Written in seventh grade, posted 10/15/02 Fiona Seckari Living With Glaucoma ...glaucoma is a disease that has robbed millions of their sight, I've had it for about thirteen out of fourteen years... You know, they say you never realize how much you love or appreciate something until it’s gone. Your sight for instance, what would life be like if your sight was suddenly damaged, and you couldn’t see anything to your sides without turning your head? What if you were standing on top of the Empire State building, and it appeared that when you looked down you were no higher than a couple feet? What if you could see out of one eye, but it kept jumping around, and never focused on a single thing? What if you couldn’t see out of your one eye at all? Or, worse, what if you couldn’t see out of either of your eyes? What if your entire world, was black? I know that must seem hard for you to imagine, not knowing how high up you are, or not being able to see to your sides without turning your head, but to many people, this is their world. To me, this is my world. Many people don’t understand why I’m so clumsy, and many of my class mates make fun of me because I can’t copy from the board, or take a blow to the head, but can read such fine print novels. To me, the reason is so simple, but to them, it seems as if I’m just trying to get out of work. My goal with this report isn’t just to get a good grade and pass this assignment, my goal is to educate other people, my piers especially, why I can’t thread a needle or why I appear so clumsy. The answer appears perfectly simple to me, but may be a little more complicated to you. Why, I’d need to write a whole report! But, wait, isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? To put this in simple terms, the reason I, along with hundreds of people around the world, have these problems is due to a not so rare disease, Glaucoma, and who better to tell about this horrible disease, than a victim? Glaucoma is the second most cause of blindness in the U.S.A. It is responsible for 1/8 of our nations blindness. Glaucoma occurs when abnormal pressure takes place in the eye ball, when the pressure increases enough that damage is done to the Optic disk then causes gradual loss of vision. There are two main types of Glaucoma, Primary, Open Angle Glaucoma and Acute Angle Closure, Glaucoma. Glaucoma effects all humans, especially the elderly, also, Glaucoma is not caused by a virus or by bacteria, but disease caused by damage to the Optic Nerve. Glaucoma is not contagious. I’d like to start off by telling you about the more common of the two Glaucomas, and the Glaucoma that I have, Primary Open Angle Glaucoma, or Primary Glaucoma, for short. Primary Glaucoma can be caused by high pressure within the eye(s), inflammation and/or trauma to the eye(s), or structure blockage. You also can get Primary Glaucoma if you have other intro ocular disorders, or if you have recently received intra ocular surgery. There are many not so great effects and symptoms of Primary Glaucoma. Unfortunately, there are usually no early symptoms, you would have to go to an Optimologist for an eye examination if you wanted to detect this disease. Usually, though you lose your Peripheral (side) Vision before you visit the Optimologist. In many cases the loss of visual field inflects the visit to the Optimologist in the first place. Other effects of Primary Glaucoma are just as bad, if not worse. You miss words when reading, have difficulty with driving, miss stairs, and loss depth perception (You are unable to tell how high up you are). Treatment for Primary Glaucoma is usually in the form of eye drops or pills, these medications are usually given for life. Laser Therapy, An Iridectomy, and an Trabuculotamy are possible cures for Primary Glaucoma. To prevent from getting Primary Glaucoma, and to prevent an epidemic of it, you should have your blood pressure kept under control, avoid steroids, receive regular check ups with the Optimologist, and if you have Diabetes, you should keep that under control as well. Now, I’ll tell you a little bit about the second Glaucoma, Acute Angle Closure, or Acute Angle Glaucoma, for short. Acute Angle Glaucoma is less common than Primary Glaucoma. There is only one way you can get Acute Angle Glaucoma, and that is if you drainage angle for the Aqueous Humor, (liquid in the eye ball), is blocked suddenly, for this reason usually only the elderly become infected with Acute Angle Glaucoma. The effects and symptoms of Acute Angle Glaucoma are just as bad, if not worse, than Primary Glaucoma. With Acute Angle Glaucoma, you suffer blurred vision, see halos around lights, suffer pain or redness in eye(s), have severe pain in the head, vomit often, and the infected eye(s) often become red and hard to the touch. When dealing with Acute Angle Glaucoma, immediate treatment is essential! If immediate treatment is not received, the patient may become totally blind. Ounce Acute Angle Glaucoma is diagnosed, the patient will either be given eye drops to hopefully encourage the Iris to move out of the drainage