vision issues. My background was in architectural lighting design and I’ve always been interested in the aging eye and what it means. I’m probably so interested because I have very bad astigmatism and very bad myopia. The bad myopia means I’ll likely develop macular degeneration or retinal detachment. It’s interesting, and depressing: my husband is a musician, losing his hearing, and I friend on my vision, and will probably lose my vision. We’re an O. Henry story in the making.
There is an architect who lost his vision as the result of surgery for a brain tumor. Even the people helping him adapt to blindness fully expected him to find a new profession. He figured out how to adapt to being a blind architect. It’s fascinating to read about some of his work.
To be honest, because my work and my hobbies are so dependent on site, I’m terrified of losing my sight.
Neo- I’m an optometrist (now retired) and once had a patient who experienced the exact same thing. She had narrow angles so I referred her to the ophthalmologist for iridotomies. The thing is, the size and position of the iridotomy looked fine but she was still bothered by the light she was seeing. When she complained to the ophthalmologist she had the feeling that he didn’t believe her. Her eyelid completely covered the iridotomy opening so I didn’t see how it was possible that any light could get through. I did a literature search, and it turns out that the tear film at the lid margin can create a base up prism effect which can account for the light she was experiencing. There’s even a name for it, “dysphotopsia”. I think my patient was just happy to know she wasn’t crazy.
I had emergency surgery for a detached retina on January 5. I’ve had severe myopia all my life and knew that could be in the cards. The recovery is not an easy process but there is no alternative.
I had foot and ankle reconstructive surgery several years ago and spent 5 months basically immobile. But this has been a totally different experience. As I told a friend recently, I feel like I’ve been wounded. I feel that when our eyes are affected it’s not just a mechanical issue. It has affected me much more deeply.
You are in my prayers and I really mean that. I pray for a lot of people I ‘ve never met! I hope your recovery is swift and uneventful.
He was almost as upset as I was; maybe even more so.
You really know you are in trouble when … Ugh.
About one year ago I noticed many tiny bugs zipping around my head.
There were no bugs; my left eye, without warning and instantaneously, decided to produce all sorts of “floaters.”
I go to the optometrist, he checks my eyes and says “don’t want to alarm you, but you need to go to an ophthalmologist right now.”
Really now, his remark had to be one of the most alarming things I have ever been told.
(Was even worse than a dentist telling me, and I quote, “this is going to hurt.” Their normal jargon is ” you may feel some discomfort” which tells you to get ready, it’s going to hurt).
Go to the ophthalmologist; turns out that a floater was pulling on my retina, and if not treated, I would get a “hole” in my retina.
They zap my eye with a laser – didn’t hurt at all – but was pretty darn uncomfie, but it fixed the problem.
The entire laser treatment lasted at most 1 or 2 minutes.
Speaking of floaters, I asked the doc what happens to all the floaters in your eyeball. He said they eventually fall to the bottom of the eyeball. I guess that means the bottom of my eyeball is a compost facility for floaters.
Anyway, NEO, hope all works out for you and your eyesight fully recovers.
The doc told me I had a cataract. Just my luck. I always wanted a Lincoln.
So sorry for your travails, Neo. Best wishes. The very idea of closed angle just kind of give me chills. Of course, I think most pilots are a bit paranoid about their eyes; and it becomes habitual. But, degraded sight of any magnitude has to be scary for anyone.
I have had open angle for 25 years or so; as did my Dad. I have gone through a multitude of different drops over the years; and am apparently allergic to the preservatives, so I am limited to one dose, preservative free dosage.
It is a bother; but, I have always been thankful that it can be controlled. Funny thing is, my Opthamologist has me in every couple of months, or more frequently, for visual field, scans, etc. He is never happy because my stiff neck and 86 year old forward head tilt is not compatible with the equipment. I also suspect that he is milking Medicare, but my wife says “he would never”. He sent me to a UCLA glaucoma Guru a year ago for consultations, and again a couple of weeks ago. After scans with equipment that looks very expensive, and a cursory examination himself, he says “nothing to worry about”. His people also get pressures considerably lower than my regular folk do. Go figure; because I can’t.
