This is my blog, to let people know that eye problems are not just age related. Especially huge ones, like Choroidal Neovascularization. I am near sighted, and have been for most of my life. I got glasses when I was in the 4th grade, and it was then that doctors started taking pictures of my retinas, because they noticed there was something... different... about them. I was told that i had "tigroid retina"
Definition? Well, In a tigroid fundus there are lesser amounts of pigment in the retinal pigment epithelium, allowing streaks of underlying normal choroidal pigmentation to become visible and give the characteristic appearance
Now, I was little and hated all the doctors appointments, and especially the machine that puffed air into your eyes to check the pressure. Oh man, did I loathe that one! There was one visit where the nurse yelled at me to sit still and stop crying... which of course, that made me cry more. My mother took me home, but the doctor and nurse told her that it was inevitable that I would probably go blind some day. Yeah, that stuck with me my whole life and terrified me. We didn't go back there either.
We didn't know that my near sited state would be any different than my other family members, and the tigroid didn't really give the doctors whom we spoke with any real indication that this was my future. I never really had any issues, and always had new glasses every year. Saw lots of doctors and not one of them said anything else about it. None. My mother always made sure we went in yearly no matter how broke we were, just in case... but when no one sees anything wrong, you tend to forget the looming statements of years past. Kind of, anyways.
I remember it was the beginning of Christmas break, and I was home from college. This was my second year and I was back in my room at my mother house. Now, before we go any further, let me just add that my sister has a migraine condition, so I am well aware of the signs of all kinds when it comes to migraines. When I saw the "spots" of distortion ( like television snow, just in one area) I thought that I might be coming down with a migraine. But after a few days of these spots lingering and no other signs, I let my mother know.
We went to see the optitrician that had recently gotten me set up with my handy dandy contacts, and she promptly asked me if i had been staring into the sun. I told her no, because everyone knows you aren't supposed to do that! Then she asked me if I had been shining a laser into my eye. Once again, I said no. She looked at me, then she wrote down the number to the retinal specialists at Texas Tech, and told me to make an appointment with them. We called them immediately, but for some reason, even though we expressed how urgent it was that we saw a doctor, they wouldn't set up an appointment for at least 5 weeks. I strongly believe that this was negligent on their part, but that has come and gone, and it has been years.
By the time my appointment had came, the spot had grown in size and I was terrified, because I had no idea what was going on with my sight.
-Sharon
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