There is hope

The day has finally arrived for my appointment with an NHS Cornea Specialist.

I have had a problem with recurring corneal abrasions for many years. This problem stems from a number of minor eye injuries. These range from TP poking his finger in my eye, when he was a toddler, to Marauder scratching my eye with one of her whiskers; when I was playing with her many years ago.  I also picked up another scratch trimming Mrs Tweedy's bush, but I shudder at any mention of that!

These injuries have taken their toll. A few times a year I will suffer a corneal abrasion that is very painful, and can take a week or two to heal. My dry eye condition does not help, in fact it exacerbates the problem. Over night the surface of my eye will dry out and the lid will partially adhere to the cornea. When I open my eyes in morning the lifting of the lid removes an area of my cornea and I have another corneal abrasion.

I use a greasy ointment at night to control this. It works well, but it is like trying to see through a film of petroleum jelly once it has been applied. 

I have waited a long time for this appointment following a referral from CHEC at the beginning of the year. I walked in to the clinic hopefully that I would finally get a treatment that would actually work, rather than the CHEC approach, which always seems to be a combination of formulaic, ineffective and generally disinterested.

The pessimist in me kept bringing up the niggling thought that I was stuck with painful, sore, itchy eyes for the remainder of my years.

The Specialist at the clinic was a delight. She listened carefully to my history, and was thorough in her examinations and questions. She advised that I had been managing my eye conditions appropriately, but there were other, and additional, treatment options that are available to me. It is very much a case of trying the various options to see which ones work best.*

I left with a prescription for some new treatments, a follow-up appointment in four months time and clarification that I should not be purchasing Hycosan Night. In future it is to be provided, without charge, on prescription.

I left the consultation feeling quite positive, after three years of handling a quite miserable condition.

I also submitted my tax return this afternoon, and can report that I am due a healthy tax rebate for the year 2024/25.  I really do not know why I put off doing the damned thing. It is never as complicated as I expect,** and, generally, takes less than a day to sort out.

I wish that my eye condition could be resolved as quickly!

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* One of them sounded horrific. Google Corneal Alcohol Delamination, it doesn't sound like fun!

** Even less so, now I have retired