Today I woke up with iritis (also known as anterior uveitis) a chronic problem I've had for 8 years in my left eye. It has been kept at bay for about 8 months now by a study drug made by Novartis. I'm a test subject. The drug seemed to be working because I have never gone this long without a flareup. The stress I've been under lately is a likely culprit--my doctor agrees. There was only one month left of the study to go.
My doctor met me at the clinic today along with one of his fellows and the study coordinator. They examined me, and he determined that I was a perfect candidate for another study which would knock out my uveitis in one blow. This is an electrode-driven dose of steroid directly into the eye using an eyecup-like device which one doc holds against my eyeball (don't worry, it was numbed first) The other doc controls the electric current. There is an electrode patch on my brow which stings as the current is administered. My eyeball stings from the medicine (or possibly both medicine and current) and it is not pleasant holding my eye open for 4 minutes. I say to myself over and over, It's not cancer, it's not cancer, I can take anything for 4 minutes, it will be over soon, it'll be worth it because I won't have to put a drop in my eye every hour for a week and then taper off for 5 more weeks. I thought about what my boyfriend has to endure and told myself to suck it up. When it was over, the stinging gradually went away, as did most of the eye pain. I had to stay at the clinic for another 3 hours because my blood had to be drawn at regular intervals. We ran into problems with the veins in my arms and had to use the tiny veins on the tops of my hands. I kept wondering how they draw babies' blood fro the teeny tiny veins. They managed to get enough for plasma. The study protocols state that I must return tomorrow for followup.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I say to myself over and over, It's not cancer, it's not cancer, I can take anything for 4 minutes, it will be over soon, it'll be worth it because I won't have to put a drop in my eye every hour for a week and then taper off for 5 more weeks. I thought about what my boyfriend has to endure and told myself to suck it up.
Meh. I betcha he's taking more of his pain meds than he's supposed to. You're a trooper, girl. Betcha there are more than a few rugged tuff types who'd be crying like bitches after five seconds of that. Then they'd go home and fondle their guns and write blog posts about how lucky they are to live in a country without socialized medicine.
Post a Comment