Healing thoughts directed toward you.
@ Lee Also > “There is an architect who lost his vision as the result of surgery for a brain tumor.”
One of our sons is an architect, so this immediately grabbed my attention.
The Internet came up with many references to Chris Downey, who met Lee’s description.
Links in increasing order of depth – I’m sending the last one to AesopSon.
https://www.perkinselearning.org/technology/posts/chris-downey-blind-architect
https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/know-your-architects/a2955-chris-downey-the-blind-architect/
https://thearchitectstake.com/interviews/chris-downey-architecture-blind/
“When I lost my vision, the first thing I had to learn was non-visual coping skills. Rehabilitation teaches you about things like how to travel on mass transit, but there was no training on how to be a blind architect. But why not? After all, Beethoven wrote some of his best music after going deaf. We’re not shut out of architecture.” – Chris Downey, Architect
Yikes! Learning that your eyes were ticking time bombs and you could go blind almost instantly, with no warning, could not have been a fun way to spend a year.
Rufus:
Our hostess is has grit and grace.
neo:
God bless. You are a saint of some sort.
But I can barely read about this level eye stuff without tearing up or hiding under my desk.
Thanks for sharing this, Neo, and prayers up for a full and easy return to good health. I second all the other commenters about the gift of sight; how we tend to take it for granted; and how fragile it can be.
” . . . but I think it might be helpful if anyone is going through a similarly confusing time with the medical profession.”
Such a thoughtful and generous perspective from which to write this series of pieces. It is clearly relevant to, and appreciated by, many readers as evidenced by the comments. Thankfully, relevance does not apply in my case but I read it anyway. I find your writing on any topic, personal or observational, engaging and most enjoyable. I confess to ending this one looking forward to the next installment like some kid watching a serial on TV.
May I commend the self-controlled and intelligent manner in which you address personal medical issues. Must be the training.
AesopFan — that is who I was writing about. Of course, it’s not like there are scads of blind architects.
Roy L
“Cataract”? Oh I get it now.
But I think you mean the alternative is a Rincoln.
I’ve had iridotomy performed on both of my eyes. Not for Narrow angle glaucoma but for issues from the more traditional form of glaucoma. In traditional glaucoma the additional internal pressure of the medium (aqueous) in the eye can press the iris against other structures. The material of the iris is somewhat irritating/toxic to those other structures and this in turn further elevates the eye pressures. The solution as in the narrow angle glaucoma is to punch a hole through the iris allowing the pressure to equalize and then the iris floats as it should. It is an interesting procedure, the laser discharges with a distinct pop (perhaps due to discharging a LARGE capacitor?) and is a bit startling. Otherwise in my case there were no obvious issues and it helped lower pressures a fair bit. I was warned about the potential light issue (among what seemed like half a million other possible side effects) but have not experienced it.
“Excuse me, I’ll be back in a few minutes”. Hmmm…That’s what the ultrasound technician said 35 years ago at my wife’s first pregnancy ultrasound. Being the dutiful rule follower, she had been sure to drink the full amount of water prior to the appointment, so the 10 minutes waiting for the doctor were not fun. (Twins was the reason for the 2nd opinion).
The worst thing that can happen with untreated narrow angle glaucoma is blindness.
Let’s “See” the big picture.
Ophthalmologists never have patients die of eye disease (I make a small exception for retinoblastoma, which they do NOT treat, but oncologists do).
Cancer, heart disease and stroke deserve more angst. They kill.
Cicero- also an early sign of a brain tumor can be papilledema (swelling of the optic nerve head) which is often first diagnosed during a routine eye exam.
Yeah, I had an unfortunate outcome from glaucoma surgery, which caused uncorrectable distortion of the retina, so my eye doctor (a MD not an OD) had a MRI done to rule out cancer. It was a big deal to me in my big picture. Funny, but loss of vision and blindness seems important to people before they die.
