Eyes

This past weekend my dad went to the optometrist to have his eyes checked. His eyes have been bothering him for awhile now, but we agreed to have it checked out after recovering from aSCT. He complained of blurry vision and the halo effect when he was exposed to lights. I was really scared because I instantly thought of glaucoma.

I think it is very important to have annual eye exams (or even more frequent) especially when you're on dexamethasone. Although dex has a great affect on myeloma cells, it also increases the eye pressure, which can causes cataracts and glaucoma. Cataracts is pretty normal as we age and it can usually be successfully treated with surgery, but glaucoma can result in permanent vision lost. There are no successful ways in treating glaucoma. There are eyedrops and surgery to slow down the progression of glaucoma, but there is no way to "fix" it. Also, symptoms of glaucoma usually become apparent when it is advanced, such as tunnel vision (lost of peripheral vision). It is hard to know if you have it since only an eye doctor can check the ocular pressure.

Please add an opthomalogist or optometrist to your fighting team!