Bill’s Laser Iridotomy didn’t work, the pressure is still way too high, so in July the doctor is going to try something else. He told Bill that he wasn’t going to let him lose his sight. I don’t really think that’s something you can make a promise about, but he was trying to be reassuring. He sounds like he wants to try several different things before they do actual eye surgery.

He gave us a print out which I posted below for those that have glaucoma that might be facing this same type of surgery down the road. We hope it wont come to that, but you do what you have to. Have a great weekend.

Trabeculectomy & Sclerostomy  Filtering Microsurgery

What is filtering microsurgery? In glaucoma, the eye’s inner fluid pressure can build up and damage the optic nerve, the nerve that carries visual pictures to the brain. Damage to the optic nerve can lead to vision loss. When medicines and laser surgeries do not lower pressure enough, eye doctors may recommend a procedure called filtering microsurgery (sometimes called conventional or cutting surgery).

In filtering microsurgery, a tiny drainage hole is made in the sclera (the white part of the eye) in a procedure called a trabeculectomy or a sclerostomy. The new drainage hole allows fluid to flow out of the eye and helps lower the eye pressure. This prevents or reduces damage to the optic nerve.

How does the eye doctor determine if filtering surgery is needed? Often, laser surgery is recommended before filtering microsurgery, unless the eye pressure is very high or the optic nerve is badly damaged. During laser surgery, a tiny but powerful beam of light is used to make several small scars in the eye’s trabecular meshwork (the eye’s drainage system). The scars will help increase the flow of fluid out of the eye.

When laser surgery does not successfully lower eye pressure or the pressure lowering effects wear off, the doctor may recommend filtering rmcrosurgery . Is there pain during microsurgery? In most cases, there is no pain involved. The surgery is usually done with a local anesthetic and relaxing medications. Often a limited type of anesthesia, called intravenous (LV.) sedation, is used.

In addition, an injection is given around or behind the eye to prevent eye movement. This injection is not painful when LV. sedation is used first. The patient will be relaxed and drowsy and will not experience any pain during surgery. What is the success rate? Most of the related studies document follow-up for a one year period. In those reports, it shows that in older patients, glaucoma filtering surgery is successful in about 70-90% of cases, for at least one year.

Occasionally, the surgically-created drainage hole begins to close and the pressure rises again. This happens because the body tries to heal the new opening in the eye, as if the opening were an injury. This rapid healing occurs most often in younger people, because they have a stronger healing system. Anti-wound healing drugs, such as mitomycin-C and 5-FU help slow down the healing of the opening. If needed, glaucoma filtering surgery can be done a number of times in the same eye.

Is this an outpatient procedure or is an overnight stay in the hospital needed? Usually, filtering surgery is an outpatient procedure, requiring no overnight hospital stay. Within a few days after surgery, the eye doctor will need to check on the eye pressure. The doctor will also look for any signs of infection or increase in inflammation.

Parentgiving is a great site for anyone that is taking care of an aging parent you’ll find a lot of useful information that furnishes caregiver resources and news. They even have care managers that you can call if you are having any problems that you can’t handle and consult with them, these are registered nurses and social workers. It’s not easy being a caregiver especially when you are already stressed with taking care of your own family and then when something happens to an aging parent you’re faced with some hard decisions that you may need help with.

It’s hard to think that we’ll ever get old when we are young, but it does gradually start sinking in and we face each passing year with a growing dread over certain phases that we know we will go through eventually. That’s why so many are eating healthier and making better choices because we’re living much longer now. I sometimes think about losing my memories and the devastating effect that would have on family members and what it would be like to forget everybody and everything.

I’m thinking we might have to move eventually because of our stairs, sometimes it’s hard getting up and down them and the bathroom of course is on the second floor. I know I’ve started using my bathroom handrails more often now also. We already have the higher toilet and it’s so weird when we visit family and they have those standard sized ones that look like they’re for a child. My brother loved mine so much that he had to get himself one. Believe me it’s so much easier on your back and I love mine. I know we’ll have to add more safety features the older we get.

We babysat the little 10 month old tonight and I thought how helpless this little baby was while I was changing her diaper and started thinking about how we come in the world helpless and many of us go out the same way. I know as I grow older there are many things that I dread and one of those for me will be if I ever get to the point that I would have to wear adult diapers don’t get me wrong they are a godsend for many adults that suffer from incontinence, but it’s just not something I’m looking forward to. At any rate be sure to check out the caregiver learning center.

