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Submitted by PatientsEngage on 16 March 2019
Lalitha on the right and her daughter Viji Venkatesh on the left smiling at the camera

This week is World Glaucoma Awareness Week. Lalitha Ramakrishnan and Viji Venkatesh, a mother - daughter duo share their experience with Glaucoma, the silent thief of sight and highlight the importance of regular eye checkups and adherence to medication.

I had not heard of Glaucoma till 1991.

I was in Singapore, staying with my son, a sport journalist. I had lost my husband four years earlier and was a total wreck. Raja, my son, was the one who helped me regain my sanity – infusing so much confidence in myself, helping me back to a busy life in this new country. He encouraged me to do things on my own—like going to the British Council library to get books to read, going to the shops on my own to buy whatever I needed for myself or for the house, and most important- to go for walks.

Something was wrong with my vision

It was during one of these walks I felt something was wrong with my vision. While waiting for the traffic signals to change to cross the road, I was not able to see the cars coming from my left side till they were right in front of me. I thought I was getting cataract as I was above 60 at that time. So I decided to go to Bombay to stay with my daughter Viji who at that time was working with an NGO helping cancer patients. With her help I saw an optician who, after listening to my problem suggested that I consult a glaucoma expert.

This specialist checked my eyes and did a field test, and advised me that it was a seriously advanced case of glaucoma. He said I should have surgery as soon as possible, within two days if possible to save vision – whatever that was left of it -- in my left eye. He advised me to go to Sankara Netralaya in Chennai where I could get the best treatment. So off I flew to Chennai to my eldest daughter Raji who, in the meantime, managed to get an appointment with the chief of that institution for the next day itself. Thus my treatment started. I was put in the care of Dr L Vijaya who appeared to be very efficient at the same time kind and considerate.

Glaucoma is caused when pressure is built up in the eyes. This pressure then starts crushing the optical nerves, which get damaged and start affecting one’s vision. And that is when one becomes aware of it, only after this damage is done. That is why glaucoma is referred as silent thief of sight.

Surgery and Medication for Glaucoma

I was told I had lost 85% of my vision in my left eye. The first stage of treatment was laser surgery, done to relieve the pressure on the optical nerves by drilling minute holes in my eyeball. After this I was asked to apply eyedrops – Pilocar, four times a day, and Timolol, three times a day -- till two further surgeries were performed.

After a year or two of stumbling steps, I learnt to take this drawback in my stride and have continued with my life without much problem for the last so many years. I am doing everything I was doing before I was affected by this: knitting, reading, cooking whenever I feel like it, and am now typing this blog on my netbook, too.  But I have stopped going for walks on my own --- I am not allowed to do that by my children wherever I am, so I have to do with walking inside the compound or on the terrace.

Regular Followups Are Important For Glaucoma Management

Daily Challenges

Another disadvantage, with practically no vision in one eye, is I am not able to gauge the depth of things. This has led to minor inconveniences. Going down the stairs is a problem. I need the help of another person or I have to cling on to the banisters. Also, when I want to put a glass on a table, I find it difficult to gauge the distance between them. In unfamiliar situations, I let go of the glass an inch above the table as a result of which I spill things, or worse, break glasses. When hanging clothes out to dry, it is very difficult for me to locate the clothesline; it is always a few inches this way or that way from where I see them.

Daughter Viji interviewing her mother Lalitha Ramakrishnan

Don't ignore discomfort and pain in your eyes

Dr Vijaya had alerted me that this glaucoma is hereditary and so my children should have periodical eye checkups. I remember my mother telling us that her grandmother lost her vision in her old age. Could she have had glaucoma? Who knows?

As my daughter Viji describes in the video below, she has also been affected by glaucoma. And despite the warning by Dr. Vijaya, she did not get it diagnosed early enough because my daughter’s right eye is badly affected.

 

 

I request all of you: Don't ignore any discomfort you feel in your eyes. Please have an eye checkup at the earliest and save your sight. Some symptoms are a dull but heavy feeling ache in your eyeballs which I used to feel in the early days. Also powerful lights trouble the eyes, giving a lot of glare. Light beams reaching one’s eyes are broken: the stars one sees seem like a comet. Actually I have not seen a single star without a tail for the last so many years, not that I am able to spot any.

Please don’t think glaucoma affects only grownups. It could attack anyone at any age, Even babies are affected by this. NO, I am not alarming anybody, just trying my best to make one aware of this. All I want to say is be on your alert and don’t ignore your eyes.

This has been edited from her blog

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