ANA Discussion Forum
General Category => AN Issues => Topic started by: lauralynn on July 18, 2009, 10:41:18 pm
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Has anyone had a cornea tear? If so did you have to go on steriods for it? My eye doctor has been wanting to implant a gold weight but I've had to cancel the procedure coz I was having severe head pain that day. So in the mean time I thought my eye was infected and irritated. But I went to my eye doctor this past Friday and he got mad at me coz I have a cornea tear. It wasn't my fault! I'm not kidding, he litterally yelled at me. He stitched my eye (one stitch) and took a culture from my eye. He then put me on antibiotics and saw me today to see how my eye was doing. Yesterday it was very painful, today it feels much better. He looked at it today and said it looked much better. The problem now is I'm supposed to go out of town to see my boyfriend this Monday for 8 days. The doctor said I could go but wanted me to shorten my trip. Well now I don't know what to do. I'd have to pay a ridiculous amount of money to switch my return date....my spirits have been down so much coz I have no one here w/ me except for my kids. My parents are deceased and all my family is in NY. My boyfriend was transferred from his job to NC. I'm an emotional wreck, and this little get away I had planned I know would lift my spirits. I started seeing a counselor so I could have someone to talk to. I'm just an emoitional mess. I'm usually such a strong person, but since my surgery I've had continuous set backs. I see my doctor this monday (7/20). If he says my eye is fine....I'm leaning towards going to see my boyfriend. I'll keep ya posted. Thanks for listening.
LauraLynn
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I would just go on the trip to NC. I'm pretty sure they have doctors there if anything drastic should happen, which it won't. Tell your doctor you will call him. Lifting your spirits is important.
Just take your medicine, and take good care of your eye while you're gone - wear sunglasses outside 8), or spend a lot of time indoors. ;)
Steve
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I'd say go too!
They do have emergency rooms and doctors in NC! I know - I've seen them! :D Bring lots of drops, ointment and make sure your eye is well gooped up at all times.
Your body can't heal if your spirits are down in the dumps. I think the benefits of the trip outweigh the risks to your eye.
Lori
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GO!
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I'm with the others...GO
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Thank you so much eveyone for your kind words! I'm going to start packing! I see the doctor and he probably won't be thrilled w/ my decision, but he never did say I coulsn'nt go. I will keep you posted while I'm in NC. Thanks again everyone!
Love,
Laura Lynn :)
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Laura Lynn ~
Godspeed - and enjoy your trip to beautiful North Carolina. I hope it'll rejuvenate your spirits. You deserve it. :)
Jim
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Have a mahvalous time, Dahlin'! Lots of hugs and kisses to rejuvenate the spirit is my Rx for U. Post pics!
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Don't eyes heal faster than any other part of the body anyway...I really think I have heard that...seriously. I have had MANY cornea problems and it has never slowed me down - the red eye is a bit of an unpleasant thing but I say GO!!!
K ;D
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I say Go also and have a great time. I was having a lot of problems with my eye and when I went to the eye doctor my doctor recommended I had a Cornea Ulcer and a small tear as well. I had to wear an eye patch for several months and put an antibiotic ointment in my eye twice a day. (CILOXAN 0.3% OPHTH OINT (EYE) 3.5GM) about 3 days after I saw the eye doctor I left of a long weekend trip. The only problem I had was all the looks I got.
The ointment was they only thing I got though.
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Hi Lauralynn,
I am with the others. Have a good tirp.
Vivian
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Thank you everyone! You are so sweet. I do have to check in w/ the dr. tomorrow before I leave. I'm packing as we speak and I'm soooooo excited! I will keep in touch so you know how me and my eye are doing.
Love,
Laura
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You could also ask the doctor to give you a prescription for your eye if it should get worse while you are gone. I scratched my cornea and had to use erythromic and ciloxan. Good luck on your trip. You can always see another eye doctor. That's what you would have to do if your eye doctor went on vacation. I had that happen to me.
Jean
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Laura,
Thanks for our talk on the phone! Have a fabulous trip and enjoy that beautiful North Carolina scenery. You deserve the best vacation in the world!
Love,
Brenda (Teff)
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Laura,
I also agree with everyone else and hope you have a great trip and it just overall makes you feel better.
Keep us posted on how you're doing - I know you've had some challenges.
Keri
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Thank you again everyone for all of your kind words. Say a prayer for me...I am dreading my drs. appt coz he yelled at me last Friday. I'm packing up the computer so I will definately get in touch once I'm settled in NC.
Love,
Laura Lynn
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laura you could also tape your eye up when indoor just too give it a rest . enjoy ur holx
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Laura,
If he starts yelling at you again, just plug your good ear with your finger and wait for his lips to stop moving. :D
Have a fun time!
Lori
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i knew you'd say something funny!
