Monday, April 19, 2021

Monday, April 19, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. Mattie was home between hospital admissions and as you can see it was a low day in our home. I did not even realize Peter was taking a photo. As we were both in our pajamas, and Mattie wasn't feeling good.... both physically and psychologically. It is sheer torture watching your child suffer in this way, and how Peter and I did not crack up is beyond me. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 31,731,497
• Number of people who died from the virus: 567,654

Today I went for a consultation with an opthamologist. As I have NO confidence in the practice I have been using for years. I went from having no eye issues, to all of a sudden being a candidate for glaucoma. In fact, the previous doctor I saw scared me to death, saying that I could get a narrow angle attack at any moment, and could possibly lose vision in my left eye. She's a peach! No bedside manner, and then after telling me this called me a hypochondriac. Really?

I was hoping today's visit to a new doctor would go better. The office staff were fine, until I go to the doctor's tech. I thought she was incompetent and scattered! She was running around from patient room to patient room, slamming doors behind her! After waiting to see the doctor for 90 minutes, I literally got up and was ready to cancel the appointment. But soon thereafter the doctor showed up. He's personable and not an alarmist. He did confirm that my left eye has narrow angles, and therefore I am a candidate for glaucoma. I am headed back to his office in three weeks for more testing, in which he will dilate my eye and they will monitor my eye pressure for two hours. Should be fun! Glaucoma (damage to the optic nerve) occurs from having high eye pressure. So testing my eye pressure over this period of time, provides more data points. But given what he is saying, I most likely have an iridotomy in my near future. 

So what am I talking about? 

The angle is the space between the clear part of the eye (cornea) and the colored part (iris), close to their meeting point near the edge of the iris. It contains the trabecular meshwork, which is the main structure that directs fluid out of the eye. 

In closed angle glaucoma, the angle is closed in many or most areas, causing increased eye pressure, which leads to optic nerve damage, and possible vision loss. This rise in eye pressure may occur suddenly (an acute attack of angle closure) or gradually. 

A laser iridotomy creates a hole in the outer edge of the iris, leading to an opening of the angle in the majority of cases. After the angle is widened from the procedure, the trabecular meshwork is exposed and fluid outflow is enhanced. Iridotomy is intended to preserve the vision and prevent glaucoma from appearing or progressing.