Lately I have been researching the PH level in the body and how to maintain the required balance our body needs in order to be healthy and fight off disease. The pH level scale runs from 1 to 14 with 1 serving as “very acidic” 7 being “neutral” and 14 being “very alkaline”. Our bloodstream goes to great lengths to maintain a pH level of 7.35 to 7.45. Finding a balance of 70% alkaline and 30% acid foods seems to be the key. This means that you can still enjoy the foods that you love as long as they are balanced by alkalizing foods.

You can’t alkalize your body if you continue to drink or eat high sugar drinks and fruits. Sugar is  one of the most acidic things you can put into your body. The more acidic a body becomes, the more fat the body will store. Overweight conditions result from too much acid in the body and for those of us that drink alcohol you should know this will definitely disrupt the pH of your system.

It pains me that coffee, soda and teas are also a no no. The best beverage to drink for alkalizing is ionized water, but I can’t afford one of those ionizing systems. Also starchy foods like potatoes, pasta and breads all break down to sugar, and then produce acid waste that collects in the body. Eating any of the animal proteins (chicken, beef, pork, lamb etc) will create excess acid waste in your body as well. Dairy products have concentrated sugars that break down into lactic acid, which creates acidic waste.

So many things that I have a habit of eating and love just isn’t good for me and my body or yours, but it’s your choice. There are so many diet plans out there and so many people swearing by their particular one, but keeping your bodily ph balanced just makes the most sense to me. I’m sure anything in moderation would be okay, but I tend to go over board with the foods and drinks I like, however I do intend to start using more alkalized fruits and vegetables in my daily life I need the energy and I’m tired of feeling sick.

Learning which foods and supplements that add alkaline to your pH levels is just the beginning and many items are listed below, but we need to learn how to Implement them. After adding these healing foods to our diet we can test our body’s pH levels with a  saliva strip test available at most health food stores. Keeping your pH level between 7 and 8 is the target for good health and bringing your bodily pH back to normal  will give us relief from a variety of symptoms.

Most people eat a lot of acidic foods like animal protein, dairy products and wheat. Many health problems are due to excess acidity in the body like chronic fatigue, excess mucous production, nasal congestion, frequent colds and infections, stress, anxiety, weak nails, dry hair, dry skin, headaches, arthritis, muscle pain, hives and leg cramps are all signs of excess acidity and I am prone to most of these lately.

You can simply and easily infuse your body with alkaline foods by using green drinks one to three times per day you can buy it in powder form at health food stores. Green drinks are made from grasses, sprouted grains and other green vegetables. These will help your body become more alkaline and they have the vitamins, minerals and amino acids that your body needs to repair itself, anything we can do to reduce the acidic state  will help our organs to function properly.

The Ophthalmologist that examined Bill yesterday did a full examination and he has decided that Bill has pigment dispersion syndrome even though he is over the age of 40 and has had glaucoma for years. He has put drops in his eyes since he was in his early 30’s and has undergone laser surgery twice to put little holes in his eye to relieve pressure and still the pressure isn’t under control, the drops aren’t working for him. So on June 4th he will have a procedure called laser iridotomy done. The consent form that we have to sign explains the procedure like this:

Consent To Perform Laser Iridotomy

Purpose: A laser iridotomy is a hole created in the iris in the eye by means of a laser light. This procedure replaces a surgical procedure that must be performed in the operating room. When argon laser is used, the energy of the laser is transformed into heat at the point where it’s focused, creating a small burn. By placing multiple burns close to each other, it’s possible, in most cases, to create a small hole in the iris. A neodymium-Yag laser causes a cut at the point where it’s focused. If several of these cuts are superimposed, a small hole is created, in most cases.

Method: Several factors (such as eye color) must be considered by your doctor in determining which laser is most appropriate for your eye. Sometimes one type of laser is not satisfactory and the other type of laser must then be utilized. The eye is anesthetized with an eye drop, a special contact lens is placed onto the eye and a sufficient number of applications is applied. Slight discomfort may be felt as the laser light strikes the iris.

Complications: In almost all cases, the eye will be red and have a foreign body sensation for a few days. The vision is typically a bit blurry for a few days as well. These are not serious problems. In 25-30% of eyes in which the argon laser has been used to create the iridotomy, retreatment is necessary because the body tends to heal over the hole. The retreatment rate is much less with the YAG laser. The YAG laser sometimes causes a small hemorrhage at the iris at the site of focus, but it always clears within a few days.

There may be a transient rise in pressure within the eye following the procedure, but this can usually be controlled with medications if necessary. Burns of the cornea and/ or lens can occur, but these do not usually affect vision and can be left alone. Although it’s not a complication, the laser procedure alone does not always control the glaucoma, and drops, other types of laser treatment, or surgery, are sometimes required in addition to the iridotomy.