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Thank you again everyone for all of your kind words. Say a prayer for me...I am dreading my drs. appt coz he yelled at me last Friday. I'm packing up the computer so I will definately get in touch once I'm settled in NC.
Love,
Laura Lynn
Your doctor needs a reminder that he is your employee and it is bad form to yell at the boss.
Sara
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Thanks Lori! Good advice!! Well fortunately he did not yell at me. He's been nothing but extra nice to me ever since. He actually said the cornea ulcer is gone! All I know is I arrived in NC last night and it's great to be here! I feel stronger already! My boyfriend is my rock and I've so needed him. My eye seems fine other than the ugly stitch. I'll keep in touch.
Love,
Laura Lynn
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Just wanted to let everyone know that NC is great! So much nicer than Phoenix! My eye is doing great! If I go outside I just wear my lovely eye patch. So glad I came. Being with my boyfriend (my best friend) is the best medicine!
Love,
Laura Lynn
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Laura,
I am coming into this thread late - GLAD you went to North Carolina!
I lived in Kernersville (near Winston-Salem) for 5 years, and both my girls were born there, a lovely place indeed.
The mountains are also beautiful too, very peaceful.
Enjoy your time away and with your boyfriend.
You deserve a break! ;D
Maybe, after visiting NC you will even consider moving to the East Coast!
Take care,
Sue
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I'm glad you went and are having a great time. You are so right that being with love ones is the best medicine
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So glad your eye is doing better!! A lovely trip to see your boyfriend in North Carolina was the perfect remedy!!
Love,
Brenda (Teff)
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I'm back from NC. It was so hard to leave my boyfriend and NC. NC was so beautiful! I did not want to return to Phoenix. I'm originally from Rochester, NY so I prefer the east. My eye did great in NC. Now that I'm back in AZ, my eye gets irritated so easily. I'm constantly putting drops or gel in it. I wear my eye patch when I go outside and sometimes inside coz of the air conditioning. But thank you all again for encouraging me to go to NC. My boyfriend and I had a great time. It was great to spend time with him. I go this Wednesday to have my gold weight implanted. I'm nervous and anxious about it. I just hope my eye can finally get some relief. I will let you all know how it goes.
Thanks to all my AN buddies,
LauraLynn
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Glad you had a good trip. 8)
Arizona and North Carolina really is a long distance relationship. If the weather there is so much better for you, maybe you should move? ::)
Good luck with the gold weight, too.
Steve
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I agree; I wish you could move too. It seems your eye would like it more too.
I hope all goes well on Wednesday for you.
Keri
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LauraLynn ~
Welcome back! I'm pleased to learn that you had a pleasant vacation with your boyfriend in North Carolina. My wife and I occasionally mull over moving south to save on the cost of living and taxes, both of which are brutal in Connecticut. Although we love the northeast, we usually pick North Carolina as our ultimate destination, should we ever actually decide to move (somewhat unlikely but not out of the question). My adult son, a Connecticut native, is planning to move to Texas (Houston) sometime late in 2010. He really dislikes the high cost of living in Connecticut as well as the political structure. Politically, Connecticut is essentially a one-party state - and it's not his party (or ours), but that's another story.
I'm sorry your eye is giving you problems. I hope and will pray that the gold weight implant will be a smooth procedure and give you some relief. Stay cool. ;)
Jim
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LauraLyn,
Here is the web link for the ANA that list the contacts for the support group leaders in Arizona. (Scroll down to the 2nd state on the list)
http://www.anausa.org/support_groups_by_state.shtml
I have had excellent care for my eye at the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) however I can’t say the same for ENT there at OHSU though- hopefully they are actively working at improving). Yesterday my ophthalmologist / facial specialist had an ENT intern sit in on my Botox injection etc and this intern is heading off for his new post in Arizona. (Interesting he was actually from the ENT Department. - I am so glad that ENT student are now getting some eye care training!) I could find out where in Arizona he will be if you are interested… as this young Dr. Kim has trained under one of the most compassionate doctors, Dr. John Ng, I have had so far… and maybe this young Dr. Kim will able to offer you compassionate follow-up care there in Arizona. If you have just one really great doctor with good people skills, as I have with my Dr Ng (even though he is not an ENT or Neurologist) it can really help in the Acoustic Neuroma Treatment recovery journey.
Glad you got a vacation in with someone who offers you understanding and compassion.
CYBER HUGS!
DHM
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Laura Lynn,
I am thinking about you today and wondering how you are doing.
