There is hope

for retinitis pigmentosa patients: Breaking News from the Foundation Fighting Blindness

This is good news. Although any "cure" may not be able to reach my father regionally or timely in the near future, I am happy for all sufferers of this genetic disease.

It's so devastasting to know that a non-curable disease is creeping up on you progressively, making you blind one day. At least, they now have hope.

But I will not let my father know about this as the news would cause him more harm than good; a simple case of so near yet so far. I can imagine how he feels at his age and in his condition. During my bad times, I feel so sad ......

Better Sight

On the second day of his cataract surgery, I asked my father whether his eyesight has improved. He told me that he could now read the time from the clock on the wall from where he was sitting. The vision of his left eye is now clearer and brighter. I'm so happy for him. Later, we'll see if we want to let him undergo surgery on his right eye.

Dad's Sunglasses and Eyedrops

I'm a little hyperactive again and more than a little "talkative". These are times when I've so much to talk and write about. I guess when I'm working I use up all my energy at work and am no longer hyperactive at home. Hmm, is that a good thing?

Now, I want to write about my dad's sunglasses and eyedrops. This morning he wanted to go out to the garden to water the plants but because of his recent cataract surgery, the sunlight was too bright for him. He whipped out an old pair of sunglasses and put it on. He has ripped off the right lens leaving only the left lens intact. He wanted to wear the glasses like an eyepatch on his left eye which was operated on. I was a little frustrated at him. I know that it was still a good pair of glasses although when questioned he lied that the right lens was already cracked. I just had to tell him not to mutilate good things even though they may be old stuff. I could easily have gotten him an eye patch if he had wanted it. I was really upset because I hate to see good things being destroyed. More so when I know that my mother had worn those glasses before.

Yesterday and this morning, I taught my father to do the eyedrops himself. I understand his difficulty since he can't see well with his other eye either. Anticipating the volume of wastages, I had bought an extra bottle of eyedrops from the doctor yesterday. Sure enough, my dad will drop the antibiotic onto his eyelids, below his eyes and almost poke the bottle into his eyes but after a few attempts the drops will hit the right target. And he gets grouchy at me when I try to correct him.

I had to teach him to administer the antibiotic drops himself because I know I would be out for lunch today for at least two hours. And in another week's time, I'll be starting work at my new job and there won't be anyone at home to take care of him until night time when I come home. The doctor did say that after a week, he'll only need the eyedrops four hourly which is better for him since he is also forgetful. I had to remind him a couple of times today.

Cataract Surgery 2

Dad's fine. The procedure itself together with the patient resting period lasted only one hour. The pre-surgery dilation of the eye and the waiting for the doctor to attend to another patient who came after us took us half a day.

We reached home around 1.00 p.m. and had lunch at home. Then, in between giving my father his eyedrops every two hours, I managed to do some laundry, cook dinner and mop the kitchen floor. I guess, I'm rather hyperactive today despite the threatening headache throughout the day.

Tomorrow, I've to take dad to the doctor again to have the bandage taken off and have his eye checked. The next visit would be one week later.

I'm tired but sleep eludes.

Cataract Surgery

My father's going to have his cataract surgery tomorrow morning. The doctor said that by noon or latest 1 pm, he should be able to go home.

He also told me that for the first two days, my father will need eyedrops every two hours. Then, for the following days up to one month, it'll be four times a day. I hope that when I am working again, he'll be able to do the eyedrops properly himself.

I have mentioned that even with a cataract surgery, his vision may still not improve that much due to his other eye problem, retinitis pigmentosa but I hope that his vision could at least be a little brighter and clearer after the surgery.

Cataract Surgery

Eye Procedure

Retinitis Pigmentosa
(The part on genetic mutation is particularly interesting.)

Retinitis Pigmentosa

Someone's comments on my father's nerves problem, Meralgia Paresthetica (MP), prompted me to write this post about his eye disease.

He was dignosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) about eight years ago. His vision has deteriorated much since then. He cannot read without a magnifying glass. He still plays sudoku though. We have to buy the larger print ones for him. Besides difficulty with reading, he also can't see well at night or in dim lights.

Although MP is also not curable, it's avoidable and symptoms can improve. RP is a lifetime disease and is not reversible but patients don't necessary lose their eyesight totally. Most of them will retain a small degree of central vision like my father.

He also has cataracts which if operated on, may (note: may and not will) enable him to have a clearer, though only slightly clearer, vision. The procedure is costly but I think we'll give him this clearer vision for the rest of the few years of his life.

