The Eye Exam

Other than wearing glasses and having dry and itchy eyes sometimes, I don’t have other problems with my eyes. Yet, out of curiosity, I ask the optometrist to check my eyes after she examines my son’s eyes.

The optometrist does a general test. She asks me to return in the morning with my son to check the back of our eyes. The next morning, after examining my son’s eyes, she examines mine. Then she says, “You need to see a specialist immediately.”

She makes an appointment for me. I feel scared.

One week later, the eye specialist examines my eyes. Two days later, I return for my results. The specialist seems concerned.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“You have glaucoma.”

"What's glaucoma?"


"It's a buildup of fluid in your eyes and you could go blind. We need to take care of you and monitor you every month.” She prescribes Xalatan eye drops and recommends I learn vision impairment skills for precaution.

I have pigmentary glaucoma. My left eye pressure is 27 and my right eye pressure is 20. When I was young, I remember that some people in my family became blind, but they were in their 70’s or older. I thought they were blind because they were old. I’m 39. I don’t want to be blind like the people in my family. I hope the eye drops work.

Every day I look at things twice to see if I can really see. I worry my husband will leave me. I worry about my children. I want to make them happy, not depend on them. I want to see them do many things. Graduate from high school. Get married.  But, I must face the future and hope I will always have eyesight to guide my life and my children.

This is Alesha's story. I interviewed her. Alesha is not her real name. (I gave it to her because it means protected by God). She wants to keep her name private because her children does not know of her condition.
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Glaucoma info: http://www.kellogg.umich.edu/patientcare/conditions/glaucoma.html

20 comments:

  1. those health problems are cruel exactly for attacking us when we don't expect it :(

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  2. What a sad tale, hope she fully recovers to live a normal life free of fear.

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  3. Bless her heart! I will keep her in my prayers.

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  4. Bless her heart! I will keep her in my prayers.

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  5. I'm sorry to hear that. I sure can relate.

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  6. If she uses her drops and monitors it, hopefully she can prevent it.

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  7. Thank goodness, with the advance of medicine this condition does not always lead to blindness, as it did not that long ago.

    Thank you so much for your support, you don't realise how much it encourages me to keep writing.

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  8. What a blessing that you had it checked. Hopefully, with proper care, you will never have to suffer the blindness the people in your family did.

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  9. That would be a little scary to get that diagnosis at such a young age. I'm sure it can be taken care of.

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  10. Com muito cuidado e se continuar a ser vigiada, ela vai manter a visão. Hoje a tecnologia permite quase o impossível.
    Bj

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  11. My grandmother is deaf. I'm a musician. I always feared I'd end up losing my hearing, until I learned that Grandma's condition is due to a childhood illness. It's definitely scary. I think Alesha was definitely inspired to have her eyes checked and fingers crossed that some good care will keep her seeing for the rest of her life.

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  13. I hope that Alesha will be okay. It is a scary thing to deal with, and I hope the early detection helps her get better treatment.

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  14. I thought for a moment that you were writing about you, Peaches. Then I remembered that you are sharing people's stories. What a powerful one, and an important one to share! It's reminding me that I'm overdue on my eye examination and should not be delaying. I strongly believe that everyone has a uniques story worth sharing. Thank you for this!

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  15. Hello greetings and good wishes.

    Some one should tell Alesha that she is worrying unnecessarily although she is justified in thinking about the many problems shee will have to face in the event of losing her eye sight. She should her blood sugar levels because diabetes can also make people go blind.

    Eyes are precious. We don't think about our eyes when our vision is good Life will be absolutely difficult to manage without eyes sight. But worrying about it will not help.

    I hope and pray that her problem will be solved with the eye drops. A blood test for sugar level is recommended.

    Best wishes

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  16. It's in those darkest moments where people rally the most to help us. Don't worry Alesha, people will be there to support you and will be happy for the privilage.

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  17. Ah, it's SO important people get tested for glaucoma when they get their eyes tested. 39, wow, so young. I thought my age was young, getting it at 53. The pressure in my eyes were 30 and 31, but thanks to the drops they're down to normal. Luckily we have medication to take care of this, so we don't go blind!

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  18. As a diabetic, my doctors has told me I'm at risk for glaucoma so I need to get regular screening. Recently had my annual exam and everything looks good. Vision is something that would be awful to lose so it's best to get regular check ups and tend to any issues right away.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Road trippin' with A to Z
    Tossing It Out

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  19. 39 is young! I know a few people who have it and it is a terrible thing.

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  20. Oh my, what a scary thing to go through. Hearing that you need to see a specialist is enough to make anyone feel stressed out, especially when it pertains to your eyesight. My grandma actually has glaucoma and has been having it for years. I don't know very much about it, honestly. I think it's because I'd like to stay in denial for as long as I can.

    Doris Gibbs @ Moody Eyes

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These are our stories. Thank you for your kind comment and laugh as often as you can. Peaches D. Ledwidge, author of Day Laughs Night Cries: Fifteen