Postby MonaL » Tue May 25, 2010 10:28 pm
Dad experienced *a lot* of eye troubles. Red, inflammed, gritty eyes. He would wipe out solid gunk from them too. He looked terrible, squinted all the time, and had to stop reading a lot of what he was used to reading.
The ophthalmologist said the following (I had this in an email I sent out):
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Severe Dry Eye
There are not enough tears being produced. This is considered the main condition, tear ducts probably damaged by chemo. This can cause the pain, increased mucous, double vision, blurring, etc. The eye is dry, causing vision to be blurry; blinking makes the blur go away because it gives moisture to the eye.
Looking at the eye, the ophthalmologist saw a very irregular tear film on the surface of the eye, which may cause double vision (along with the other symptoms and experiences).
Colored Mucous
The yellow tinge indicates infection, or bacteria in the eye.
Blepharitis
Irritated red, puffy (inflamed) eyelids, and can affect either the inside or the outside of the eyelids. This is a chronic, recurrent condition where the oily secretions of the eyelid Meibomian glands accumulate on the eyelid margin. The accumulated matter is an irritant to the eyes themselves. The cause can be a bacterial overgrowth, mites, or allergy, or other.
Here is an overview of his treatment:
Recap of treatment:
Restasis Drops, twice a day, to increase the body’s own tear production
Moisture Drops, 4-6 times per day, to provide external lubrication
Eyelid Wash, twice a day, to remove the irritants to the eye
Antibiotic Eye Ointment, only if needed after a month, if the increased tears from the Restasis don't take care of the problem.
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Now, is Dad doing all of this? No....he is doing the restatsis, and his eyes are TONS better.
Oh, btw, he also got knew glasses at the time, his prescription changed very little.
Dad, stage IV CC, mets to liver, 2007-2008
surgery, Xelox, and IP-6
NED summer 2009
surveillance stopped summer 2014, due to age
died 1/2018 at age 88, from Parkinson's and respiratory infection
(Parkinson's triggered by one of his cancer surgeries and/or chemo)