My eye problems

hope everything works out for the best.

Good luck, Martin! I'm not sure how the health care system works in the UK, but can you seek a second opinion? The doctor sounded dismissive of your concerns.

Good luck Martin! Hope it all goes well!

Martin, you are genuinely one of the nicest people I know. I hope everything works out well for you, it must be some shock. Good luck!

cataracts which can temporarily get better again? hmmmm — i think larcole is right, you should definitely try and get a second opinion

on the other hand, the cataract operation is a straightforward and unrisky one, and and if it *is* cataracts then it isn't something weird and unknown and worse (i am quite distrustful of the steroid option for asthma, though of course mine is nothing liek as serious as yours)

anyway best of luck, martin: this totally suXoRs obv

my father in law and his own father both have had cataract surgery and it was quick with no complications. However, I would def. get a second opinion, because my father-in-law also recently lost most of his sight in one eye and it turned out to be a hole in his retina, which is significantly more serious than a cataract. Do get someone else to take a look.

Good luck Martin, I hope everything turns out ok!

I've been so sorry to hear of these problems. Health problems can be so scary and frustrating. Good luck...everyone else OTM irt second opinion. Hugs and good thoughts to you.

I'm sorry Martin. Good luck.

I wish you the greatest luck possible, Martin, and echo what Cozen said. And this won't help at all -- but if it were me in your shoes, I would be absolutely panicking, so kudos for handling it so well.

Both my parents just had this done (they're both in their late 70's) and it came off without a hitch. However I can't believe cataracts can come and go in their effects. I thought once you had them it was a permanent situation until surgery.

Best of Luck!

I hope everything will be back to normal soon for you!

Take care Martin. Hope you can get some sort of satisfactory answer and that you'll be on the mend quickly!

Good luck Martin. I can't believe that cataracts would appear and disappear. I would think it'd be more of an eye infection that could cause swelling or something. But, of course I don't even have enough medical qualifications to apply a bandage.

My vision has been perfect for the four hours or so since I left the hospital!

The next step is an appointment with the cataract specialists at that hospital, so that will be a second opinion. Obviously I will be reluctant to go for surgery for cataracts without being much more convinced, and without the problem reappearing.

I forgot to mention that the optician I saw last week said I had slight cataracts, but that was NOT the problem, and they couldn't cause such quick changes. I am more persuaded by her thinking so far.

Most importantly, thanks to all for the kind thoughts.

Sorry that I didn't see this til now, but know I'm hoping you get well as quick as possible. Sorry that you have had such a difficult experience with those other doctors: the NHS can apparently make some people cranky, as well as unprofessional. This may sound weird, but get as many different medical opinions as you can; don't stop at a few. (I know Lars said so already, but it bears repeating.)

Is it possible that the condition could be a degeneration of some sort? (I know, only the specialist could tell that. But he/she could check for any symptoms.)

A hug and do keep us posted on what happens!

Hey, Martin, best of luck. Both my parents had cataract surgery and it was a success.

Yeeps, Martin, that doctor wasn't a help for you at all, I'm thinking! My best for whatever happens next -- which, hopefully, will be a return to normal eyesight and then calm. :-)

Good luck Martin and best wishes toward getting this all figured out and a smooth recovery!

I know I've mentioned it here before, but to all astmatics I must again praise the Buteyko method of breathing to help your condition. My dad had it pretty bad from the age of 6 mos and started this program at the age of 48 when his condition worsened and he became frustrated at the prospect of using steroids for the rest of his life. Within a year he was healthier than I've ever seen him, and he does not need an inhaler any more.

http://www.buteyko.co.uk/

my best, Martin

A few minutes ago, my left eye underwent a fast deterioration, a really marked decline in a few seconds. Right eye is still perfect. This seems so out of keeping with the doctor's explanation.

Our thoughts are of course with you. Keep us up to date. This does sound bizarre. Hopefully the catract specialist will be able to figure it out.

good luck Martin. why are there are so many doctors who are so horrible to their patients? And, as Texas Sam said, hopefully the specialist will sort things out to yr satisfaction.

best of luck Martin!! this sounds really trying and terrifying, and like everyone here I hope you find a doctor with some insight and compassion.

