More eye surgery is in my future

Yes, it’s true.  It seems like we’ve really been dealing with a lot of eye issues around here.  Hubby just had cataract surgery in both eyes and is still recovering from that.  I had both my eyes done in July 2016.

 Illustrations from Pinterest

I also have a dry eye problem that I’ve been suffering with for probably five years.  I thought I had finally found the right combination of eye drops and here we go again.  I have a different eye problem now and this one will require surgery.  Hmmm…My bottom eyelids have turned slightly outward so they won’t hold any eye drops (or regular eye lubrication) so I have to have them tacked up.  I see a specialist the middle of November.  She lives in Seattle and only comes here to this office once a month.  I expect I won’t have this surgery until December or January.  I’m going to be putting up with this a lot longer than I want to.  But I’m trying my best to do my daily activities and not let this set me back.

I’m not looking forward to having surgery but I really have to get rid of my drippy eyes.  The right one is worse than the left one.  It’s very hard to work in this condition because my eyes get so full of liquid that I can’t see until it falls down my cheek, drips on the floor, or I wipe my eyes every few minutes.  If I’m working this entails changing gloves, so it’s not unusual to go through a whole box of gloves during my shift at work.

I need to talk to this specialist before I learn any more about this procedure, but I do know she’ll do both eyes so they match each other.  From the way I understand it, my eyes will be slanted for a couple of months afterward until the surgery relaxes.  That’s really all I know at this time except it’s supposed to stop them from dripping all over the place all the time.  I’m all for that no matter how I look afterward as long as I can see and get rid of this constant wiping of my eyes.  All my pockets contain Kleenex, napkins, or pieces of toilet tissue, or paper towels.  I have to be prepared 24/7.  It’ll be a blessing to be rid of this once and for all.  But of course, I’ll do my due diligence and ask a million questions beforehand.  There will be more updates on this situation later.

Could this be a dry eye cure?

The jury is still out but just maybe this is going to work this time.  I don’t know how many of you out there suffer from dry eye, but if you do I’m hoping this will help you out.  I’ve been dealing with this for about four years now.  Trust me, it’ll drive you crazy.  It’s impossible to do anything without carrying around a wad of Kleenex in your pocket because my eyes drip all the time.  This is very annoying at work, or when I'm trying to get anything else done.  People ask me all day long why I’m crying.  Oh my!  I’m not crying at all.

I’ve talked to pharmacists and doctors and they all recommend OTC eye drops, which weren’t doing the job for me.  Finally I even got a prescription eye drop and that didn’t help either after I paid $45 for the tiniest bottle of eye drops you ever saw.  It would have been $95 except I talked to my insurance company and they mailed a form to the doctor to fill out and fax back so I could get the price lowered.  I was willing to try anything once, otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to these even at the lower price.  By this point, I was desperate to find anything to help.

Surgery on my tear ducts is also an option but sometimes if they perform this procedure it can cause your corneas to crack later.  That’s even more problems, or the possibility of them.  I was about ready to gouge my eyes out, except being able to see is precious to me.

This is on the drugstore shelf

Then I went to the specialist that performed my cataract surgery.  He also told me to use OTC eye drops and see if they helped first.  I left there feeling very discouraged because I’d tried every OTC eye drop on the shelf, except for one he told me to try along with one I had already tried.  So, what the heck, I may as well see if this combo does any good.  I drove to the pharmacy and got the ones I needed.  This wasn’t cheap either, but at least they weren’t $45 a bottle.

I was instructed to use them and wait at least five minutes between each drop.  I wait ten in the morning when I first get up.  If I don’t take care of it then, it won’t happen because my day gets too busy.  I was super anxious to get rid of this dry eye problem.  So it takes about twenty or thirty extra minutes added to my morning routine, but I figure it’s worth it if this plague will go way.

So far after two months, it seems to be working.  If it still is six months from now I’ll say this does work and to grab some of this stuff if you or anyone you know has dry eye.  Maybe I’ve helped someone because this affliction is very annoying.  I'll update everyone later.