I went to my retina specialist yesterday expecting to hear something like, ‘We need to give the chemo meds more time’ or ‘It’s not working the way we wanted’ or ‘You need another injection to give the meds more time’. I’ve been noticing some very small changes to my vision and it’s had me frustrated and worried. Amber and white lights sometimes blink blue and pink(ish) when I’m looking at them, normally a sign that something is afoot again. Something being leaky blood vessels in my retina leaking. The incredibly annoying blinking and flashing light I was seeing 24/7 is intermittent now, a good sign that the inflammatory disease is lessening. That said, I started feeling pain in my left eye again a few days ago and it’s, ever-so-slightly, gradually increasing. That pain is a sign of increased inflammation.
So I was expecting to hear not so great news.
Instead my doctor was rather upbeat when viewing the scans/pictures they took of my retinas. A few weeks ago one of my retinas was so misshapened it looked like an alien from a horror movie. Yesterday the bulging blob of swollen retina was gone and they looked pretty darn good! He said I didn’t need an injection and that his goal was for the chemo meds (it’s a low dose pill form, not the big heavy stuff) to not only replace the steroid capsule injection but the Avastin injection AND the pressure drops I have to use. HOLY BATCOW is that awesome!
The pressure drops are like little drops of fire they burn so badly (for me, not everyone has this reaction to them). I have to use them twice daily because all the ocular injections I get increase the pressure in my eyes and have led to me being pre-glaucomic (not sure that’s a word but I’m going with it). I’ve been using them so long now I thought it would just be something I did for the rest of my life. Hearing him say the meds could work well enough so that I won’t need them again was sweet music to my ears!
I know it’s possible the leaky blood vessels are coming back. I generally see the signs a couple weeks before it can show on the scans, but I left that office choosing to focus on how upbeat my doctor had been. I was in a great mood and Mike and I turned the afternoon into an impromptu ‘date day’ of shopping and goofing off. It was just the two of us as we’d left Grandbaby with our daughter, Babygirl, which meant not having to wait until the kids were quiet before getting each others attention.
That almost NEVAH happens!
He said he wanted to see me again in four to six weeks. I love my doctor and his staff but I really don’t want to see them again this year. I’m there SO MUCH already! I opted for the six week appointment which means I only have one more doctor visit this year (the doctor who prescribed the chemo meds for my retina doc wants to see me next week) and a lab appointment I probably should have taken care of on Monday. That’s it until January!
Maybe now I can focus more on the backlog of chores I need to slosh through.