And not to be morbid about very rare adverse ooutcomes from cataract surgery; a coworkers wife died from an adverse reaction to post cataract surgery medications. Nothing in life is risk free.
My Mom had glaucoma (as do I – Thanks, Mom), and used drops for many years. When she had her cataract surgery, it cleared up the glaucoma and delivered her from the drops….. Something to look forward to, I guess.
You’re in my prayers, Neo…..
My story is somewhat different than yours, Neo. Blessed with perfect vision, I never sweated an eye exam during my 38 years as a pilot. The company doctor kept saying I would need reading glasses after fifty, but I was 58 before that occurred. I was doing well, not needing glasses with much correction until I was in my late 70s. After colon cancer surgery at 83, I noticed some deviation in the straightness of lines. I figured it might be cataracts, so went in for an exam. Whoa! The bad news was that it was wet macular degeneration. The good news was that it’s manageable. Not curable, but manageable. And it has been managed by periodic injections in my eyes. And it’s been a managed decline. At some point in the future, if I live a few more years, I will become legally blind.
I’ve done some research on wet macular degeneration.
1. It primarily affects people of blue-eyed, northern European ethnicity. Check.
2 People who spend a lot of time outdoors in the sun and don’t religiously wear sunglasses are more susceptible. Check.
3. People who work on computers and don’t use blue blocker glasses are more susceptible. Check.
4. People in the above categories should have macular degeneration checks annually after 65. I wish I had known that.
I couldn’t change my heritage, but I should not have been so careless about not wearing sunglasses and getting blue blockers for computer work. My great eye exam results over the years made me arrogant and careless. I should not have ignored my optometrist’s advice about getting a macular degeneration screening. Lessons learned – too late. I hope this encourages others to take better care of their eyes.
Looking forward to the next installment of your story, Neo.
JJ:
For what it’s worth, my mother was dark and not a northern European, always wore sunglasses outside, and was regular about eye exams. She had wet macular degeneration in her late 80s and her 90s.
My wife got shortchaged in the gene pool lottery and wound up at 45 with “pattern dystrophy” which is sort of like wet macular distrophy, being progressive, leads to blindness, distorted vision (see Amsler Grid), but not the same disease. Not always a good thing to be an interesting patient or have an rare set of genes. The doctors at the Casey Clinic at the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center see her every year now.
Don’t take vision for granted.
Neo:
Oh my. Maybe it’s just FATE. 🙂
Corrections:
wet macular degeneration as JJ and neo had it.
Casey Eye Clinic is at the Oregon Health Sciences University (Portland, OR).
Variants of the genes that give you pattern distrophy are responsible for retinitis pigmentosa, a much worse affliction.
As Igor said to Dr. Frankenstein, “Could be worse, could be raining.”
I was extremely near-sighted as a child and had to wear coke-bottle glasses from the time I was 5. Eventually I was diagnosed with detached retinas near the end of my freshman year in college in 1969. With a couple of weeks to go before exams I asked if I could finish the semester. I was told NO. Within three days I had major surgery on each eye. Incidentally that was also in Boston, neo, at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
About 3-4 years after that I had to have another surgery to remove some stuff from the first surgery that had started poking out of my eye (sounds appetizing doesn’t it). My eyes have mostly been ok since then though I have developed double vision and need special glasses for driving. Also I had cataract replacement surgery early in my 40s and 50s for each eye but this has enabled me to get around most of the time without glasses i. e. not driving.
The retinal surgery had one unexpected side effect that dramatically changed my life – it made me ineligible for the draft. A few months later they held the first draft lottery and my number was 3. The draft was still in effect when I would have graduated in 1972. But no longer being subject to the draft I dropped out after my sophomore year.
This whole story is terrifying to me. When everything seems fine but you have a Doctor suddently telling you that you could bascilly go blind very suddenly if you don’t have this surgery done is scary enough. But then to be one of the evidently rare acceptions with the surgery outcome on top of that and having to just adjust to the new situation is even worse.
After reading JJ’s story I bought a pack of blue blocker glasses for $9 on Amazon.
om:
My mother had it.
Sorry your wife has such eye trouble. Rough.