I'm sorry to hear that, Martin. I wonder if this could be a serious case of floaters or a partially detached retina that moves in and out of position. I get floaters now and then but it's just bad enough to be annoying.

I'm very sensitive to eye troubles, and my god Martin do be well.

xp with nickn: As far as diagnoses, could it be something retinal? The blurred obstruction akin to "floaters" (which I think are bits of the retina sloughing off). The problem part is when there are tears (not cryign tears, rather rip tears) or inordinate sloughing that can cloud vision, and what little understanding I have of this problem might line up with your condition (intermittent and abrupt changes).

I've always said that it is as if someone has smeared stuff on my eyes. I note that the dramatic improvement this afternoon followed loys of eye drops. This doesn't get me to an explanation, but it does make me wonder if it might be something at the very front surface of the eye.

At this point, the left eye is quite bad again, the right still rather good.

Floaters can appear to be a surface/corneal phenomenon.

I don't just mean that it looks that way, it's just that the eye drops seems far more likely to have affected the surface or cornea than the retina, say. This is guesswork. I have the odd tiny floater, but I don't think that's the main point. I really don't know, I'm just speculating. In a way I'd like it to be cataracts, given that it is a standard and quick operation with an excellent success rate - if it's not that, I don't know where I am.

Hmm, good point. In any case, here's hoping for the best.

best of luck.
Please get another opinion on this. someone close had this sort of thing & it turned out to be a stygmatism?

Ah, Martin, I too am sorry I didn't see this earlier and am riddled with concern for you; ditto Tep's congratulations on staying so calm.

I can't wait for you to see that specialist. I know someone who had vision problems as a result of medications and ... well, I don't want to be alarmist because her circumstances were different, but ... Yes, as everyone has said, get as many professional opinions as you can. And I'm sending out positive vibes to you ... can you feel 'em???

Good luck Martin

i had my eyes tested today, it was kind of nice having someone take an interest in me that was completely impersonal & stuff...you know what i mean...maybe not...but anyway you can actually enjoy stuff like that, it's possible. anyway good luck man & here is a song for you :
http://www.angrysamoans.com/lyrics/LightsOut.jpg

Martin, despite not being an eye doctor, I'm almost positive there is something amiss with your retina, since these are the exact symptoms my father in law had, and another friend was warned of by his eye doctors (he apparently was "at risk" for detached retinas). Best of luck, I'm sure it's rectifiable.

I am sorry to hear of your problems. Best of luck.

martin i have just found this thread and agree that you need much more investigation of why your problem seems to come and go so rapidly.
good luck! it sucks to have eyesight problems. i really hope this can be sorted quickly for you.

good luck martin, hope all is well.

so sorry to hear about this martin. good luck with getting a proper diagnosis and getting the problem fixed.

Best of luck, Martin. This kind of stuff terrifies me.

Hadn't seen this til now. I hope everything works out for you Martin. My thoughts are definitely with you, pls keep us posted.

Good luck Martin. I had a friend who lost all vision in his left eye - turned out he had an overactive pituiary gland or something and there was a fluid buildup (something produced by said gland) that caused pressure against his optic nerve causing vision loss!

Also 'Steriod' is used in the chemistry sense as a class of compounds with a similar chemical structure - they differ from one another by having different side chains. Most hormones are steroids - like testosterone, estrogen and cortisone. Certains steroids are therefore used in oral contraceptives, as treatments for ashthma, as treatments for skin problems, and anabolic steroids are used by bodybuilders. I think some people assume that the sort that are used to treat asthma are the same as used by bodybuilders and therefore don't take them thinking they'll get hairy or something. I'm not saying anyone at ILX thinks this way, but I'd just like to clear the whole 'steroid' issue up in case there was someone out there who was confused. Not that Asthma steriods don't have some side-effects...

All the best Martin - you definitely need a second opinion, I do wish doctors would actually listen to and believe in their patients' symptoms rather than go for 'best fit' all the time. i suppose they get a lot of hypochondriacs but still it must be very frustrating.

Sorry to hear about this Martin. Best of luck.

Just discovered this thread and thought I'd offer my words of support.

