I woke up on Friday with fireworks in my right eye. Then I saw, or didn't see, that I couldn't see much out of the right side of my right eye. I ignored it, got up and went to work.
It became clear (or unclear) during the day that something was very odd with my sight. When I came home I decided to call the doctor to make an appointment (do you go to the doctor or the optician to seek advice?) It was too late for that day but the receptionist told me is would be treated urgently and I should go to my optician the next morning, who would also treat it urgently.
In the morning I called them. Again I was told it was urgent, but this time the receptionist told me to go straight to A&E as they would only refer me there anyway. She wished me luck.
I didn't like to do that, all the publicity we've had since Christmas about overcrowded A&Es and people who really ought to go to GPs. But I called them, they said, yes come on in, and no actually they were fairly quiet.
So D drove me to Swindon. It was very calm and peaceful and after being seen by a triage nurse we waited 20 minutes or so for the on duty doctor (who couldn't see anything) who referred me to the eye clinic which fortunately they hold on Saturday mornings.
Another wait of half an hour or so (there were only two other patients in the large waiting area. The magazines were awful- all celebrity stuff and woman's weekly, and i didn't have the heart to read the large print leaflets about cataracts, retinal tears and macular degeneration)- And I looked at the list of 10 doctors and consultatnts posted on the wall- only one of the names was English, and the man who finally looked at me was probably Iranian or Syrian- thank god we have these immigrants)
Then he saw me, looked throroughly at everything through different machines and then told me "you have anterior optic neuropathy". I had a blood test, also classified as urgent, to make sure it wasn't the worse kind and he said he'd phone me with the results.
Which he hasn't, so I assume it's not the worst kind.
At home I looked it all up, god bless google. The worse kind means I might go completely and irrevocably blind within a few days. There are some drugs which might help
The kind I presumably have means I have lost the vision in the right side of my right eye and it may improve a little or it may get a litte worse. There's no established treatment. It's caused by a blookage of a blood vessel suppplying the eye. (even more worryingly described as an ischaemic (?) stroke)
I'm pretty depressed about it, but life goes on. I can do everything I normally do , it's just as if I have dirty glasses, or hair or a hat low on the right side of my face. I expect I'll get used to it in a few days.
This morning it's a bit worse. I think I only have 1/3 vision left in my right eye.
It became clear (or unclear) during the day that something was very odd with my sight. When I came home I decided to call the doctor to make an appointment (do you go to the doctor or the optician to seek advice?) It was too late for that day but the receptionist told me is would be treated urgently and I should go to my optician the next morning, who would also treat it urgently.
In the morning I called them. Again I was told it was urgent, but this time the receptionist told me to go straight to A&E as they would only refer me there anyway. She wished me luck.
I didn't like to do that, all the publicity we've had since Christmas about overcrowded A&Es and people who really ought to go to GPs. But I called them, they said, yes come on in, and no actually they were fairly quiet.
So D drove me to Swindon. It was very calm and peaceful and after being seen by a triage nurse we waited 20 minutes or so for the on duty doctor (who couldn't see anything) who referred me to the eye clinic which fortunately they hold on Saturday mornings.
Another wait of half an hour or so (there were only two other patients in the large waiting area. The magazines were awful- all celebrity stuff and woman's weekly, and i didn't have the heart to read the large print leaflets about cataracts, retinal tears and macular degeneration)- And I looked at the list of 10 doctors and consultatnts posted on the wall- only one of the names was English, and the man who finally looked at me was probably Iranian or Syrian- thank god we have these immigrants)
Then he saw me, looked throroughly at everything through different machines and then told me "you have anterior optic neuropathy". I had a blood test, also classified as urgent, to make sure it wasn't the worse kind and he said he'd phone me with the results.
Which he hasn't, so I assume it's not the worst kind.
At home I looked it all up, god bless google. The worse kind means I might go completely and irrevocably blind within a few days. There are some drugs which might help
The kind I presumably have means I have lost the vision in the right side of my right eye and it may improve a little or it may get a litte worse. There's no established treatment. It's caused by a blookage of a blood vessel suppplying the eye. (even more worryingly described as an ischaemic (?) stroke)
I'm pretty depressed about it, but life goes on. I can do everything I normally do , it's just as if I have dirty glasses, or hair or a hat low on the right side of my face. I expect I'll get used to it in a few days.
This morning it's a bit worse. I think I only have 1/3 vision left in my right eye.