The young doctor was very nice and explained everything as he went along and he really put our minds at rest about Bill not losing his sight anytime soon. He explained that he would do this procedure in his office and that it was less evasive than the other procedure that we had done last year at the hospital. He seemed very confident and told us in the past 12 years he hadn’t seen any of the slits close back up so we’re very hopeful that this will help and may even lessen the drops he has to use everyday.

I spent the day researching vocal cord dysfunction because last night Bill couldn’t breath and it was horrible. I even had 911 on the phone asking for an ambulance before he was able to get a breath and he told me later that this had happened several times before with him, but this is the first time since we’ve been together. He has asthma or so he was diagnosed with many years ago and always keeps an inhaler close by, but this wasn’t an asthma attack.

He was at work years ago and they thought he was choking and his co-worker did the Heimlich maneuver on him and it opened up what he says is a flap, he said it closed up and he couldn’t breath in. I had no clue what I was looking for today until I ran across a very informative website called  CAN’T BREATHE? SUSPECT VOCAL CORD DYSFUNCTION! so I spent the day reading and then doing other research on other websites.

Apparently you don’t use medication to treat this, but you do have to see a speech pathologist to learn a different way of breathing and other techniques. After doing a lot of reading I’m thinking that he has been so stressed over his eyes that he may have brought this episode on. It was horrible and scared the crap out of me. I better learn how to do the Heimlich maneuver Bill said he didn’t care if I cracked his ribs so long as he could breath.

On the website above she even shares some tips she learned on how to breath which I’m going to make Bill try and practice so he wont panic if this happens again. More doctors and emergency teams are only recently themselves becoming more aware of  vocal cord dysfunction the main cause of this disorder still remains unknown and to properly diagnose it would be to do a nasal endoscopy during an episode.

I’m sure they would have to trigger an episode in a clinic because unless the passage were to be open as soon as possible I’m quite sure someone could die so screw the endoscopy I’ll be cracking some ribs if this ever happens again and since he wasn’t able to breath in I will definitely have him practise those breathing out exercises so we’ll at least be better prepared.

I also intend to keep a small bottle of water with a sprayer on hand so he can keep his throat moist instead of dry. Got to get back to my researching so I can find more helpful tidbits for Bill, so type at you all later.

I try to exercise my brain and keep it active and stimulated so I can improve my memory. I know that eating Omega3 fatty acids like flax/hemp seeds and fish will give the brain a boost of energy and plenty of fruits and vegetables especially blueberries provide antioxidants that rid the body of toxins. Processed foods should be avoided as much as possible and limit intake of caffeine and liquor, sugary drinks should be replaced with green tea and water, exercise and plenty of rest also keeps the brain in good working order.

I know all these things, but some I don’t follow like I should especially now that I’m older. Many need to take supplements because when our body lacks essential vitamins and nutrients it’s harder to stay focused. It also affects our mood and the actions we take throughout the day. When we eat the right foods our mind will also be healthier and you can concentrate better with less stress. You should never skip breakfast, it doesn’t have to be a huge heavy breakfast which would make the brain and body sluggish just something light will do.

The older I get the more I simply want to take a nap right after I eat and that’s not good. I’ve been trying to find other ways to stimulate my mind because it’s frustrating when I can remember what happened 30 years ago as opposed to something just last year. That’s why I started blogging because writing helps to stimulate the brain because it’s a good way to clear your mind and put things into perspective, it’s also therapeutic and helps reduce stress. Today I got more concerned about my memory and decided I better take further actions to make sure I start writing every transaction in a ledger that I get involved with online.

I decided I must be losing my mind and memory because today I received an e-mail for a program I must have bought a year or so ago and it was set for auto renewal. I must have given the information because it was deducted from my checking account. Of course I sent an e-mail to cancel and request a refund because I honestly don’t even remember using the program, now that’s bad. If I ever purchase anything else online I need to make sure I have it set for manual renewal and not auto renewal and keep a record.

I have also recently set all my domain names to manual renewal because I had forgotten that they were also set for auto renewal and I had planned on letting them just expire, but payment for them also went through and I was thinking what if I hadn’t had the money in the bank at that time. Hopefully I haven’t purchased any other programs that I may have forgotten about that will auto renew because my money supply is definitely getting low and I’d hate to pay bank charges apparently I’m not as organized as I thought I was.

Neurobics is something I’ve been looking into, if your not familiar with the term just do a Google search.