angle, and/or an injection to decrease the production of Aqueous Humor. Fortunately, the medication usually decreases the pressure in the eye within hours. After an attack is under control, if the patient wishes, an Iridectomy may be done to hopefully cure them. Alas, the only way to prevent from getting Acute Angle Closure Glaucoma, and to prevent an epidemic, is to receive ruetine eye examinations, and, if you can help it, don’t get old. So, you may be wondering what it’s like to have this disease. You’ve heard the facts and the statistics, scientific terms and all that fuss, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, what’s it really like? Well, here is where many books, medical dictionaries, and reports come up short. Very few tell what it’s really like to have this heart wrenching disease. Fortunately though, through my real life experience, I can offer a little insight on my world, and my life, and, just possibly, fulfill my goal for this report. As I’m sure you guessed, having Glaucoma is no walk in the park. I have Secondary Primary Glaucoma, a branch off of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma. My Glaucoma was caused because I had seven intra ocular operations before I was a year old. Because my eyes were exposed so openly to the air so many times, and because I was so young, an air pocket formed in the back of my eye. This air pocket caused damage to the Optic Nerve, and I can’t see very well out of my right eye. It jumps around a lot, and hardly ever stays in one place when I try to use it, so I’ve learnt not to use it all. My treatment for Glaucoma will probably last my entire life. Every morning, and every night I have to receive three eye drops, and stay perfectly still while they’re in my eyes. I can’t receive a blow to the head, because that may damage the Optic Nerve more, and I may become totally blind. Because of this, I can’t play very many sports and gym, like Bombardment. Luckily, though, I have special glasses for gym called Rec. Specs, that allow to participate in many more gym class activities, unfortunately, though, my Rec. Specs look very strange, and stick out. So I’m stared at a lot when I wear them. Luckily, though, now that I’m in seventh grade, my piers have begun to ask me why I wear them, and I’m glad to explain. I also have trouble with copying things off of the board. The reason I can’t copy things very well, is because I can’t focus and refocus on objects like most people can. You probably find this a little hard to understand, so, I’ll try to explain it a little better. For you, it’s like when you cross your eyes, and then uncross them quickly, everything appears fuzzy for awhile, and it’s hard to see at first. That’s what it’s like for me when I try to copy things down, and after awhile my eyes become sore and they hurt. This is also why I need tests enlarged, to make it a little easier for me to fill in the answers. So why, you may be wondering, can I read such fine print novels? That’s easy to explain. When I’m reading, I’m only looking at one thing, and one thing only, and I only have to refocus when I turn the page. Thus, since I can’t play sports and other activities very well, reading and playing my flute have become my favorite pass times. Though, I’m not saying that books with larger print and music with larger notes don’t make it easier on my eyes. Finally, I don’t have Depth Perception or Peripheral Vision. At any given time, I have no clue how high up I am, and can’t guess how far ahead or behind things are, I also have to turn my head if I want to see to the side of me. That’s why I appear so clumsy at times, run into things so often, and have as many scars as I do. But, for all it’s worth, and I may be a bit of odd ball for saying this, I’m glad I don’t have Depth Perception! Who’d want to know how high up they are? That would be scary! Plus, without Depth Perception, I’m not afraid of high places or roller coasters. So, I realize that fact may make me an odd ball, and the target for jokes after class, but I don’t care. You see, I’ve never had Depth Perception, that’s why the thought of it seems so scary to me. Well, I suppose that covers it. I’ve told you just about everything I know about Glaucoma, I’ve told you how you get it and what causes it, about the effects and symptoms of Glaucoma, about how you treat glaucoma and how you may cure it, how to keep from getting it, how to prevent an epidemic, and a little bit about my own case of it. I can only hope for two things now that I’ve finished my report, the first thing being that I get an A on this report, and the second thing, that I’ve managed to say even just one thing, to make you understand what’s it’s like for me and millions of other people around the world. Bibliography I got my information from: www.webster.com Encarta Encyclopedia 1997 The Merk Manual Of Diagnosis And Therapy Written by Mark H. Beers, M.D. Published by Merk Research Laboratories Division of Merk & Co., Inc. Whitehouse Station, N.J. Copyright 1999 by Merck & co Inc. and, FROM ME, and my ‘wonderful’ real life experiences!