I've had an interesting experience at work these past few weeks. I saw a patient urgently in the ER a few weeks ago who presented with sudden loss of vision a few days prior in one eye. There was no clear reason for it, but I was suspicious of a rare hereditary disorder that causes loss of vision in one eye, followed a few weeks later by vision loss in the other eye. The patient was unaware of any family history, until the next day when the patient contacted me stating there were 5 people in the extended family with this hereditary disorder that they hadn't been aware of. Now, the patient, who has several young children and a successful career, knows there are just a few days left until they will be profoundly visually impaired. This patient has been calling and emailing me frequently relating various research studies and possible treatments they have found, all of which have never been shown to work in other patients, asking my opinion. All I can do is try and be empathetic, but I have to be realistic and let the patient know it is highly unlikely anything will save their vision. The whole experience has made me very grateful for the good health I have. It has also made me wonder what things I would want to see in the last few days, hours and minutes before I didn't see anything in this world again.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Busy week ahead
We have a busy week ahead of us, then hopefully some calm. Micki will be watching the 4 month old daughter of some of our friends, whilst I study for my ophthalmology inservice exam. We are looking forward to getting past the test so we can enjoy the nice spring weather. We have had a lot of rain so far this month and our lawn is as green as it has ever been. Hopefully it will continue and we'll avoid another drought.
I've had an interesting experience at work these past few weeks. I saw a patient urgently in the ER a few weeks ago who presented with sudden loss of vision a few days prior in one eye. There was no clear reason for it, but I was suspicious of a rare hereditary disorder that causes loss of vision in one eye, followed a few weeks later by vision loss in the other eye. The patient was unaware of any family history, until the next day when the patient contacted me stating there were 5 people in the extended family with this hereditary disorder that they hadn't been aware of. Now, the patient, who has several young children and a successful career, knows there are just a few days left until they will be profoundly visually impaired. This patient has been calling and emailing me frequently relating various research studies and possible treatments they have found, all of which have never been shown to work in other patients, asking my opinion. All I can do is try and be empathetic, but I have to be realistic and let the patient know it is highly unlikely anything will save their vision. The whole experience has made me very grateful for the good health I have. It has also made me wonder what things I would want to see in the last few days, hours and minutes before I didn't see anything in this world again.
I've had an interesting experience at work these past few weeks. I saw a patient urgently in the ER a few weeks ago who presented with sudden loss of vision a few days prior in one eye. There was no clear reason for it, but I was suspicious of a rare hereditary disorder that causes loss of vision in one eye, followed a few weeks later by vision loss in the other eye. The patient was unaware of any family history, until the next day when the patient contacted me stating there were 5 people in the extended family with this hereditary disorder that they hadn't been aware of. Now, the patient, who has several young children and a successful career, knows there are just a few days left until they will be profoundly visually impaired. This patient has been calling and emailing me frequently relating various research studies and possible treatments they have found, all of which have never been shown to work in other patients, asking my opinion. All I can do is try and be empathetic, but I have to be realistic and let the patient know it is highly unlikely anything will save their vision. The whole experience has made me very grateful for the good health I have. It has also made me wonder what things I would want to see in the last few days, hours and minutes before I didn't see anything in this world again.
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5 comments:
That is such a great picture. I am so happy that you started a blog. You are in the clan now.
I'm so glad you guys have a blog now. What cute pictures. It's so hard being so far away to keep up with all of your goings on so this will be fun to see cute pictures of the fam and kids and get updates on all you're doing.
Welcome to the blogging world! Mic, I can't believe how big and beautiful your kids are!
That is such a tragic story! I can't even imagine...
mic, long time no see good old neighbor!! arch circle misses your fam! your family is so beautiful. I am so happy you finally jumped on the ban wagon. I can't wait to see more posts/journaling of your fam. love angie
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