Re: Ophthalmologist Visit/ from Russ

[Guest guest]

Here is a post from Russ and his dr visit. He gave me permision to post this

and see if you have any in put for him. At the end of the post is his post

from today and hearing from Dr. Herman.

<<

Hi, ,

I had my Ophthalmologist visit this afternoon, and it was very eye opening

- - no pun intended !

I went in to the eye institute, and discovered that I had been there in

1991. I remembered the visit as having to do with having a small blackhead

cyst removed from my lower eyelid.

Anyway, I had to fill out new paperwork. So I checked all the boxes that

applied to me, and searched for a place to properly put the autoimmune

disease info. The closest place was the arthritis section, so I drew a

line through the questions, and wrote my own narrative.

I listed all my medications ( 9 ) and then in the space for current

problems I stated all about the flare and such, and how the antibiotic eye

drops did not help.

I don't remember if I told you, but on Tuesday morning, I took 30 mg of

Pred, because I did not have any Pred eye drops, and could not get to a

doctor before Thursday. I figured I would go ahead and take the tablets,

rather than waiting for drops. Well, by Tuesday at noon, my eyes were no

longer sensitive to light, and by Tuesday evening, my eye was noticeably

better. Wednesday morning, I took another 30 mg Pred, and by Thursday

night, most of my eye was white, again. Today I took 20 mg, and went to

see the Ophthalmologist.

The eye technician took me to a room and after some questions, put in

numbing drops and did the eye pressure test. Right eye was 17, which was

in the normal range, and the left eye was 21, which was the eye with the

problem. She said both reading were OK. She had heard of RP, which was

surprising, and knew about eye involvement.

Then the doctor came in {{ looking like he was about 15 years old }} and

introduced himself and looked at my chart. Then he looked at both eyes

with the eye scope, and asked, " Have you been around anyone with pink eye? "

I said, " Ah ...... no. " Then he said, " Well, your eye is still somewhat

irritated. So the drops worked well? "

I said, " No - - - they did not work at all. I have an autoimmune disease,

and I .... " " Oh - - - what kind of autoimmune disease? Is it written

here? " He obviously did not read the chart. I said, " yes, it's all

there. " then I told him what I had done with the Pred, and he said that I

should not have taken it upon myself to medicate without a doctor's

approval ! !

I then said that my eye was very red on Monday, and by Tuesday afternoon,

after the Pred, it was noticeably better. He then looked at my eye again,

and said,that the " Pred was probably the right thing to do. " SURPRISE ! !

! !

Then he said I should get off the Pred, and take 600 mg 4 times a day. of

Motrin, because Pred drops would cause other side effects. He was calling

my diagnosis pre-iritis, and if it re-occurred, he would call it regular

iritis. He did not want to prescribe Pred drops until he could evaluate my

eye in another flare. He said he did not want me to " medicate " myself

without another exam.

He said to try the Motrin therapy for a while, and come back in three weeks

and he would see how my eyes were then. I said that it would take me three

weeks to get off the Pred, so by coming back then, any improvement would be

from the Pred not his Motrin therapy. He said he realized that but to come

in anyway.

When I went to the front desk to pay the co-pay and schedule the next

appointment, I discovered that he is off the entire month of July, so

that's why he wants to see me before then.

So, that's my story about the great and powerful Ophthalmologist ! ! I am

still waiting for another answer from Dr. Herman, and I think that I will

ask him to recommend someone else. What do you think?

Sorry to take so lung with this narrative, but I want to keep you informed.

Please let me know what you think.

In His Service,

Russ

>>

A Post from him today.

Hi, ,

Post away ! ! Any information gathered is better than none.

Dr. Herman replied, and gave me the name of a specialist for uveal tract

disease. Have you heard of this condition? Anyway, Dr. Herman is directing

me to taper the Pred as previously done, and see if the eye re-flares.

He also stated that I should not have medicated myself, because that masked

a more accurate evaluation. I agree, but when it comes to your eyes,

....... well, I just wanted to do SOMETHING ! ! !