As I sit here with a bird on my shoulder that is stealing cantaloupe from my mouth and sticking it in my hair.....I am still as happy as I can be!
I had another follow up appointment today at the Casey Eye Institute. It was all good news! The iritis has completely cleared up and my eye pressures were back to normal range! This has been a long struggle to get under control.
Many of you may not know this, but I have an autoimmune disease. Actually, I have two of them, Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis. My immune systen has turned against my own connective tissues. In laymans terms it means that my immune system attacks my soft tissues such as joints, muscles, eyes, lungs, etc...
It began attacking my eyes a few years ago and I have had several episodes of iritis. Iritis is basically infammation in the eyes. It's very painful and is also the third leading cause of blindness.
Some of the drugs that are used to suppress my immune system and also treat the iritis, can have adverse side effects. Mainly the use of steroids is given to severe cases of autoimmune disease.
The steroids are also used in eye drops to help clear up the iritis. Both the oral and eye steroids had caused my eye pressures to go up severely. You may know this as glaucoma. Glaucoma can also cause blindness.
I no longer have to do frequent visits to the Casey Eye Institute, because there are no more white cells showing up in my eyes which means that the iritis is now under control for the moment and my eye pressures have come down to a normal range.
I imagine all of this is quite boring to you, but it is a huge mile marker in the course of my treatment and I could not be happier. I do not have to go back for another check up at CEI until a year from now!
Now if we can just get the rest of this disease under control, I will be even more happy! :)