Some links below:

Blindness.org
Wiki-Retinitis Pigmentosa
British RP Society
All About Vision

Syncope

A friend and I were talking about her absence from work last Friday. She was on medical leave because she felt dizzy as she was getting out of bed and had to lie down again to prevent total lost of conciousness.

She laid on her back for a couple of hours before she was just well enough to call her husband back from work to take her to the doctor. She could not even turn to her side because the movement would make the room spin.

The doctor told her that her blood pressure was a little high and would need to be checked again next week. But he/she did not explain to her why she felt dizzy. I told her that it could probably be due her high blood pressure.

She told me that she often feels dizzy especially when she bends her head down towards the floor but her pressure has always been within acceptable limit and she is not on medication.

She further said that when she was younger, she was prone to fainting. She first fainted when she was a child. Her mother was giving her a hair cut, to prepare her for the start of a school term when she lost conciousness suddenly.

As she fell to the ground, she knocked her head on a door. She was not sure how long she had fainted but when she was coming through, she heard someone crying and had thought it was the neighbour. She wanted to get up (she probably thought she was sleeping) to tell them to stop crying. When she opened her eyes, she realised she had fainted, was bleeding on the forehead and her mother was looking down at her with teary eyes.

She also remembered the time when she was queuing at the post office and the people around her kept asking her whether she was feeling all right. She wondered why they asked her that and she even replied that she was fine. Then all of a sudden, she fainted and had to be carried into the office for first-aid.

There was another time when she gained conciousness she discovered that someone had brought her to the hospital.

However, the syncope stopped after she gave birth to her first child. After that she usually just feel dizzy and last Friday was the first bad incident after a long while.

She told me that she had blood tests done and the results were all fine. The doctors could not find anything seriously wrong with her. I told her about blood circulation and that blood was unable to flow up to her brain which caused the fainting spells. She needs to find out what causes that to happen. I guess it's probably due to some vesticular problems. So the next time she feels faint, she should lie down on the ground to prevent losing conciousness or at least sit down to ensure that blood is able to flow better.

I told her that I would print out some articles for her on this illness when I get home. I remember having done some researches on syncope, vertigo, sudden death and cardiac arrest the first two months after my mother's death.

Below are some links on this illness:

When a child faints

vestibular balance disorders

syncope

Meralgia Paresthetica

I've been reading up on the nerve disorder my father's having and found the following informative articles which I would print for him to read.

When I asked him, he told me that there was still a slight pain on both sides at the groin area. He has finished his nerves medication but still has the painkillers. He has not been taking the pain pills because the pain has only been slight and because I've told him to only take them if it's really bad since they're not good for the kidneys, especially for his age.

Other than preventive measures, there's not much that can be done for his condition. I can only remind him to sit properly so that his stomach is not folded up and pressing on the affected area. He has a big tummy though he's not really fat. Other than that, he can't wear tight clothings and he probably may benefit with some light waist bending exercise.

His eyesight has not been good and I still haven't found the time to take him for his cataract surgery. The plan's to do it in July because June will see me with some major tasks at work. I hope he'll be patient about this.

ninds.nih.gov/disorders

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meralgia_paraesthetica

http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/35/main.html

Orthopedic

Today, Dad went for a check-up on his spine and hips at the orthopedics. The x-ray taken the other day showed that he has mild OA. He has been complaining about some slight pain on both sides around the groin area. The gastroenterologist which did the colonscopy was not able to answer our queries and we had to make an appointment with the orthopedist quickly to quell our apprehension that the pain could be a symptom of something serious.

Dad's blood test results have shown a slightly high PSA count and though this is expected of an old man his age, we are ignorant enough to fear that prostate cancer may have spread to the bones. Today, we found out that his bones are normal except for an onset of osteoporosis around the hips but again this is expected of a man his age. I informed the othopedist that the gastroenterologist has told me that Dad's prostate is slightly larger than normal but is smooth. I asked and the othopedist told me that if it was cancerous, it would be rough. Further if there was prostate cancer, the PSA level would be much higher than my Dad's. But he advised us to check again in three to six months time.

He then explained to me that Dad's condition is due to nerves and it's called meralgia parasthetica (he even wrote it nicely on a piece of paper for me and said I could read up on this). Nice guy. We got more from him than the gastroenterologist and also charged a much lower fee despite being a surgeon as well.

It was a stressful day again but at least I'm happy now, Dad's in good health for his age. Next stop will be at the eye clinic to look at his cataract. He also has retinitis pigmentosa which is incurable but hopefully after the cataract is operated on, his vision will be slightly better. Then, three months from now, to the surgeon to check on his prostate.