[belyro]

Well, I have my first follow-up appointment after my laser treatments tomorrow. I know it's been a long time since I had them, but he was quite happy with my eyes at the end of my long-run of treatments, and said we could wait 6 months. That was actually last month, but we needed to move the appointment, so now it's tomorrow (Tuesday) in the late afternoon.

I'm really nervous. I have no reason to believe it'll be anything but good - he was very optimistic, and my bloodsugars have only been improving since then, but there's a lot riding on this. Not only the future of my ability to see, but also any decisions we make on starting a family. It's pretty scary.

[fgummett]

Best of luck I wish you good news only

[belyro]

Originally Posted by fgummett

Best of luck I wish you good news only

Thanks Frank! I'm hoping for good news only!

[mzteacher]

bethany...
good luck to you today!!! i hope you get all the news you are desiring....and best of luck with all that is riding on this day!!
susan

[belyro]

Well, the news is good! Not only did the doctor see no new problems (i.e. no new proliferation or hemms), he also said the old "bad" blood vessels (i.e. the neo-vascularization) were becoming inactive (I think he used the word "regressing")! YAY!

He wants to see me now every 6 months, but he sounded very optimistic that, barring the unforeseen, things should remain stable. Whew!

Thanks for thinking of me!

[morrisma]

Very good news.

[mzteacher]

congratualtions bethany...glad for the good update....i hope we hear some happy "family planning" news soon!!
susan

[gettingby]

That's awesome B !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RobiJo]

Awesome!!!! You can breath again for 5 1/2 months!
My next appointment is Monday... and I've had a tiny little floater on the left every so often... hopefully I get a good report too.

[notme]

I hate the eye appointments Beth! I am glad your news was good.... Yipppeeeee!!!!!! congrats!

[MARay237]

Good for You Beth !!!


now for starting on that family..................I'm sure that'll make Your Husband smile !!!!

[belyro]

Thanks everyone!!

[Stacman]

If you don't mind, would someone please clarify what kind of laser treatment you're talking about? For instance, for what purpose? Certainly it's not standard corrective surgery to improve the overall vision. So is it to repair leaky blood vessels in the eye?

[fgummett]

Originally Posted by Stacman

If you don't mind, would someone please clarify what kind of laser treatment you're talking about? For instance, for what purpose? Certainly it's not standard corrective surgery to improve the overall vision. So is it to repair leaky blood vessels in the eye?

Diabetic retinopathy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One of the (many) complications of Diabetes is retinopathy... which can be caused by a proliferation of extra blood vessels in the eye. These extra vessels tend to be fragile and bleed easily. Laser is often used to cauterize these little bleeders. If they do bleed you can get "floaters" or drops of blood that can get in the way of your field of vision. Or they can cause scarring on the retina and again loss of vision. Left untreated, this can lead to the retina detaching from the back of the eye and again laser can be used to try and fix the retina back in place.

All of us with D should be getting at least, an annual, fully-dilated eye examination by a specialist.

Retinopathy falls on the list of micro-vascular complications of D and you can do much to stave it off by reducing your A1c

[Stacman]

Thanks fgummett!

Fortunately, during my eye exam on Tuesday the retinopathy examination showed no damage caused by diabetes, even though I'm blind as a bat at the moment...