So guys, I was diagnosed with eye pressure of 28 I'm terrified I'm going to go blind

[Joe_Danger]

Sorry about the off topic non cat related posting but this community has come through for me regarding my cats so many times I'm hoping somebody here might be an eye doctor maybe and able to shed some light and new hope on this.

Again I deeply apologize but I am posting this on as many internet communities I frequent in order to hopefully get as much info as humanly possible on the subject.

I'm a severely visually impaired, legally blind illustrator/artist and I was just diagnosed with eye pressure of 28 in my one good eye...am I screwed for life? Surgery isn't an option due to my condition, it could permanently damage my eyes.

So guys, this is going to be an odd one, I'm not a medical expert or nothing but the long and short of it is, I was born with severe congenital cataract in '83, so bad that the only way for it to be removed was for my natural lenses in my eyes to be removed or at least that the best they could do in Serbia, I was born and live in Europe, in Macedonia. I had another surgery in Russia when I was 6 on my left eye which fixed my eye up enough for me to function much much better, still 90% legally blind alright, but it's better than nothin!

For the first 8 months of my life I was 100% blind which resulted in me developing face blindness, prosopagnosia however once I was able to see after my surgery I immediately took to learning colors and by one I started drawing and at the age of two I got into video games Everything in my life is closely tied to visual input, my eyes are exceptionally important to me since everything I do and love requires eyesight. If I was writer or a musician I'd still be able to enjoy life even if I lose my sight, but as an artist and a person who enjoys and loves video games and animation more than anything I couldn't imagine my life without my sight even though I'm 90% legally blind.

Here is SOME of my art just to give you an idea of what I do:
http://shinigamikiba.deviantart.com/gallery/

To understand how I see things, check out one of my video game reviews where in the beginning I briefly touch upon the subject:
https://youtu.be/0NxYZLplZJw?t=86

Because of my condition which I'm not educated enough in the field to properly explain, I was told at pretty much every eye clinic and hospital I went to that any and all surgical intervention on my eyes could render me blind, something CAN be done for my right eye but it won't improve my eyesight on that particular eye by much so that's that.

My eyes are too small, they're also apparently totally butchered and severely damaged beyond repair inside, any and all surgical intervention has about 90% of rendering me blind with no way of fixing that.

However, throughout my life I never had eye pressure problems, I check that stuff semi regularly and it's always been good.
Well I went to get new glasses prescribed and lo and behold the doctor said my eye pressure has gone up to 28 which is no good, but he said he wants to see if it improves in a month before prescribing therapy.

I will say this
I love my life more than anything, I enjoy life to the fullest
but if I lose my sight and can't do the things I love so much I don't need life, I was just awarded a full scholarship for my last year of grad school ffs, I work my butt off to advance in my field and do my best. I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, I don't do weed, nothing. I just enjoy life to the fullest and my poor eyesight was never an issue for me, if anything my face blindness caused me more anxiety in life than my poor vision

So I really do need advice on what it is I can do
I understand this condition can be managed but for how long.

Please refrain from posting cliche comments about god not giving us more than we can handle or how I will find something else to enjoy in life if I go blind, I REALLY don't need that stuff right now. Such things never help, they only serve to frustrate me more.

I've never been depressed in my life, I've never felt discouraged from living or anything but if I lose my sight, if I can't draw or play my video games I just don't know what I'd do, my entire life revolves around this and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so damn happy with my life, I couldn't have asked for a better life and now this happens

I constantly have new ideas for stories, drawings, characters
I can't let myself go blind now, not when my career is taking off
I need to tell these stories, share these drawings with others, I want to create so much
I have a children's book I wrote and drew I'm re-drawing that is going to be published and a whole bunch of books I have to write and draw, I can't lose that now.

To keep this on topic, here's a funny pic of Kala

and a pic of Kala and Casper taking a nap as their mom sits nearby and I play I am Setsuna

AND finally to make sure this is extra on topic a cute pic of their mom Milla

[Ruth B]

You have my heart felt sympathy on this one. As someone who is partially sighted myself (no where near as bad as you, but bad enough to cause problems in daily life) I know how much I value what I have and can understand that you feel the same.

I am no expert on eyes but come from a medical family and do have a personal interest in conditions that affect them. High pressure is normally considered to be anything over 22 so at 28 yours is definitely high, but if it was just picked up at a normal eye test and you hadn't gone to see the optician due to new problems, unusual spots of light, pain etc then I would have though Glaucoma would be the most probable cause. Picked up early this can be treated and controlled, left untreated it will lead to sight loss. It is caused by the fluid within the eye not draining away properly and puts pressure on the optic nerve. The sight loss normally starts with losing the peripheral vision and slowly extends to the centre of the eye.