I was born with cataracts in both eyes, left one fully formed and the right half formed. As such I had no sight in my left eye and blurred in my right eye, plus astigmatism which didn't help much. None of this was discovered until I was five. By then my parents were worried about me falling over all the time, but I'd still learnt to read and do things normally (which I find quite amazing). As such, at five, my left eye was operated on in the only way they knew how at the time (mid 70s), which was to drill a hole in the lens. Traumatic for a five year old! Three weeks in hospital, six months of eye drops and for little gain. But that's a side issue. Everything was basically correctable with glasses, and life continued with one eye for the foreseeable.

What my parents didn't tell me was that the cataract in the right eye was going to get worse, and that they expected me to be blind by the time I was 21. Luckily, that didn't happen. It happened when I was 31 instead. Much like your case Martin, one day my eyesight was just a hell of a lot worse than it was the day before, I can almost pinpoint the day it happened, suddenly I couldn't read my PC screen, or any books, and I hated bright lights. Like you, I saw a specialist who said that the cataract had expanded to the point where I could no longer see through it and they recommended I have a cataract removal operation as soon as possible. I had to stop work immediately and sit in a dark room (and the cinema, oddly enough) for about six weeks while my mother-in-law forked out the £2000 for the op to be done privately.

And although it seems very traumatic, the difference is absolutely incredible. I'm not sure from what you've written what kind of op you need, but I had my right lens removed and a plastic lens added in its place. Admittedly this was a fixed focus lens, and I now have three pairs of glasses for different focusing (one for close reading, one for computer work, one for distance), but it's made such a difference to my life. I am now learning to drive, which I could never do before, I can see things far in the distance which people with good eyesight can't see. While I had my right eye done privately (six weeks waiting list), my left eye was done on the NHS with a six month waiting list (it wasn't so important,and didn't make such a difference).

After the op, it takes about six weeks for full recovery, you have to be very careful about bending over so as not to put pressure on the eye, there'll be eyedrops aplenty, and it will hurt like buggery for a while. Oh, and it'll look like someone's punched you in the eye. If you have the choice, go for a general anaesthetic over a local (they usually offer general to younger people). And don't be afraid, it can only make your life so much better.

Good luck! If you need more info then mail me off-board.

Thanks, everyone. The good thoughts really help.

I don't know what to say about the specifics. The fact that it is coming and going still makes me doubt the cataract explanation, but really I'm pretty ignorant. Today it's quite bad - I'm needing to use the magnifier built in on Windows to read things. I'm going to stay pretty unhappy about all this until I am more convinced that someone really understands what is wrong. I'm not terribly scared of an operation, and I know that cataract surgery has a very good success rate, I am just not convinced it's necessarily addressing what is wrong with my eyes. To go through surgery and find that I still couldn't see would be almost unbearable, I think.

Martin, this is too bad. All I can say is I hope that you can get some better info from a second opinion that leads you in the right direction. Best wishes and keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Martin, please let me know if any of this trouble will mean that you'd need to rethink letting me crash at yer place in October, and I'll look for alternate spots to stay. Again, hope this all gets settled soon.

Jesus Christ, Martin, that is horrible. My left eye is significantly messed up, so I'm especially terrified of optic problems. My heart goes out to you, man. Best of luck and I hope your find a solution to this.

I'm afraid I have no idea what that means. Are you insulting me?

he's saying you look like a wolf.

halve him.

mouth to the something or another!

La buona fortuna Martin, spera che vada bene

(Good luck Martin, hope it goes well)

I think he was saying you are hungry like the wolf.

Well, he does live next door to LeBon...

I'm a bit scared to try to beat him up at the FAP on Wednesday. This is the man who nearly avoided defeat at thumb wrestling twice against Suzy, who weighs several pounds.

Good luck with this martin, here's to better things!

Martin, I must also point out that Thumbelina there fell to his defeat even though I had given myself a slight handicap: I played with my right hand, and am *severely* left-handed.

Good luck Martin! Hope it goes well.

(Miss Pessimist advises being prepared for the very unlikely event that it doesn't go according to plan to minimise potential depressive effects - has that come out like I intended? I hope so)

Good luck Martin!

This is what comes of being busy at work, I miss this info. Good luck indeed!

It was all routine, except they were short-staffed so I was there for almost four hours! Op happening on the afternoon of October 1st.

