BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another

Subject: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 08 Dec 09 - 09:28 PM

Well, Tom's been having a problem with a sporadic blurry patch in his left eye. He checked with his primary care doctor who referred him to an ophthalmologist whom he saw today. Despite leaving there with a Post-it with "Central retinal artery occlusion left eye" written on it, and appointments for blood work and a more specific echo cardiogram, and an appointment with another ophthalmologist next week (yes, at the same time he's supposed to be getting the rest of the vocal cord cancer removed, but not to change that date yet), I'm left wondering if they actually think that's what the problem is.

Everything I read about retinal artery occlusion indicates it's an emergency situation -- something needs to be done RIGHT NOW or the vision loss is permanent.

Maybe I can get some answers tomorrow (Wed), my day off, from one or several of his doctors, but right now I'm just confused.

Tom is, I think, both worried and frustrated because he has no real information either about a) what it is, b) what treatment there is, and (very importantly) c) how this will affect his ongoing cancer treatment (not to mention his general health -- one online source cites percentage increase in other potentially fatal problems because of retinal artery occlusion).

We would probably worry a lot less with a few actual facts.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Dec 09 - 09:32 PM

I'll be thinking about the both of you. We are fragile beings at the same time that we are incredibly strong. {{{{hug}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Dec 09 - 10:00 PM

Eye doctor oughta be shot. If that's what it is.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: bobad
Date: 08 Dec 09 - 10:09 PM

Is this a blood clot? If it is, immediate intervention is called for otherwise permanent loss of vision may result.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Dec 09 - 10:17 PM

I have been so angry at the docs I've been to in the past six months because of the way they cavalierly toss off this possibility and that, all scary as hell...it made so frustrated and scared, I now have PTSD and am being treated for major depression. I wish you, my friends, were not experiencing some of the same kind of crap. You have all the care and support I can muster. It will slow down and get better...just don't let the bastards get you down and make them give you some info! (I know you know this and will.:-)

with all my love,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: maeve
Date: 08 Dec 09 - 10:32 PM

Thank you, Linn. I always want more information than I can get. I'll be interested in what you learn tomorrow.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: ClaireBear
Date: 08 Dec 09 - 11:11 PM

I'm so sorry. No one should have to deal with crap like that, ever, much less when so much else is going wrong. Hugs all round.

Claire

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: catspaw49
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 12:51 AM

The second site below gives a good overview but the first goes into excelleent depth.......Neither are a "good read." From what I can tell, if it was in fact central artey occlusion it would seem that the damage is done within the first two hours (or thereabouts). None of it sounds good Linn and to me it would warrant more than a damn post-it with something else happening later! (I'm with Rap.....Kill the Doc).......I'm sure you can find lots of sites but they all say pretty much the same thing.....sorry to say.

Tom has the porcine valve so he's not on warfarin is he? I'd forgotten that at first and I kept wondering how he got a clot. I don't know what you do next but I'm pretty convinced that "nothing til next week" ain't a good option even if the damage is done.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/799119-overview

http://www.stlukeseye.com/Conditions/ArteryOcclusion.asp


Much Love and Good Luck.......and let me know what, if anything, I can do from here.


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 04:02 AM

(((hugs)))... about all I can do really...

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 04:19 AM

I thought I had posted a reply, but it was 'only' hugs & good wishes so it's easy to re-create

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: mouldy
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 04:32 AM

Thinking of you. Life's not fair!

Andrea x

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 05:11 AM

FFS

(((( Tom & Linn ))))


John

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: gnu
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 05:38 AM

Even more thoughts and prayers.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: MikeL2
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 05:42 AM

hi linn

Sorry to hear about your problems.....as if you didn't have enough already.

I have been down the cancer route but I was lucky - I had several ups and downs but nothing to really concern us other than to get over the treatment and the after-effects.

My best wishes to you both

Mike

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: kendall
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 07:34 AM

Definition of time: One god damn thing after another.

I wish you could see my eye doctor (I can't spell opthalmoligist). He is top quality, and he has no ego. I was kept waiting in his waiting room well past my appointment time and when I complained to the nurse he got wind of it and called me at home to apologize.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 08:10 AM

Any chance of getting someone in Boston to check this out while you're down there for the vocal cord surgery?
Sorry Tom - your time in the barrel. Hardly fair to hit you with two major crises at once.
Mary

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 09:15 AM

Words fail!

(((hugs)))

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Jeri
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 09:53 AM

It strikes me that 'sporadic' does not mean this is a permanent situation.

Also, complete occlusion means complete blindness in the eye. At most, he has an occlusion of a branch, and even then, a 'sporadic'(?!) one. I'm sure the eye jerk did a fundoscopic exam so he did see something that requires further study.

As for giving what may be a prospective diagnosis OR a 'rule out' on a fucking post-it note, it's completely unprofessional and the guy should be reported to somebody. Most hospitals have patient advocates.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 10:12 AM

<<>>

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: skarpi
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 10:26 AM

Words fail!

(((hugs))) I guess no laser treatment can fix this , but here in
Iceland we a very good eye doctors , but I guess that wont help .

hugs again over the ocean .

some burden are more than other s

úff !!

all the bst Skarpi

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 12:18 PM

The more I think about this (and the more I find out) no way can it actually BE "central retinal artery occlusion left eye". Today he see just fine. This is an occasional blur usually occasioned by a bright light or reflection -- and then it GOES AWAY. The blindness or partial blindness caused by a retinal artery occlusion doesn't go away.

The doc's assistant (nurse? PA? receptionist?!?) wrote that on a Post-It note for Tom when he asked what he should tell his wife (me).

