Mother's Sight

K

ktspirit

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I'm putting this here not only for prayers, but any information you great people may have about this problem. Several years ago, my mother had a severe case of shingles on her head, face, and eventually in one eye. This damaged the eye and she lost some sight in it. Recently, she decided to stop taking a particular medicine, a once a day eye drop, because of the expense. She went to her optometrist today and he was appalled, kinda laid into her I think. He is a great Dr. Really cares, really tries. No doubt he was upset at what she had done without his consultation or her ophthalmologist's. He told her the damage may (probably will be) irreversible. Part of the epithelium of that eye is already gone and the eye may have to be removed. I do know that a bad eye can bring the good eye down (forget what that is called), but I'd like to find more information on this type situation. And, of course, ask for prayers for my mother having to deal with this. I don't think it's sunk in for her, she is taking this in a joking manner, but I'm sure it's just a way to deal with her fear, for now. Thoughts, prayers, and helpful links will certainly be appreciated! kt
 
I will pray for her recovery, and hope that it can be reversed. I believe the condition you forgot what it is called is lazy eye? I had that, and got glasses with a special lense to correct it. Maybe this can help? I hope she recovers
 
My goodness kt i'm so sorry about this happening to your mom. Poor thing. In my opinion, i'd get 1 or 2 more opinions because of the severity. It infuriates me how expensive medications cost. I'm sure your mom would have continued the dosage if she didn't have to worry about the price. And for the Dr to ream her about it kinda ticks me off as well. If she had told him or her Ophthalmologist would they have had an alternative? Probably not but who knows. I have had shingles but it was on my upper torso, so i know how painful and annoying this illness is. I feel for you as well as your mom. Please ask her to get another opinion. Keep us posted.

ps: i'll say a prayer for your mommy
 
kt, sorry to hear about your mom.

I hope you'll get a second opinion too. It's a shame she couldn't tell
you she couldn't afford her medicine. There are lots of drug companies
that help when people can't.

I'll add her to my prayer list. I hope they will be able to help her.
 
Thank you all! My mother said the eye drops were expensive and the insurance wasn't going to pay for them anymore, but it's not like my parents are poor. I think she is just not taking care of herself because of waiting on my dad all the time. It's a lot for her. She did the same thing after she had the shingles and kept putting off seeing the eye doctors because dad had open heart surgery and she was caring for him. More damage was done to her eye then, too. I've thought about moving in with my parents to help her out, but I do not get along with my dad at all. Very stressful situation there. From what I understand, once the outer layer of the eye deteriorates like this, there's not much chance to save the eye. And no, degrassi, it isn't lazy eye, I also had something like that as a kid. This is damage to the eye. I think the good eye trying to balance the bad eye and getting worse, too, is something like sympathetic eye? Anyway, I appreciate all your concerns and prayers. Thanks again!
 
Oh my goodness. You're in my area of expertise now. We see so many people who have vision loss due to noncompliance with instructions / treatments from their ophthalmologists.

Does this involve the cornea (clear part over the pupil and iris), the conjunctiva (white part of the eye around the iris), the retina, optic nerve, or a combination of these parts of the eye??

Is she going to a specialist or her regular ophthalmologist? Can she get a referral to a specialist or a university's medical school. The teaching ophthalmologists are on the forefront of treatment options.

I make referrals for people to obtain free eye medications.....it depends on the name of the drug and the manufacturer. There are forms that her ophthalmologist would need to complete and submit to the manufacturer.

Also, the vision in the good eye is not affected by the vision in the other eye . If that vision deteriorates, it will not be because of the loss of vision in the worse eye.

People function very well with vision in one eye. The only problem is the loss of stereopsis (depth perception from using both eyes). Usually the ophthalmologist or optometrist will have the patient wear glasses with polycarbonate lenses to protect the good eye from injury.
 
I was sure hoping you would check in, RS! I know this is your specialty. I can't answer some of your questions right now, but hopefully I can find out. Mother only saw the optometrist yesterday, not the ophthalmologist. I can tell you that eye has been cloudy for a while, she also has Sjogren's syndrome, and Dr. Tillman told her the eye was quite deteriorated, he was very upset from what I gather. He really cares, so it must have shocked him to see her let this happen. It doesn't sound good, to me. It's hard to imagine my beautiful mother with a hole where her baby blue used to be. I'll see what I can find out, thank you so much, all of you!
 
You should talk to her doctor if the insurance isn't paying for it now.
I've gotten free samples from my eye doctor at times after my cataract
surgery since I don't have insurance.
 
I'm going with my mother tomorrow to the Dr. so I can ask relevant questions and get a more detailed account of what she is facing. Thank you all for your support. I love you all!
 
Well, took Mother to the Dr. this afternoon, I really wanted to find out more information about what is going on. He told me she has an ulcer (caused by infection) on her cornea and it was about 70% Monday, now is 80%. I didn't think to ask if it was 80% of the cornea, or 80% before breaking through the cornea. I would say the latter judging from what I saw after he put the dye in her eye. If it breaks through, she will lose the eye, all the fluid will run out. She also must have rubbed out the protective contact he put in because it wasn't there today. He put another one in. She isn't in much pain because of the damage done before with the shingles, so that's a good thing. The Dr. said most people would be in excruciating pain. Anyway, we go back Friday unless something happens. Thanks to all of you for your support! It really means a lot to me!!
 
Kt.. I am so thankful your mom has someone who will take her to the Ophthalmologist, and had him look it over. The only thing is, I have not been able to come in for a while, and so much time has gone by, and now was wondering what has happened to your mom's vision since the above advisory. I pray for her, and I do hope that she is doing well, and we shall stay in touch, and hang in there. She is in God's Hands first and foremost ...
 
Update: Early yesterday morning, my mother called. She is a night owl so I knew something was up. Her eye was draining, so that meant the cornea finally had a hole in it. I had to take her immediately to her Dr. who told her to call anytime, day or night, if this happened. He met us at his office and sent us straight to an out-of-town surgeon. Fortunately, the hole in the cornea was being temporarily plugged by the iris and she didn't lose too much eye fluid. She had surgery yesterday afternoon to remove some damaged tissue and graft (?) some new tissue, it was outpatient. The doc said everything went well, but the same problems exist if she doesn't take care of herself and keep her follow-up appointments. She has to go back this morning for him to check. My sister is going to take her this time. Hopefully everything is ok and she will follow Drs orders! Thanks everyone for your concern and prayers.
 
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