Treatment is normally with eye drops, laser treatment or surgery, I am guessing that the drops might be your only option from what you have said, but an expert might be able to work out whether the special surgery to relieve the pressure would be detrimental to the sight you have left or not.

How long it can be managed for I don't know, but the earlier the diagnosis the better the treatment and outlook, as your optician is happy to give it a month to see if the pressure settles back down rather than refer you straight away to a specialist i am guessing that you are in the very early days and with proper treatment starting early it might never need to effect what sight you have. I don't now if its applicable as I don't fully understand what sight you have left, but normally as Glaucoma effects the peripheral vision there is a a test they do which measures whether you have lost any vision there or not. If your optician hasn't given you this test then again that sound good for how early they have picked it up, if he has, it should give some idea as to whether the condition has already started to effect your vision. Either way the results I would have thought the results would help with your prognosis and if it hasn't affected your vision yet, hopefully it would help put your mind at rest.

I won't tell you it's nothing to worry about, but your specialist should be able to explain what is going on better and what the option are for you specifically. I do hope that there is a treatment available that can keep the condition at bay for as long as possible, hopefully for the rest of your life.

On a similar note, I went for my diabetic eye screening earlier this month, and while the letter I received said there were no diabetic complications they have referred me to the eye hospital anyway, the only information I can get out of anyone as to why is that it is 'routine'.. Like you I'm scared of losing any of the vision I have and I am desperate to know what they might have found. Fortunately the appointment is on Friday so not much longer to wait.

And to finish off, you have three gorgeous cats, give them an extra cuddle from me.

[bobbys girl]

Wow, Joe, Kala doing a handstand!

Yes, off topic, but you are among friends

I agree with everything Ruth has said. I was a Designer/Illustrator for many years. I understand your fears completely. I have always worn glasses (I'm very short-sighted) these days they are varifocal. My near sight is now so bad that even the glasses don't work.

My mum is diabetic and has drops for glaucoma. She is 89 and with all her problems she can still identify birds in the garden. So the meds/drops she is on must be doing something.

I really hope and pray that there is something that can be done - you really are going through the mill.

I'm a great believer in natural meds and supplements. I'll do some research if you want. As a TV ad says 'every little helps'.

.

[Lilith]

Hi, Joe, I'm sorry to hear of this and do hope you can retain your sight. You must be terrified.

The pics are beautiful

All the very best, Lil.

[Crewella]

I have no knowledge of this and nothing useful to add, just wanted to send my support. xx

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks everyone, again sorry I brought this up here
Well, I hope this gets sorted out somehow, someone told me glaucoma is slow to develop so it could be 25+ years before symptoms start showing up, if that's the case then I have plenty of time to do all sorts of drawing and writing.
As long as I can work, draw and play my video games I'll be perfectly content with life.

[Mayday21]

Hi Joe I've pretty bad eye sight wth bad astigmatism. I'd love to wake up in the mornings & see. My eyes aren't suitable for laser due to the astigmatism. I can't really add any advice but don't worry about posting off topic. Love the pics they're so cute cats. Stay +Ve & thoughts with you. Vivian

[MarkB]

Sorry It's not much to go on, but I have high pressure (I can't remember the numbers) in both eyes and have regular check ups at the eye hospital. (the high pressure was initially flagged when I was having a routine eye test in Tesco, a supermarket chain!) What I do remember is that they said the readings aren't as alarming as they appeared in the first test, because I have thick corneas, which somehow offset the numbers. I don't claim to understand any of this, just what I was told. They told me that there are drops to put in the eyes which reduce pressure, but after taking into account the thickness of my corneas, I have 'high normal' pressure, as opposed to very high. As I have gone from 6-monthly checks to yearly, I assume all is well at the moment.

Good luck anyway.

[Baggypants]

My partner is blind in one eye and he is treated for glaucoma and uveitis using eye drops and he's also had a holes punctured in his eye with a lazer several times to enable the pressure to be relieved (the doctors think he has something called Behcets which is a vasculitis problem and causes his problems). The pressure in his bad eye can go over 70 at times - not good!

But I will say that his eye is a lot more stable since he stopped smoking 4 years ago. And I will also say you might want to get the pressure checked again - when i've been to the eye hospital with him one reading will show it really high and then the next nurse/doctor will do it again and the pressure reading will be different - apparently it can be quite tricky to get an accurate measurement and even the experts don't always get it right 100% of the time.