Last week when I asked the doctor I work with (optometrist, not ophthalmologist), she recommended he see an ophthalmologist, but the blur could be caused by meds, stress, or fatigue. Somehow this sounds way more likely -- Tom takes plenty of meds for his heart condition, is under even more stress because of the vocal cord cancer and (are we surprised?) hasn't been sleeping well lately.

Tomorrow he has a corotid artery scan of some sort (variety of echo cardiogram, I think). Maybe he can get some answers.

His throat surgery is still scheduled for next week. Oh, and I'll be getting scoped while we're in Boston, too.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 12:48 PM

Sounds more like a cataract than anything else. Obviously, DON'T IGNORE IT.
Mother Mary

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: catspaw49
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 12:59 PM

That sounds better Linn......THe carotid echo is a "pain in the neck" literally.....LOL...no big deal and its short, but they shove that thing (ultra sound basically) up and down your neck and even the 5 or so minutes per side seems too damn long.

If he has vision back then you're probably right and the Quack is wrong and there are lots of other things like you said. Hope you get some answers soon!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 01:36 PM

It's been a sporadic thing from the get go -- Tom said it sort of showed up again yesterday just as he got to the appointment thanks to a reflection or something in the parking lot -- then the doctor dilated him so he had more problems seeing. Each time the blur has shown up, it's gone away after a little while.

This is just something recent -- the past 2 weeks.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Jeri
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 01:39 PM

Sounds more like an ocular migraine, but could be meds or other things.

I talked to Tom about this, but since last summer, I get a blur in my right eye, especially when I'm hot. I had a thorough exam with dilation and the works, and they couldn't find anything wrong other than signs of an allergy in my eye. They recommended over the counter eye drops and I got some Zyrtec which helps somewhat.

Keep one thing in mind: the ophthalmologist he saw referred him to another guy because he didn't know what it was.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Tinker
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 02:00 PM

Just hugs.....

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Morticia
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 02:32 PM

oh man this is the outside of enough now, my love to you both

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: SussexCarole
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 02:42 PM

wow - this is just one thing after another for you both! So sorry all this crap is coming your way.

Carole & Andrew

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Hollowfox
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 02:55 PM

Hugs, juju, and a continuation of the $#@!-reduction candle series for you both.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 03:22 PM

Aw, man, this sucks. I will be thinking of you both, and thinking something a lot worse towards that so-called doctor.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: gnu
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 03:32 PM

Great news about the eye!

Kendall... "I was kept waiting in his waiting room well past my appointment time and when I complained to the nurse he got wind of it and called me at home to apologize."

A few hours wait after an appointed time for Moncton's laser and advanced research eye doc here is not uncommon. She serves ALL of Maritime Canada in her specialized field.... that is NB, NS and PEI.

BUT... is that a demand problem or a scheduling problem? I am not privy to the info required to make that call.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: kendall
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 04:27 PM

They simply schedule too many patients in any given day. So, if an emergency comes up, it's a train wreck.They leave no margin for error. I wouldn't have minded so much but this happens often in his practice.
When I complained this time he suggested I schedule my appointment first thing in the morning from now on.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 04:43 PM

Remember back when we thought we were invulnerable, and sang all those morbid songs to a round of general laughter? It's somehow not as funny anymore.

Happy to hear that Tom is seeing thinks clearer this afternoon.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: gnu
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 05:09 PM

Kendall... I had one for today for Mum at 8:30. First one of the day, but it got changed to near noon on Monday... another long wait... sigh.

Charley... indeed not! Like the old German adage, "We get too soon old and too late smart."

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Janie
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 06:10 PM

To quote my Mom, "Growing older is not for sissies." Not posting because I don't really have anything to add to what others say better than me, but know that I check in to these threads daily and continue to think of you with care and concern for your well-being.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 08:08 AM

Kendall,
Unfortunately, many patients simply do not show up. That is why doctors tightly schedula appointments. A co-worker recently askedme about a local dentist. Seems her dentist refused to schedule appointments for her and her children after she missed five in a row without calling.
I schedule mine for first thing in the AM and arrive early. Makes life so much easier.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 08:28 AM

Thinking of you both and holding you in the Light.

Erica and Bryn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 09:35 AM

Tom,
Get better. Do not make me come down there and smack you!
Love,
Mary

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: olddude
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 10:32 AM

I always always get into trouble for saying this. But both of you guys I am gettin me rosary out and praying my butt off ... so yell at me if you like but I do it cause I love ya

Get better

Dan

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 11:41 AM

Linn,

Internet access has been dodgy, but I've been watching this, prayerfully.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 11:52 AM

old dude,
The image of you praying your butt off with a rosary borders on kinky. Thanks! I needed that.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: gnu
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 12:01 PM

Mary... go him one better and take your rosary to Tom.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: jacqui.c
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 01:23 PM

Good thoughts from the UK Tom - I hope that things go well for you.

I'm also keeping an eye on this thread, daily.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: bbc
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 06:30 AM

You two are having to deal with an awful lot of stuff; so sorry for that! Hope you get this figured out & it's treatable.

love,

Barbara

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Naemanson
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 06:54 AM

I'm sorry to hear about this too. Hang in there guys.

I'm happy to know the Republicans think there is nothing wrong with the health care system. But then, they probably don't know about wonderful people like Tom and Linn and the problems they are having.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 08:50 AM

Sinsull-

It's difficult to suppress the image of you and your horde of tiny nuns chanting prayers together. How could any God with a sense of "humors" resist such an appeal?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: olddude
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 08:57 AM

Mary
all this holiday eating has caused my butt to get bigger, so that is a lot of praying ... for sure LOL. Time for you to put on your nun outfit.

Dan

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: SINSULL
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 09:19 AM

Sister Blister reporting for duty.
Any news, Linn?

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: maeve
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 09:51 AM

I'm here, too.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon: One Thing After Another
From: gnu
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 10:02 AM

Ditto.