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Saw the Eye Doc again today...SO CONFUSED!!!!

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Posted 8/31/2006 1:43 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Everyone

Just wanted to stop in and tell u what i found out today. I went to see another eye doc today because i have continued having that horrible eye pain and just couldnt' settle on the optic migraines theory. I already knew i had a tear in my retina and knew it was very small and shouldn't be causing such pain and i was right! No migraines! I have something with a long name that amounts to tears in the layer over my cornea. The way it works is that when i blink, my eyelid tears that lining and causes the pain. It doesnt' happen each time i blink, but when my eyes dry out...and i have dry eyes normally. So it will take a simple laser surg to repair it and hopefully the retina as well. That's GREAT news!! No migraines means no extra med and once this is fixed it's supposed to be for good! I was expecting to hear something worse, like (of course) optic neuritis, but i was fortunate and blessed in this visit! So i guess this is a good lesson in treating the SYMPTOM individually instead of waiting to be dx'd and suffering thru until then. Hope this info can help someone who may be or finds themselves dealing with something like this in their lives.

rhonda

Post Edited (rhondab) : 9/13/2006 5:32:26 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/31/2006 2:10 AM (GMT 0)
 Rhonda,

I'm sorry you are having pain and going to have to have laser surgery!  I am glad though that it's not O.N. and it is treatable!I pray you will heal quickly afterwards.

 

Take care! :-)

Posted 8/31/2006 9:27 AM (GMT 0)
Wow Rhonda, tears in the cornea? I'm so glad you got this checked out further and it is a treatable condition how wonderful! :-) Best of luck with your surgery, when is your appointment for that?

Kimber
Posted 8/31/2006 12:24 PM (GMT 0)

I'm so glad you went and got this checked! And I'm real glad it can be fixed with laser surgery.  Tears in the retina are never a good thing, and can lead to serious vision problems if not repaired.

I hope the surgery goes uneventfully for you.

Posted 8/31/2006 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Everyone

Thanks for u'r replies and good wishes! Kimber, the surg isn't scheduled yet. I meet with the surgeon on Sept 13th to get all that set up and i'm sure we'll try to do it as quickly after that as possible. Also, the tear isn't in the cornea (thank goodness!), it's in the layer of tissue over the cornea. As it was explained to me, we have a layer of basically skin over our cornea and that's getting caught on my eyelid when my eyes dry and i blink...tearing it. The reason it 'looked' like possible ON is that it came and went and i had blurry vision and a washout effect on my color vision. This all happened over and over as it was torn, healed and torn again. So there u have it...PSUEDO optic neuritis! ;) (nah, not a real term....just my version of all this!) Interestingly enuf, this is due to a weakening of that area of my eye and could be a result of some injury or impact from as far back as early childhood! So beware! Anyone with a history...whether u realize it or not!...can find themselves in this position as well! Uppitycats, yes i'm very glad it's laser! That's the one reason i'm not at all concerned about this. Well that's not exactly true...who isn't at least a little concerned when it comes to surg of any kind? At any rate, i'm satisfied it'll be a breeze. The retina tear should be addressed while we're in there, but that's all up to the surgeon and i'll know that for sure when we meet. Thanks again for u'r thoughtfulness! I'll post again to let u all know the results.

rhonda
Posted 9/14/2006 1:28 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Everyone

Well i had my second appointment with the eye surgeon today and it was interesting to say the least. First the dx that my tissue over my cornea was tearing was partially correct. It's actually that the second layer of tissue is growing in folds and the top layer is growing backwards...causing all the probs with tearing. NOW...all the pain i've been having isn't part of that! In fact he said i shouldn't have any associated pain. He can fix the prob, but it will likely return at some point. The surg to repair it involves SCRAPING the tissue over the cornea off and letting it regenerate. I'd be in, as he said, 'the worst pain u've ever experienced' for about a week, so i said no thanks! about the pain? He said maybe the pain is due to sinus probs. (??)

Here’s the interesting part. As we were leaving his office he said if it’s not something related to my sinus then I should see a neurologist. WHAT?? My husband and I looked at each other funny, but neither of us thought to stop and ask him what for. I plan to call him in the morn and question that. Seems like I may be going in circles and if he feels this may be neurological, then I want to cut out the middle man (ENT) and just deal with my neuro. O yeah…on the retina tear...i asked him if he was gonna be able to repair that while doing the surg (before we discussed the above) and he said ‘well I’ll take a look, but u’ll need to see the Retina Doctor for that’. GOOD GRIEF!!!! I just thought an eye doc is an eye doc and surely they can all identify a retina tear if they’re qualified to do surg on u’r eye!!! Needless to say I’m not totally happy with this visit and feel I’m getting no where. Other than issues with the optic neuritis, does anyone know what in the world the neuro would be involved in this issue for?? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks everyone.

rhonda
Posted 9/14/2006 11:58 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Rhonda,

Sorry to hear how frustrating your visit was!  I don't blame you one bit for saying no to the "corneal scraping" YIKES!  I hope you'll keep us updated on what the outcome is.

Best Wishes,

Shar

Posted 9/14/2006 1:42 PM (GMT 0)
There is a neurology specialty -- neurological opthamology -- which you might try to do a google search on, and see if there are any specialists anywhere near you. Or call a university hospital, if there is one nearby, and ask about it. Other than optic neuritis...which can be seen even by a simple optician (if he has the magnifying equipment to look into your eye..and he should!), I don't know of other neurological disorders that can cause your symptoms!
Posted 9/15/2006 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Uppity

Well the funny thing in this whole pic is that the second opinion doc i started seeing in May IS a neuro opthamologist!! His assistant checked my vision at my initial visit. At a later visit i mentioned my eye probs, but he never stopped on it. I didn't push it and insist he check and now i wish i had. I really just thought that if i did indeed have any probs with my optic nerve that any eye doc would see it and thus, no need to push for that. The doc i mention is a great doc! He has looked at everything he can think of and hasn't found anything wrong. His not looking at my eye is no fault of is...simply that i should've done my part. That said, i've set an appt with an ENT local to me. If he finds no reason for my eye pain, then i've also set an appt with the doc i mentioned here and will have him look. I first wanted to skip this ENT business and move on to the neuro eye doc, but after considering it i think it best to rule all things out before jumping back into the neuro ring. That way i'll know for sure and if it's brought back up i can answer for sure that it's not sinus related. This business of seeing all these doc's is getting a little taxing, but i'd much rather know for sure and have all things possible ruled out. Thanks to u all for u'r input. I'll let u know what i find out on the 18th.

rhonda
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