I Nearly Went Blind!

I rub my eyes. The inventory report on the screen in front of me blurred. I went to the washroom. Was I falling asleep at work? Why was I feeling this blurry vision? Am I experiencing age related macular degeneration?

 

"Eunice, have you spoken to the other department about their purchases for the upcoming month?" the purchaser director walked over to my desk and asked me.

 

"No, sorry, I’m feeling kind of unwell now. I’m experiencing some blurry vision today,” I told my purchaser director.

 

“Take care, take MC if you need to go see the eye doctor,” she responded.

 

“No, it’s ok, there’s alot to be done today,” I brushed it aside. I’ll just sleep earlier tonight I think.

 

Blurry vision can affect your productivity at work

When I went home that night, I read some newspapers after dinner. But I had to squint and it became really blurry. I rubbed my eyes. The dark blurriness didn’t go away. But I’m only 48, I can’t have any age related macular degeneration!

 

A week later, the problem was still persisting, and I was having an increasingly difficult time focusing at work due to the blurry vision. It wasn’t always blurry, but I would have episodes throughout the day. Working at Thomson Medical Centre, I was exposed to gynaecology a lot more than eye care. I asked around my friends for a reputable eye surgeon, and they recommended a few to me. After going online to search them up, I decided on one of them.

 

Going for the eye check up appointment

 

I took MC, and visited the eye surgeon's office for my appointment.

 

The eye surgeon first did a comprehensive dilated eye exam. Then he did a test called optical coherence tomogram that allows him to see the back of my eye.

 

"The results show that you're experiencing early onset of macular degeneration. Although you're a bit young to be having this condition. Did anyone in your family face this before?" the eye doctor asked.

 

"My dad did face some vision problems in his 70s, which is rather common for his age," I replied. Was this family history the reason for my early onset?

 

"It's good that you came right after a week of experiencing this! You could go blind faster if you delay treatment!" The eye surgeon shared.

 

 Blindness can ensue if treatment is delayed

He then went on to describe the two possible treatments. Photodynamic therapy is a treatment that uses light-activated drugs. Photodynamic therapy works like this — The inactive form of said medication is put into a syringe and administered into a vein in the arm. It then migrates to the abnormal blood vessels in the macula where it builds up. Special cold laser light of low intensity is shone at the retina, as a result of which the drug is activated on the new blood vessels in the region.

 

The second treatment type is intravitreal injections. This treatment delivers anti-vascular drugs directly into the blood vessels in the eye by a quick and painless procedure. The abnormal blood vessels are then suppressed. The suppression of these abnormal blood vessels will then lead to alleviate symptoms of age related macular degeneration. 

 

I took the eye surgeon’s advice and went for the eye treatment. I am still young and I want to protect my eyes for as long as I can! A side note to all my friends: Do seek professional medical advice whenever possible. Do not look up dodgy websites online that may give you the wrong advice. 

 

If you are unclear, always give a call to your eye doctor to ask.