my story about glaucoma

[Ken44]

i had primary angle closure glaucoma diagnosed in 2020 in both eyes and have had an xen gel glaucoma inplant in my left eye as the pressure was greater than that of the right .the first two attempts at this were unsuccessful as i scar badly and this blocked the implant tube(i had to have direct injection of eye drops in the eye to correct the high pressure).The third attempt was partially successful resulting in lh pressure 15 and rh pressure 14. i have had various eye drops over the past three years and have now settled on dorzolamide twice a day, brimomidine also twice a day and lumigan once a day all in both eyes. my consultant tried me on dorzolamide/timilol after the third implant and i found the timilol element made me breathless, so that was stopped.

i last saw the consultant in february and he was pleased with my progress an feels my eyes have settled down.he also says my eyesight is really quite good .i next see him in july.

that briefly is my story but i do worry about my eyes getting worse rightly or wrongly. i have good days and bad days (mostly good) and i am upset with my tunnel vision .i find wearing very mild sunglasses help a lot and mask the tunnel vision to a certain extent.

i lost my driving licence at xmas 2021 via the dvla and got it back on the submission of an independant esterman test last july(for one year), i am not sure what will happen this year, no doubt another esterman test.

ihope all of you who read this find it interesting and will be glad of any observations anyone would like to make

[Peg99]

Hello Ken44

I did find your glaucoma story interesting and I hope that it is all settling down for you now that you are 3 years into your journey.

I also find it interesting that there are many types of glaucoma and treatments. I have Normal tension glaucoma which means that I have to keep my eye pressures low. I was just 29 when I first had problems and as the diagnosis was slow in being made, I too lost vision before I started to receive effective treatment.

Like you, I was upset at the start of my journey and feared the worst. Unfortunately, I lost my driving licence permanently which took a bit of getting used to. However, my vision did stabilise and 38 years later I have not lost any more sight. Yes, I still have restricted field of vision due to the 'tunnel vision' but I have come to terms with it. It is also pretty amazing what the brain fills in for you at the edge of your sight. All in all, I have lived a pretty normal life and I worry more about other things than losing the rest of my sight!

You sound as if you have reached, or are reaching the settled stage and it is good news that your Dr is happy with you, You are bound to worry, we all do, but keep taking the drops/medication prescribed, do not miss doses and remember, there are new advances all the time.

Best of luck to you Ken.

Best Wishes, Peg

[Ken44 in reply to Peg99]

Thanks so much Peg99,I do appreciate you answering me and has given me much comfort.