FOAF:
Wow, you’ve really been through the mill with eye surgery. Glad you’re so much better now.
neo:
I apologize, my correction was clumsy, I meant to say that you and JJ had used the correct name for the disease that he has and your mother had, not that you have it too.
In my wife’s case a retina specialist didn’t know what was going on but after seeing him a few times he did refer her to the Casey Eye Clinic in Portland OR. They knew what it was after the first exam and had seen it before, Genetic tests followed ( for research not curative).
Very happy for your better vision by the way!
Neo, I too have had laser iridotomy procedures in both eyes for narrow angles. (I’m not Asian, but I’m far-sighted, female and getting older, which apparently increases the risk.) An optometrist spotted the issue during a regular visit and referred me to an ophthalmologist. She confirmed the narrow angles, used a device to map my optic nerves and gave me the terrifying news that at some unknown time I had ALREADY suffered an episode of acute narrow-angle glaucoma. It had been bad enough to leave evidence behind but, by some stroke of luck, had not damaged my vision.
After she explained the symptoms — sudden eye pain that often begins after being in a dark room, halos around lights, red eyes etc. — I remembered a time a few months before when I saw a play in a dark theater and during the performance, started seeing odd halos around the stage lights. But I have had complicated, terrible vision all my life and, even with a heavy-duty glasses prescription, am subject to eye strain that can blur my vision. So I didn’t pay much attention. During the night, I began to develop what I thought was a one-sided headache. I don’t usually get headaches, but this one was bad enough to keep me awake and rapidly got worse and worse. By morning, the right half of my head was throbbing and I was nauseated and shaky. I wondered if I was developing migraines for the first time. This had happened to my mother when she was around my age, so maybe it was happening to me, too.
If I’d been at home I’d have gone to bed with my “migraine.” But I was in a hotel far from home on a family visit, and solely responsible for my older traveling companion, with a long drive home ahead of us. It seemed to me that I couldn’t afford to have a headache, so I took some ibuprofen and tried to tough it out. This, as I now know, was a very bad decision, but in my defense, I’d never heard of narrow angle glaucoma. The idea of seeking emergency attention for what I thought was “just” a headache simply didn’t occur to me.
As we started the long drive home, I noticed a little weird double vision and started to wonder for the first time if the problem was something to do with my eyes. Sure enough, in my rear-view mirror I could see that my right eye was a little red. But by then, the “headache” was fading and the weird vision was clearing up on its own. (The ophthalmologist later speculated that going out into the bright morning sunlight may have saved my vision by constricting my pupils and opening the angles back up.) Before long, all the pain was gone. I still felt strange and shaky for a day or two, but this just served to convince me that I must have had my first migraine.
I never gave the incident another thought until that terrifying morning with the ophthalmologist. Realizing that my precious vision — already awful — was at risk and that I had stupidly come so close to damaging it made the weeks before the iridotomy procedures no fun at all. I called the eye doctor more than once when I got scared that it was happening again. I was deeply grateful that the iridotomy remedy was available, but I absolutely hated the experience itself. Getting shot in the eye with a laser beam is my idea of hell, not to mention doing it twice. But unlike you, I was lucky afterwards. I didn’t experience the light issue that happened to you, or any other complications. Although the doctor warned me that the holes might eventually close up, a number of years have gone by and they haven’t so far.
I do have cataracts, also like you, but they’re not too bad so far and it isn’t time for surgery yet. I’m pretty scared of the surgery but, at the same time, I’m rather looking forward to it as the doctor tells me I won’t need my powerful glasses prescription any more. It’s hard for me to imagine life without glasses, which I’ve been dependent upon since I was a toddler. But I’m willing to try it!
So that’s my vision story. I hope yours is coming rapidly to a happy ending, that your healing goes quickly, your vision is wonderfully improved and all goes smoothly with the second eye!
Thanks, neo. Luckily the worst of it was earlier in my life and it hasn’t impacted too much in recent years except for the double vision that I’ve learned to live with. Better in some ways because I don’t need glasses as much.