I'm off to hospital in the morning! I imagine it will be as routine as it was last time, in which case I will report back tomorrow night sometime.

"Our assessment: during the wait your eye has become a new species of fern and we must preserve it in its current form"

Fortunately it all went well, and I feel okay, if a little drained. It's covered until tomorrow, so I won't know what difference it has made until then, and whether it will now give me the same vision in both eyes.

Glad it seems to have went well, though!

Break a leg on the vision front, Martin. It could turn you into a tennis ace.

Yes indeed! I'm sure it'll be fine.

Good luck Martin! This has been going on for so long at you, I hope it is the beginning of the end of it all getting sorted :-)
Quickly.
With no pain.

HELLO MARTIN: today I almost bought 'lone wolf & cub', volume. 1, because I vaguely remember you saying it good and it was there. should I spend the six pounds?

piss off you gock-eyed cunt

it's an answer, at least.

best of luck Martin.

Yeah Martin, I know it'll be all good. A lot of foul shit seems to happen to you but you always smash froo it. Good times!

David, LW&C is one of the great comics! If you like Kurosawa samurai movies, I'm sure you'll like this too.

I've taken my patch off. It doesn't feel like it's adjusted properly yet, but it's already a very big improvement, and no pain at all, so I'm pleased.

:)

hurrah martin!

*merry*

*cheers and kisses Martin"

I went to Ricky T's birthday FAP tonight. I was worried I might be out on my feet by the time I got there, but as it turned out I felt okay - a bit tired was all.

I think the eye has improved in the course of the day - early on the ideal focal length was very short (about a foot), and I think it's increased a little already, maybe by 3-4 inches, so I hope it will get up to similar to the other eye over the next day or two. They told me on the first op that it often took a couple of days to settle into its permanent state. It was hard to tell then - I had two lousy eyes, so the big improvement was instantly wonderful; this time I already had one good eye to compare it to, so the fact that it's not instantly as good as that is slightly disappointing, and I don't know how it went last time, really.

Latest update: the focal length has increased by over 50% since I took the patch off. The eye still feels a little uncomfortable, so it may have some more settling to do. At least now there is a perfectly good distance, for reading a book or computer screen (about an arm's length), where both eyes are in sharp focus.

Otherwise I feel really low - but I expect that is just the draining effect of the general anaesthetic and the op, and will fade over the next day or two.

I hope so. Glad the eyesight seems to be getting better, though.

All will indeed improve, good sir. Just give it a little more time!

yay Martin, here's to your eyeball health!

yay

Hope things continue to improve Martin x

Glad to hear of the improvement Martin. Let's hope this continues and all things are well in your world before too long! x

M old thing, I think you missed a trick in not getting them to install LASERS in your eyes as part of the surgery. Just imagine the japes.

B-but what if it goes wrong and he can't control the lasers - like CYCLOPS?!

(Excellent news BTW Martin!)

glad to hear that it went well, martin! hope it continues to improve, and that you feel better as the anasthetic wears off.

My muscles still ache, but the eye seems to have settled down, in that I've observed no changes in the last 24 hours - it is a slightly shorter focus than the other one, but they overlap enough that it isn't a problem. I am surprised, though - they told me they had carefully calculated it to be the same. Still, I'm pretty happy with it, since the overlapping focal area is just in the right place.

Does all of this make you more cognizant of all eye/sight/ vision metaphors? An eye for an eye - blindness of the soul - etc. i imagine it would be very haunting to grapple with vision and be aware of the metaphorical references.

Not really, no - it did a little when it was very bad, but that has faded away again since the first op in March.

Have your hearing, sense of smell etc. returned to normal after the last few months of sensory superpowers?

Yes. I have therefore got rid of the red costume.

But your bum is on my lips, your bum is on my lips!

martin how are your eyes these days? my mother was just declared legally blind last week at 53 years old....she has age related macular degeneration. she can't make out faces anymore.

Completely stable - fixed lenses, so it'll stay that way. I still have perfect short-distance vision, so perfect for reading and computer work, and it's not bad at a distance - I think I'd be borderline for passing a driving test eye test without getting glasses, but otherwise I manage fine without them.