I can’ t help but keep thinking about the ophthalmologist yelling at you incident…
(I once had my Oregon ENT get too worked up when I told him I thought that I should have the translab instead of the retrosygmoid as he thought my tumor may not be an acoustic neuroma being that is was such an odd shape and I had such good hearing. Voices were raised by both parties as we were both pretty passionate about what we thought was right- but we seemed to have gotten through that … nevertheless his follow-up interest for my case has been poor since my surgery proved him wrong)
I guess I see both sides however that does not excuse his unprofessionalism ie yelling. He had it in his mind that you needed an eye weight “surgically implantedâ€. You presented him with the alternate temporary solution, ie the stick on blink-eze eye weight (or am I mistaken) , and he got his nose-out-of-joint as you questioned his expertise (which you should and all doctors should be receptive to hear their patients ideas and not let their egos get in the way) … So when you later walked in with a torn cornea he was frustrated as he feels "if" you had the surgery he recommended this would not have happened. However he needs to understand that the stick-on-eye weight would have prevented this also.
I won’t deny I have had frustrating moments with a few doctors who can be rather a stick-in-the-mud with their ideals -but you will also have to be forgiving if the patient-doctor relationship is to continue in a positive direction (Yet know when you are being mistreated and it is time to find a different practioner). Because you are in Arizona, where it is so arid, you have a higher chance of cornea damage due to the eye drying out (compared to us Oregonians who spend half the year in the rains.)
Your eye weight will make a big difference.
Are your ENT or neurologist offering you lots of follow up care and support? If you have just one good doctor, in the follow up team, than that can make all the difference. My neuroTOlogist/surgeon is in a different state and it took a while until I found one doctor who had the people skills and compassion -here in my locale. In this case it was my ocular-plastics / ophthalmologist. He has always treated me with respect- and that makes it so much easier to endure the other doctors who lack the positive social graces -to which he displays. My own PCP is pretty good as far as compassion goes but he is a generalist and not specifically trained in acoustic neuroma stuff. Fortunately I have found this ocular-plastics / ophthalmologist doctor who is on the same path of thinking as me as far as taking the least evasive approach to treatment (ie the lease amount of surgery we can do: the least amount of Botox we can inject … and wait and see how the nerves regenerate and how I can reeducate my face etc.) My neuromuscular facial retaining therapist is also terrific (but out-of state) and she is paring up with my ocular-plastics / ophthalmologist to start a new clinic here on Oregon. She has given me exercises to help me learn to close the eye (without involving the cheek). Her compassion and understanding has also made a huge difference for me- not just physically but mentally. Have you seen a facial therapist to help with eye closure etc?
Here is a list of therapists.
http://www.bellspalsy.ws/centers.htm
If there is not one close to you perhaps contact Jackie Diels and see whom she recommends or has recently graduated from her program that might be closer to you. (Many of us ANA’ers see her as the facial guru)
Jacqueline Diels, OT; Facial Rehabilitation Specialist
Neuromuscular Retraining Clinic
Dept. of Rehabilitation Medicine,
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Research Park Clinic,
Madison, Wisconsin
608-263-7271
A physician or therapist always has to keep in mind the balanced equilateral triangle with the equal sides being the body, the mind, and the spirit… as does the patient. Do what you can to keep your spirits up. You have much on your plate with being a single mom and no extended family close by to give you relief- heck knows adding acoustic neuroma complications on top of all that. A support group can offer you the support you need- that you doctor perhaps cannot. I really implore you to go to one of their meetings
Arizona leader contacts (cut & pasted from the ANA webpage http://www.anausa.org/support_groups_by_state.shtml )
Phoenix
Leader: Mike Simon
480-621-6554
mikesimon@1stphoenix.com
Tucson
Leader: Carol Franklin
520-722-8340
g-cfranklin@cox.net
Cyber HUGS to you.
DHM
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Hi Laura!
Can't wait to hear all about your trip.
Michelle :-*
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I go this Wednesday to have my gold weight implanted. I'm nervous and anxious about it. I just hope my eye can finally get some relief. I will let you all know how it goes.
LauraLynn,
Today is Friday now- and I am wondering how you are doing and how the eye weight implant went for you. Thinking about you and sending well wishes to you from Oregon to Arizona.
Remember that there are more than one of us, on the forum here,... who care and wondering how you are doing.
Cyber HUGS
DHM
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DHM,Thank you for checking in on me. Sorry, just have been a bit tired. My eye surgery went well. I had my follow up appt. yesterday and my eye doctor says it's great coz my eye closes all the way. It's pretty swollen and turning black and blue....but it's so nice to blink again! I go to see the eye doctor Aug. 20 and my neurologist Aug. 24. My doctors are all great and if I ever have any problems they always tell me to come right in. I will research the therapist you sugessted. I've been doing some facial exercises that I found on this site. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Love,
LauraLynn
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Great News! :)
I am sooh glad that the eye weight is working for you. It made such a difference for me once I could close the eye again. Seems like my whole world cleared up... balance regained, less fatigue. Ophthalmologists are so important to our post op care- I am glad things have smoothed over.
The bruising will heal.
Happy for you!. HUGS. Remember that none of us should go through this alone and unsupported. There are many of us here for you on-line.
Keep moving forward!
DHM