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks! I just came back from the hospital where I spent a few hours, and an hour or so of that time I had an IV in my hand, never had an IV in my life before but it didn't hurt or anything.
They managed to reduce my eye pressure which had gone up to 30 today tho the doctor said it varies, so they reduced it down to 17-18 which the doctor said was great and it means I will respond to treatment well most likely.
He says that glaucoma while currently not present is to be expected with my condition, I have micro..something or other, I do have myopia but he said I also have micropya I think, basically my eye insides are all tiny I believe. So I just sat there playing on my phone and talking to people while the IV was slowly making its way into my system and after two bottles my eye pressure was normalized, now we need to stabilize it.

The vet said I will probably be taking meds or drops for life which I don't have a problem with nor do I understand why I should, but he said some people make a fuss over those things, what do I care if I take pills or put eye drops in my eyes o_O I just want to see, draw and play my video games so why would I mind lol

I asked the doc if he thinks I'll go blind in the next 5-10 or 20 years and he said "more like 50, I doubt I'll have any visual impairment issues or go blind, don't worry Oliver". He was very nice and apparently he knew me from when I was very little My mom, aunt and my 90something old grandpa who is still as mentally healthy as when he was 50 were with me. My aunt and grandpa are doctors so they were there for all the medical info and talk...I was there to whine that I want to draw and play games and not go blind...and to have my eyes sorted out too.

So guys, I wanna say I'm not as scared anymore, but I feel that maybe the doctor said that to make me feel better plus who knows how well I'm going to respond to treatment, he firmly believes it won't be a problem and I will respond well but I've read horror stories of people who initially responded well to treatment and a year or two later went blind.

What do y'all think? I wish I could relax but I'm not sure if I can just yet

and again thanks for all the support

[Crewella]

That sounds reassuring, you must be so relieved. Of course you're bound to worry, but by the sound of it the doc has it under control. I'm so pleased for you. xx

[Lilith]

[quote="Joe_Danger"The vet said/quote]



Well, it's not marvellous, that your eyes aren't totally ok, and that you've got to keep messing about with all these drops etc and I do hope that your sight DOESN'T deteriorate in your old age, but for now it does sound hopeful - all paws, tails, fingers and toes crossed here that it's a case of 'don't worry, Oliver'.

All the very very best!

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks guys
I just want to draw, you have no idea how much I want to draw, I've been drawing since I was a year old, drawing is everything to me, I can't imagine life without drawing, it's like breathing or eating.
I'm 33 now and I honestly never get bored, I always have something I genuinely love to do, gaming, drawing, friends, my cats, tv shows or cartoons and so forth.
I firmly believe that until now I had the best life a person could ask for and this really has the potential to turn my life around in a very bad way.

I'm still not out of the woods yet, we'll know for sure if I'm going to be fine if I respond well to treatment like the doc believes I will.
So we'll know more in a month I guess

again thank you so much

[Mayday21]

Joe was pleased to read your prognosis. Your so lucky to have two Drs in the family. Keep drawing.theres a few very creative people such as you who post here- Ms Kane, Liliith & Crewella just to name a few - if I've missed others sorry.. and fusses to Casper, Karla & Milla. Vivian

[bobbys girl]

Just a thought Joe, what sort of lighting do you use? Good lighting is very important. I have been reading about how harmful 'daylight' bulbs are. That blue light is BAD for your eyes (that includes computer screens) and your life in general. The best lights are still the old incandesent bulbs that we are all supposed to be getting rid of!

If you are like me you have spent many years sitting under artificial lighting - God knows what harm that has done. The fluorescent lights I sat under at work gave me headaches - I found out recently it is because I am sensitive to the flickering that these lights do. Most people don't see it, but I could always tell when a light was about to fail (the flickering got worse)

I believe you can get filters to cover your computer screen and tinted glasses to wear under 'blue' light. But the best thing is to get some old-fashioned bulbs before they become extinct!

That said - how are the kitties? have you taken anymore photo's recently?

[Joe_Danger]

I can't stand those lights either! The flickering is killing me and I can actually see it yet most people I know, with much better eyesight can't seem to see it.
Fortunately in our house we have old fashioned light bulbs except in the kitchen but it's not like I cook or spend too much time in the kitchen lol

The doctor said I can draw to my heart's content on the computer and it won't affect my eye pressure tho, so here's hoping it really does not.
As for monitor filters, I've been thinking about those but if they change the colors they're no good for me, I need to have just the right colors especially when I do graphics design and such, but I'll look into them and see if there are any that might be of use to me.

No recent pics of the cats, sorry, but they're doing great it's 5:32AM now so they'll start running around any minute now